Erasure
Am I Right?

Regarding my magical world, there aren't many songs, at least in the pop realm, that offer so many points of interest and reflection on various levels like “Am I Right?”. Regardless of any metric, sophistication, songwriting depth, originality, whatever parameter; this is an emblematic chapter that goes beyond mere personal affection, that exceeds even the very name of Erasure, towards which my admiration and appreciation are well known and acknowledged.

“Am I Right?” is above all a change of season, a song (successful single, let's always keep that in mind, it’s indeed a detail but a very important one) that sets the pace for a turning point, a change of intents and sounds in its genre and obviously for Erasure themselves. Yes, only three years have passed, but between these Erasure and those of “A Little Respect” there is a significant gap; this applies to the whole album, “Chorus”, and “Am I Right?” is the undisputed emblem of this change.

Apart from the change in sound, definitely more “fluid” compared to that of the previous decade, in these four minutes, sequins, choreographies, scripts, all that kitsch imagery are set aside, which, if overused or without wise management, turns from a resource into a burden. It is the change of “era” that demands the metamorphosis, Erasure respond affirmatively without distorting themselves, following their guidelines, the public approves. A case where everything went right, as it should always be.

“Am I Right?” is their most beautiful song, in my opinion (though not just mine), also considering the “Erasure” album of '95 in its entirety. It is a combination of empathy, freshness, and magnetism that makes it great, with its enveloping minimalist sound, synth without additional frills, and above all the best vocal performance of Andy Bell's entire career, an absolute protagonist, never heard like this, never so “credible”, neither before nor after.

“Am I Right?” is a love song without limits and barriers, with lyrics that aren’t just poetry in their wonderful sequence of images evoked with absolute clarity by Andy, but something much more concrete, after all …

“Look at all the lonely people
Walking miles around the town
I can see the old cathedral
But I have to play it down

Boats along the river
Setting up their sails
And life carries on as normal
Although you're not around”

These are ordinary images and sensations, expressed without metaphors, without circumlocutions, sensations that have crossed anyone's life, and the greatness lies also in this, in being able to create something special starting from something “common”, even overused. And it's not easy, to do this you especially need a sensitivity above the average. And that, combined with intelligence, is also needed to carry out a velvet revolution like Erasure did; without destroying anything, without iconoclastic frenzies, simply trying to improve on what was already good, trying to evolve a genre, trying to surpass their own limits. For this and other reasons, “Am I Right?” is part of my personal Olympus and deserves a grand celebration, exactly 25 years after its release; a quarter of a century beautifully carried.