52 Songs Project #33: Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye
I have loved this song for a long time. I got to know Annie Lennox's recording of it very well, which was part of the 1990 album Red Hot + Blue, the first in the series of compilation albums from the Red Hot Organization. The album features pop performers reinterpreting several songs of Cole Porter, and it was one of the first major AIDS benefits in the music business.
In the context of HIV, the lyrics to this song are devastating, and Annie Lennox brings a deep and weighty sensitivity to her performance. But there are many lovely versions of this well-crafted, clever song that bring a little more levity to it, including one by none other than Sideshow Bob of The Simpsons.
PDX Vox singer Weina Dinata brought this song in for us to work on together for the spring song salon, and she was inspired by Carly Simon's version, which is as light and upbeat as I can imagine. The video of the apparently ageless Carly singing and spinning to the groove is a little strange and seemingly unrelated to the message of the song, but it's always exciting to hear an old song through a new lens.
Here's my rough working version, which has been influenced by both of those extremes. I left Sideshow Bob out of it, or so I hope.
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