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One of my favourite songs, this performance by Carmen Mc Rae. I heard other versions by her, but this is my favourite. The lyrics are very well crafted, the music matches it perfectly, the pace of the song, the pianist's performance... For me (and this is of course very discussable) it is interweaved with irony. A picture, with flat bright sunlight, no cloud, full of carelessness, but very quickly, you can feel that it's to beautiful to be true. The tempo of the depiction, the enumeration, gives it some hypnotic-haunting effect. It could have for instance, for the sake of the narration, have turned into a horrid scene, or in mere nostalgia, or sarcasm, but it's just because of this pretty balanced composition, with simple, soft strokes, sung with lots of attitude, that it is not just beautiful but terribly beautiful. I could listen over and over to this song (though I avoid the overdose). And then, not to forget, the brilliant, great finale, that's says (sings) it all ; Life, how inexorable, how unlivable it may be, it is all there is, the here, the now.
Thanks Miss McRae and very tender greetings to all of you.