Deixa-me rir...

Caros audiophiles, from a new artist for 2012 to a global star. Bryan Ferry continues to shine after 40 years performing solo and as singer/leader of Roxy Music. Maybe his new 29 year-old wife keeps him young.

I saw him in solo concert for the first time just before Christmas. He still has the smooth masculine style which made him desired by women and hated/admired by men, and he still surrounds himself with impeccable musicians and sexy dancers. This is just for spectacle because actually in conversation he is softly spoken and modestly unassuming.

Here are three songs from his solo career.

Slave To Love

Let's Stick Together

Bryan Ferry has always been a fine interpreter of other artists' songs, notably Bob Dylan. Here is a cover version from his first solo album, a timeless standard from the 1930s, which has always been a favourite of mine, and which exemplifies his sense of style and romanticism:

These Foolish Things 

Oh will you never let me be?
Oh will you never set me free?
The ties that bound us are still around us
There's no escape that I can see
And still those little things remain
That bring me happiness or pain
A cigarette that bears a lipstick's traces
An airline ticket to romantic places
And still my heart has wings
These foolish things
Remind me of you
A tinkling piano in the next apartment
Those stumbling words that told you what my heart meant
A fairground's painted swings
These foolish things
Remind me of you
You came, you saw, you conquered me
When you did that to me, I somehow knew that this had to be
The winds of March that make my heart a dancer
A telephone that rings - but who's to answer?
Oh, how the ghost of you clings
These foolish things
Remind me of you
Gardenia perfume ling'ring on a pillow
Wild strawb'ries only seven francs a kilo
And still my heart has wings
These foolish things
Remind me of you
The park at evening when the bell has sounded
The Isle de France with all the girls around it
The beauty that is Spring
These foolish things
Remind me of you
I know that this was bound to be
These things have haunted me
For you've entirely enchanted me
The sigh of midnight trains in empty stations
Silk stockings thrown aside, dance invitations
Oh, how the ghost of you clings
These foolish things
Remind me of you
First daffodils and long excited cables
And candlelight on little corner tables
And still my heart has wings
These foolish things
Remind me of you
The smile of Garbo and the scent of roses
The waiters whistling as the last bar closes
The song that Crosby sings
These foolish things
Remind me of you
How strange, how sweet to find you still
These things are dear to me
That seem to bring you so near to me
The scent of smould'ring leaves, the wail of steamers
Two lovers on the street who walk like dreamers
Oh, how the ghost of you clings
These foolish things
Remind me of you, just you

A proxima.

PO