Bob Dylan once said - “I was never a good singer, but if you have a good story, then it doesn’t matter because people want to listen” This is an example of a great story with an amazing voice. 😊
We wonder why a story about an upper class English lady would move us so. It's about someone whose life appeared to be long and rich, but was truly empty and fleeting (the whole story told in 6 minutes). And she doesn't even realizes it. What a tragic and absurd and banal story, and yet it has beauty and a song was made of it, and that is Neil's fantastic talent, to find moving beauty where no one else would bother to look.
They say everybody has a novel or a masterpiece inside them. This is Neil Hannons. A work of Art in music. It draws you in, hypnotised by the words, caught by the simplistic melody, and drags you to the end, enlightened and refreshed. This is a musical journey,worthy of an orchestra. But played humbly on a guitar. No frills, just emotional genius
This is quite possibly the most eloquent, musically complete and vocally poignant song he’s ever recorded. It gets me every single time, without fail. It says so much in a rich six minutes. Then he brings it right down with the those last few chords. He makes it look so effortless.
This song explains to humanity why music is one of the most precious gift we have in our life. With this performance Neil proves how to be a poet, a musician and a magician all in one.
🥀C’est avec un immense Plaisir que je pose le 77ème👍pour vous remercier d’avoir écrit ce que je ressens au plus profond de moi, s’agissant du Magnifique Neil HANNON.🧡❤️♥️ Anne🥀🇫🇷26.8.2022
“You sipped Campari with David and Peter at Noels parties, by Lake Geneva” David Niven, Peter Ustinov at Noel Cowards house. What an era.and what an image.
Better days not so decisive and PC how I long to go back to a time when things were more simple and we did not know what went on a lot of the time and people got on together despite our differences
By God, what a masterpiece! Ingeniously crafted and flawlessly executed, with just a voice and a guitar. One might say it's just an often-told story plus a gimmick (the "certain age"), but at the same time it hits so hard and cuts so deep. Why do we even care about a lady chasing the sun around the Cote D'Azur? Because it is about time and age and death and ephemeral glory, and the lies we tell ourselves and the lies we need to hear from other people.
As a woman of a certain age who has led as my lovely brother states a" colourful life" this song makes me smile with a hint of sadness . It is not always better to regret something have done than something you haven't 🌹
Back in the 80s my father used to drink with an elderly woman whose story was remarkably similar to this. She married a millionaire and enjoyed the Jet Set lifestyle until he left her for a younger woman. She spent the rest of her life drinking her divorce settlement and telling anyone who would listen about the parties she'd been to and the famous people she'd met. She rarely saw her son and daughter even though they both lived in the area.
I come back and listen to this song now and then. If calms me on the up times and it holds me on the down times... and being a Monaco resident jist makes it more personal.
Just to add to the choir here, but honestly it’s so invigorating to hear the results of a clever mind so gifted in literary and musical talent perform at its peak. A beautiful work of art, and what a performance. I remember seeing this on DVD back when it was released and being absolutely stunned.
I never put much attention to lyrics but on this song the lyrics are like a poem and those guitar chords are probably the most beautiful scale I've heard to this day.
This has to be my favorite Divine Comedy piece, and this spare, haunting performance is utterly shattering. Such a beautiful and heartbreaking tale told through song. Neil Hannon is a poet.
One of those songs I never want to stop, and as the timer counts up towards the end and the crescendo builds, I know the end is coming and I feel very sad...
I only discovered Neil Hannon and The Divine Comedy because Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet played National Express on his new BBC radio show at the weekend. I have been listening daily ever since. Have I been hiding under a rock for the last 25 years? Why is this man not more widely acclaimed?
I had the pleasure and pure privilege of seeing and listening to him perform on stage at St George's in Liverpool. I have never, and shall never, forget his repetoire and performance. With love to you Neil, your lovely wife and family, and a shout out to Father Ted!!!! You shall forever live and sing in my heart!!!
Neil Hannon is Ireland's greatest songwriter ever. If there was a Nobel Prize for songwriting then this man would certainly win it. And what a singer and musician taboot. Thanks for all the art so far and for giving me the opportunity to see you perform in the flesh. Your music is intensely appreciated by so many. x
THERE IS A BOOK by Liz Nugent. She says she got her inspiration for the novel when she heard this song during the pandemic. I LOVED THE BOOK. Needless to say, I LOVE THE SONG AS WELL. By the way, the book is called SKIN DEEP.
This is just fucking... so good and gorgeous and satirical and you love her coz it's not her fault but so many things are the fault of her and people like her, but she's so sad and lost and it's totally brilliantly brought to life and it always makes me want to that The Jam song next where she's alone at 6 o'clock and she drops the cup and your brain goes crazy with love for other humans and maybe then you cry but then you feel better.
@@ramice22 this is one of his best solo shows, in my opinion ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bbsOcdEpj1Q.html I have compiled my own album of solo version of his songs (pinched from RU-vid!) as I do agree it really brings another dimension to the songs. As beautiful as the often elaborate orchestrations can be, it's also lovely to hear them in a simpler form.
A beautiful shiver of memories, no regrets. This song brings me to such a great place in my life. Sometimes you want to go back in time just to feel something again, not to change it.
This song leaves me feeling sorry for humanity. It's a brilliant take on our society. Add in a great melody, feel and chord sequences and you are left with close to perfection.
I don’t remember much from my childhood as it was quite traumatic. However, I can remember certain songs like this that remind me there were better times.
Époustouflant... I feel like you talk to me, to us and i fall in love about this Comedy ;-) C'est plus que de la chanson à ce stade... Merciiiiiiii Neil Hannon, Divine Comedy
🥀Comment il enveloppe cette chanson, Neil❣️Il m’envoûte à chaque fois avec sa belle voix douce, sa partenaire qu’il gratte pour qu’elle le soutienne et cette histoire pittoresque chantée que j’écoute, en boucle, par une journée propice à une certaine mélancolie avec un avant goût d’Automne. Que j’♥️ce chanteur, si généreux, si humble qui nous donne l’envie de vivre, d’aimer, de s’aimer, d’être bon et tolérant...tout simplement.🌹 Anne🥀🇫🇷...18.9.2022
This, is a masterpiece. To describe this as a simple song would be a horrible mistake. It's a way of life, so much that it has made me the better person i am today. I do not know how people don't recognize this man's ability to sing. Even live, like now, is amazing. I wish people would realize this man's voice.
15 years ago I lived in England. Today I live in Australia. Makes no difference. Who doesn't dream about sailing around the cote d zur. The greatness of this song is overwhelming.
🥀MASTERPIECE🥀 🌹Chef-d’œuvre🌹ou comment décrire avec courtoisie et élégance et une petite pointe d’ironie, la vie d’une Dame d’un Certain Âge, riche, si loin de nos préoccupations et pourtant, nous émouvoir. Par une merveilleuse chanson à deux voix OUI❣️La guitare de Neil chante en accord avec sa très belle voix et c’est d’une telle générosité que je me permets d’en redemander. Neil HANNON est un GENTLEMAN. Anne🥀🇫🇷26.8.2022
WOOOOWWWW ! @ NEIL HANNON je te connais depuis ton duo avec Valérie Lemercier en 1995 qui m'avais bien fait rire ! je t'ai retrouvé il y'a 4 ans et depuis je ne te lache plus... pour moi tu es sur cette pauvre terre un des artistes les plus sympas et des plus accessibles, et mélodiquement... le meilleur ! longue vie à toi et à ta carrière... ne changes rien...
A masterpiece really. I have played and sung this a few times in public. It is full of chords and I can get nowhere near his soulful baritone. But it's Ed Sheeran who gets £700 million plus for a World Tour. Something wrong with the World I feel.
EDD the ginger winger doesn't come close got to see him once totally outperformed by another act with him foy vance. that was quite a few years ago now seen foy half a dozen times wouldn't bother with the ginge.
If you want an example of the power of breath, here it is. The transfer between soft mesmerising vocals and powerful somatic strumming. This is my favourite video.....ever!!!!!
Absolutely. If you enjoy thank kind of story, you have to read Liz Nugent's Skin Deep, inspired on this song. Every country has these ladies of a certain age. Here in third-world Argentina we have ours...
For me one of the two outstanding songs on Victory for the Comic Muse ... not only it's catchy, it's got this melancholy bitter-sweet atmosphere thar perfectly fits the lyrics, which I cared for immediately when the album was released. And this stipped-down version shows well how the song is great just with an acoustic guitar.. Splendid melody, tasteful, subtle witty lyrics. Hats off to Neil for this song ! When I think i saw him solo with a guitar in 1994, opening for Tori Amos and not knowing who he was (he didn't even introduced himself !) and being hooked. I really wish I had a recording of that special moment !
This is just a superb song on every level... A fantastic story with lyrics that are clever and witty.. Perfect... Keep them coming Neil and thankyou to the provider of this clip.
