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Billie Myers, another one-hit wonder from the '90s, that decade promising the rebirth of rock (as if that were inherently good) at the expense of the glossy pop of the '80s, which, instead, did nothing but create new commercial stereotypes, another talent sacrificed on the altar of the recording business in the face of talent and meritocracy, to whom I intend, in my own small way, to pay homage and delve into as she deserves.
Probably the lack of lasting success for this very talented singer and songwriter can be traced to a banal and sordid matter of targeting: with an English mother and Jamaican father, Billie Myers in her first album "Growing, Pains" combines a predominantly rock instrumentation, almost solely based on both acoustic and electric guitars with a stunning soulful voice, powerful yet at the same time gentle, soft, delicate, presenting herself with a simple and clean image, with the humility of someone who comes from climbing the ranks in local venues and not from some silly girl band. The good (so to speak) Desmond Child, producer of "Growing, Pains" understood: this girl was good for a hit, but for real money, sincerity and cleanliness don't pay; one had to bank on ostentation, on arrogance, on sensuality flaunted as in the worst dive bars of Caracas, thus on the likes of Beyonce, Anastacia, Alicia Keys who in a few years would invade hit parades and glossy covers.
Returning to us, Billie Myers' debut is an album superbly produced and arranged, in a predominantly rock-soul key interspersed with some acoustic moments, a single concession to electronics, none to hip-hop. The vocal power and class of the Anglo-Caribbean singer interpret with absolute perfection, with the right intensity and the right sense of measure and style ballads of great class and transport like the hit "Kiss The Rain", "A Few Words Too Many", the more tormented "Please Don't Shout", a beautiful and liberating "You Send Me Flying", and the soft and consoling "Opposites Attract", while episodes like "The Shark And The Mermaid" and "Much Change Too Soon" demonstrate a marked folk sensitivity, with a touch of gospel in "Mother, Daughter, Sister, Lover", an anthem to sincere and authentic femininity. "Having Trouble With The Language", which satirizes President Clinton's romantic mishaps and all the related hypocrisy, represents the most oriented side of the record on the more "white" pop rock along with "First Time", a song that, especially in the chorus, showcases a radio-friendly, lively, and catchy style that would be repeatedly and successfully reprised by P!nk, while "Tell Me" plays with electronics, with hints of Arabesque world music creating an intense, evocative and sensual rock mid-tempo.
Even being a product perfectly in line with radio standards, "Growing, Pains" is an album of great character and high quality, showing that a different pop is possible, but unfortunately can never dominate in the world of image and profit; many artists, even talented ones, have chosen to compromise with this, Billie Myers, like Fastball in another musical field, did not, with her life choices, her sincerity, her refusal to bow to squalid commercial logic that led her to a dimension of total media invisibility, she proved to be a thinking head, a real person, a true Woman, and not a puppet, and this is even more important than being an honest and talented singer-songwriter with a beautiful voice, and for this she deserves respect and admiration regardless, and, why not, even a listen without snobbery and preconceptions.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Kiss the Rain (04:30)
Hello
Can you hear me?
Am I gettin' through to you?
Hello
Is it late there?
There's a laughter on the line
Are you sure you're there alone?
'Cause I'm
Trying to explain
Something's wrong
You just don't sound the same
Why don't you
Why don't you
Go outside
Go outside
Kiss the rain
Whenever you need me
Kiss the rain
Whenever I'm gone, too long.
If your lips
Feel lonely and thirsty
Kiss the rain
And wait for the dawn.
Keep in mind
We're under the same sky
And the nights
as empty for me, as for you
If you feel
You can't wait till morning
Kiss the rain
Kiss the rain
Kiss the rain
Hello
Do you miss me?
I hear you say you do
But not the way I'm missing you
What's new?
How's the weather?
Is it stormy where you are?
You sound so close but it feels
like you're so far
Oh would it mean anything
If you knew
What I'm left imagining
In my mind
In my mind
Would you go
Would you go
Kiss the rain
And you'd fall over me
Think of me
Think of me
Think of me
Only me
Kiss the rain
Whenever you need me
Kiss the rain
Whenever I'm gone too long
If your lips
Feel lonely and tempted
Kiss the rain
and wait for the dawn
Keep in mind
We're under the same sky
And the nights
As empty for me, as for you
If you feel
You can't wait till morning
Kiss the rain
Kiss the rain
Kiss the rain
Kiss the rain
Kiss the rain
Oooooohhhhh
Kiss the rain
Oooooohhhhh
Kiss the rain
Hello
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
04 You Send Me Flying (03:56)
I don't want to make a habbit of this
But seeing you is like getting a fix
Everytime I kid myself
"I'll never do it again"
Defenition of love on a cliff
A lemming has no alternative
I wanna die in your arms
That's my suicide wish
It's only 13 hours
Till I leave the ground
And I may never come down again
So will you meet me there
On a ride somewhere?
Just turn left at the sun before it sets
Let's go naked
Would you dare?
You
You send me flying
You send me flying
You send me flying
You're knocking me over
You
You send me flying
You send me flying
You send me flying
Flying
Over the moon for joy
I don't wanna make a fool of myself
'Specially since you're with somoeone else
Outwardly demure
I would die for you
You'll forgive my inclination to tell
I threw my wishes down your wishing well
I want you know
In a non too subtle way
You want me too?
So will you meet me there
On a ride somewhere?
Just turn right at the moon before it moves
Let's go naked
Would you dare?
You
You send me flying
You send me flying
You send me flying
You're knocking me over
You
You send me flying
You send me flying
You send me flying
Flying
Over the moon for joy
You send me flying
You send me flying
You send me flying
You
You send me flying
You send me flying
You send me flying
You're knocking me over
You
You send me flying
You send me flying
You send me flying
Flying
Over the moon for joy
Definition of love on a cliff
A lemming has no alternative
I wanna die in your arms
That's my suicide wish
08 The Shark and the Mermaid (03:49)
Without a moment's hesitation
They threw caution to the wind
He thought
iShe must be blind not see/i
He was no prince charming
No beauty
She held flowers at her finger tips
And honey fell from her lips
He dived into the ocean's water
She swam with the morning mist
He said
If it's mine
It will be always yours
Cast away any doubt
And open up those doors
It was the Shark and the Mermaid
Making love again
It was the Shark and the Mermaid
Falling in love again
It was the Shark and the Mermaid
Proving everybody wrong
It was the Shark and the Mermaid
Swimming by again
But as they grew in mind and body
And the days turned into years
He thought
iOne day she might go away/i
But her love overshadowed his fears
Under the liquid sky where they lived
They were legends to behold
Fate distracted by their simple charms
Left them there to love alone
Now the angels wait patiently
For the shadows down below
They stop and smile because
It's just the Shark and the Mermaid
Making love again
Just the Shark and the Mermaid
Falling in love again
It's just the Shark and the Mermaid
Proving everybody wrong
It's just the Shark and the Mermaid
And the Mermaid
And the Mermaid
And the Mermaid
Nobody though that their love would last
Everybody looked
And everybody laughed
But the Mermaid and the Shark
They just slipped away
Nothing stopped them
Noone got in the way
Standing together as lovers and friends
They stayed together
Their love knew no ends
Proving everybody wrong
They grew together
They were strong
Everybody was wrong
About the
About the Shark and the Mermaid
Making love again
The Shark and the Mermaid
Falling in love again
Shark and the Mermaid
Together till the end
It was the Shark and the Mermaid
And the Mermaid
And the Mermaid making love
It was the Shark and the Mermaid making love
Making love
Making love
Making love
Making love
10 Opposites Attract (03:37)
I've watched the morning undress you
So many times but I still catch my every breath
It hasn't always been easy
So many changes
But time washes over us
No you don't blame me for all that I'm not
For all that I am you say is so much more than good enough
Who said that opposites don't attract
If you say this then I'll always say that
Who said that opposites don't attract
If black is white, and white is black
Then it's the fact we're both different
That makes us the same
That makes us the same
Friends say that we've got nothing in common
In different shoes but it's the same ground we're walking on
Everything that is different is still,
{Still talking under siege}, but that won't pull us apart
You say you love me for all that I'm not
And I still love you for all that you are
Who says that opposites don't attract
If you say this then I'll always say that
Who says that opposites don't attract
If black is white, and white is black
Then it's the fact we're both different
That makes us the same
But we always
Find ourselves
In the middle
Oh I don't blame you for all that you're not
For all that you are is so much more than good enough
Who said that opposites don't attract
If you say this then I'll always say that
Who said that opposites don't attract
You and me, me and you
Yeah, it's the fact that we're different
Yeah, it's the fact that we're different
That makes us the same
I'll never ask you to change
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