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Rating:
ON HER SECOND ALBUM, A BEAUTIFUL CONFIRMATION
It was difficult for our Alison Moyet to repeat an album of the caliber of her solo debut three years earlier: ALF (1984) remains unsurpassed (and will remain so even later), but it's not like this RAINDANCING is undeserving of praise, quite the opposite.
There are at least a couple of excellences: one being «Weak In The Presence Of Beauty» and the other «Is This Love?» opening the respective sides of the original long-playing, both achieving excellent sales performances in the UK. The first had already been released a year earlier with little success by the synth-pop duo Floy Joy, but compared to the original, Alison's cover has quite another depth and manages to give an almost universal value to our feeling of powerlessness (that "I'm so weak" mentioned in the title) in the face of beauty, which can be the beauty of the loved one, but also more generally a sort of "great beauty" before its time. In the other hit from this album - «Is This Love?» - there’s a musical touch from Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics (credited as Jean Guiot for contractual reasons) who was at the peak of his grace in those years; while Alison sings with a nice loose flair, somewhat like Morrissey, a story full of sensuality (“I want your lips to kiss and our limbs to entwine”).
In effect, love & seduction are the thread that links all the songs: some dark like the intimacy of lovers («Blow Wind Blow» where she in a whisper invokes "Take me / Take me"); others more tangible («When I Say / No Giveaway») singing the "after" of a clandestine love ("Just give me back my negatives / And I won’t tell your wife about last night") or the epilogue of a female passion («Ordinary Girl»).
The album title is evocative but I found no references to this rain dance in the songs; the lyrics (except "Weak …") are by Alison herself who also participates in the music for many tracks; production by Jimmy Iovine, not exactly a newcomer (pronounced the American way: aiovin, even though it sounds a bit funny!); graphics, information, and song lyrics: all in order; for the cover, a nothing-special photo by Richard Haughton, with the accompaniment of rain droplets requested by the title. In short, for Alison Moyet, a beautiful confirmation: she may not have been the Adele of the 80s, but this album is worth a purchase even today.
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 Blow Wind Blow (05:49)
Don't cry
Please don't cry
I will take you somewhere
Where they cant hurt you
I wont let them hurt you now
Let them know that our love knows no shame
And we'll do it time and time and time again
'Till everything comes down
I'm not afraid
I'm not afraid
Blow wind blow
Blow dust into their eyes and
Make them see that they have always been blind
Touch me
I want to wrap you in my arms and
you'll have no reason for crying
Blow wind blow
Blow wind blow
Blow dust into their eyes and help them
realise that they have always been blind
And I could show you something that you would never believe
You could never conceive the joy that I could give you
Take me
Take me
Blow wind blow
Blow wind blow
Blow wind blow dust into their eyes and
let them know that nothing that we do will ever
Never be forgotten
Blow wind blow
Blow
Blow
Blow wind blow
04 Ordinary Girl (03:27)
She left on Sunday afternoon,
"It is the only way for everyone concerned" she said
And I could only ask her why,
But she just smiled and told me, one day I would learn
"Don't you worry, this will all make sense tomorrow,
Don't be sorry, that everything we shared will fade away
There's so much to see in each new day,
They'd never understand, I'm not an ordinary girl"
She took nothing but her clothes
Taking more would just remind her of her past, she said
I thought I'd never laugh again
On the day I said goodbye to my best friend
And now I understand, she's just an ordinary girl
07 Weak in the Presence of Beauty (03:46)
Oh, its a long time since I saw you
Well you know how time can fly
It seems like yesterday we were lovers
Now we pass each other by
But if we're left alone tonight, don't ask me to hold you tight
I go weak
I go weak
I go weak
I go weak, weak in the presence of beauty
All my friends, keep asking
why I'm quiet while you're around?
They dont know I think I'm so lucky to stop myself from falling down
So later if you're on your own
Don't ask me to take you home
I go weak
I go weak
I go weak
I go weak, weak in the presence of beauty
Cause if were left alone tonight
I'll have no choice but to hold you tight
I go weak
I go weak
I go weak
I go weak, weak in the presence of beauty
I go weak, darling, I love you
I go weak, theres no doubt about it
I go weak,
I go weak, weak in the presence of beauty
I go weak, youre my world
I go weak, I used to be your girl
I go weak
I go weak
weak in the presence of beauty...
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