I dreamed a dream...

Lyrics by J. Wolf / Herron / Frank Sinatra

I'm a fool to want you
I'm a fool to want you
To want a love that can't be true
A love that's there for others too

I'm a fool to hold you
Such a fool to hold you
To seek a kiss not mine alone
To share a kiss that Devil has known

Time and time again I said I'd leave you
Time and time again I went away
But then would come the time when I would need you
And once again these words I had to say

Take me back, I love you
...I need you
I know it's wrong, it must be wrong
But right or wrong I can't get along

Without you



It's my birthday today... Finally, you say! She's only been prattling on about it for a week!

And I'm 46 years of age... And, like my friend said to me the other day - We've known one another for 28 years - 'Do you feel any different than you did when we met all those years ago, when we were 18, 19?'

I don't. But the face looking back at me from the miroir in my boudoir is not that young slip of a thing with what seemed like a world of imaginings, wonder, miracles and possibilities ahead of her.

But I'm probably more confident in myself and my abilities to cope with what life chucks at us than I was then. I'm not as pretty. I'm twice the girl I was in terms of girth. I'm even more barking than before with the lines of time on my face that even perfume can't erase...

And yet I'm happier in myself, in so many ways.

Except for one poignant, blowing out the candles moment... I want to magic myself into this romantic advert for Chanel.

I want to be Audrey Tautou in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's, (the director of Amelie), dream of the Orient Express, the Venice Simplon Express...

I want to be this young, this thin, this beautiful.

Maybe in the next life, eh?!!

Bonne journee, toujours alors, mes bloggy Wishing Wells!



And Billie sings, 'I'm a fool to want you...'

Trouble...

I had never heard of Ray Lamontagne before Taylor Hicks sang a soul-and-heart-felt 'Trouble' on American Idol back in 2006...

I really 'got', I understood where Taylor was coming from as an artist, his musical vibe, his soulful riff... And who cared that he was prematurely grey-gray-haired, like Leno, and could dance like your uncle at a wedding, according to Scowl... (Simon Cowell of Syco - Never was a company better named! ;) I love him really, even the high-waisted troos and regimental loo-brush coiffure! )

I was pleased when Taylor won the competition, but I was concerned that he'd have to compromise his musical style as a result of the 'Hollywood Artiste Mincing Machine', which he sort of didn't, but then again he got dropped by his record company just last year ~ So, hey-ho...

But I was intrigued, who the hell was Ray Lamontagne?

Please listen to this, if you can find the time...



Here are the Crazy lyrics
Songwriters: Burton, Brian Joseph; Callaway, Thomas Decarlo; Reverberi, Gian Piero; Reverberi, Gianfranco;

I remember when, I remember
I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so pleasant about that place
Even your emotions have an echo in so much space

And when you're out there without care
Yeah, I was out of touch
But it wasn't because I didn't know enough
I just knew too much

Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
Probably

And I hope that you are
Having the time of your life
But think twice
That's my only advice

Come on now, who do you
Who do you, who do you, who do you think you are?
Ha ha ha, bless your soul
You really think you're in control?

Well, I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
Just like me

My heroes had the heart
To lose their lives out on a limb
And all I remember
Is thinking, I want to be like them

Ever since I was little
Ever since I was little
It looked like fun
And it's no coincidence that I've come
And I can die when I'm done

But maybe I'm crazy
Maybe you're crazy
Maybe we're crazy
Probably


© CHRYSALIS MUSIC; UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBL. RICORDI S R L; WARNER/CHAPPELL MUSIC INT'L LTD;



This was Ray's version of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy (above), which I also adored.

But Ray's own singing and song-writing is something else -- Soulful, pained, soaringly beautiful, and I have just managed to procure one ticket to see him in Newcastle later in the year...

This will be the second time I have been to one of his concerts, and he has been touring almost relentlessly, building his audience, over the past few years...

Ray is still seen as something of an underdog in the music industry.

'Under The Radar', a little like Taylor Hicks' first album...

He is avoiding the music gurus' strong sway... To cut his hair, wear what they dictate, lose the beard, be more outgoing - less private... To be more commercial in fact...

Ray has been known to perform like a soulful angel, but to say nothing to the audience at all...

Why should we expect that of anyone? Their art should be enough to cover the price of our theatre ticket, in my oh-so humble opinion...

There may be some hope for lovely Susan Boyle from Britain's Got Talent after all...