“Won't you pick the pieces up 'cause it feels just like I'm walking on broken glass…”
Photo by Mike Owen
I’ve been on a bit of an Annie Lennox kick this week, and it always takes me back to how I first came to know her music. Of course, everyone knows “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” but for years, I had no idea who that unmistakable voice belonged to, or that she was half of one of the most iconic duos in rock music history.
About 22 or 23 years ago, I was dating someone who had a huge, poster-sized print of the Bare album cover hanging on their bedroom wall. I remember looking at it and thinking, “Who the heck is Annie Lennox, and why would anyone like her?”
Fast forward a few years. I’d moved to Nashville and was working at a record store when I saw the gorgeous cover of her then-upcoming album, Songs of Mass Destruction. Something about it caught my attention, so I started listening.
I was blown away.
Before long, I was consuming as much of Annie’s music as I possibly could.
Here are a few of my favorites from the albums of her post-Eurythmics solo career.
Photo by Satoshi Saikusa | Design by Laurence Stevens
DIVA - released April 6, 1992
“Now,
Hear this
Pay attention to me
'Cause I'm a rich white girl and it's plain to see
I got every kind of thing that the money can buy
Let me tell you all about it
Let me amplify
I got diamonds?
You heard about those
I got so many that I can't close my safe at night in the dark
Lying awake in a sick dream” - “Money Can’t Buy It”
I don’t know what it is about “Money Can’t Buy It,” but I keep gravitating toward it. My favorite version comes from the …In the Park concert, which you can find on a bonus disc included with a special edition of Medusa (hello, digital release?!). I especially love the long intro of the live version. There’s just something about it that gets me psyched up every time.
Photo by Bettina Rheims | Design by Laurence Stevens
MEDUSA - released March 6, 1995
“From the very first time I rest my eyes on you, boy
My heart said follow through but I know now
That I'm way down on your line
But the waiting feeling's fine” - “Waiting In Vain”
I’m not even sure I knew a Bob Marley song before hearing Annie’s version of this one. But I didn’t completely fall in love with it until I discovered a live version tucked away on the European CD single for “Something So Right.” Recorded for BBC Radio 1, it’s an incredibly emotional, stripped-down acoustic performance and, once again, exactly the kind of catalog gem that deserves to be available on digital providers.
Photo by Allan Martin and Annie Lennox | Design by Allan Martin
BARE - released June 5, 2003
“And I've got a longin'
That's hard to find
Won't give me no peace of mind
Something that I've lived with all along
Days and weeks and months and years
Filling in the time my dear
Tryin' to find the place where I belong” - “Loneliness”
“Loneliness” is another song I keep gravitating toward. It starts quietly and gradually builds into something much more powerful. There’s even a Spanish-language version, “Soledad,” that would be perfect for a Digital Deluxe Edition of the album.
I also love “The Hurting Time.” At more than seven minutes, it was never exactly a contender for radio, but it’s a fantastic, jazz-infused track that deserves the time it takes to unfold.
Photo by Mike Owen | Design by Allan Martin
SONGS OF MASS DESTRUCTION - released October 1, 2007
“I think too much
I do too much
I fall too much
I fail too much
I cry too much
I die too much
I'm haunted by the ghosts in my machine” - “Ghosts In My Machine”
As I mentioned earlier, Songs of Mass Destruction is the album that started my journey through Annie Lennox’s musical history, all because of that dramatic cover, which so perfectly fits the album’s title. PopMatters described the artwork beautifully: “Lennox rises, phoenix-like, from the ashes of destruction, peering skyward, with a hint a determination in her eyes to soldier on amidst the debris, whether physical or emotional.”
“Ghosts in My Machine” fits me to a T. Maybe a little too well. It touches on something I’m trying to work on, albeit slowly.
The Barnes & Noble edition of the album also included an acoustic version of “Dark Road” and the bonus track “Don’t Take Me Down,” while other editions featured track-by-track commentary, video content, and exclusive live tracks. That commentary, in particular, would be perfect for Spotify’s commentary series. There’s so much material from this era just waiting to be brought together digitally.
It’s funny to think that more than 20 years ago, I looked at that Bare poster and wondered, “Who the heck is Annie Lennox, and why would anyone like her?” Now I’m the person tracking down European CD singles, special editions, live recordings, alternate versions, and bonus tracks just to hear a little more.
And maybe that’s part of what has kept me coming back to her music. There’s always something else to discover.
It also makes me wish more of these recordings were available digitally. So much great music is still tucked away on out-of-print singles, limited editions, bonus discs, and releases that most listeners will never stumble across. Digital Deluxe Editions could introduce some of these incredible performances to an entirely new audience while giving longtime fans a reason to rediscover them.
More than anything, though, I’m glad that gorgeous Songs of Mass Destruction cover caught my eye all those years ago. It opened the door to Annie Lennox for me, and more than two decades later, I’m apparently still finding reasons to walk through it.
