I was in a shop yesterday. It had piped music playing over the PA. One of the tracks had a young male voice singing the old Sting classic ‘Fields of Gold.’ It was that sort of voice that gets on in the commercial world, the sort that wins TV talent shows: cold, dull, characterless - at best ‘correct,’ but nothing more. All ego and no soul.
The version I have is the one sung by Eva Cassidy. I don’t think any song sung by any singer has ever touched me as much as that one sung by her. It illustrates perfectly the difference between real music and the drab, lifeless stuff that makes a lot of money and projects its purveyors into the empty world of celebrity.
Of course, I never knew Eva Cassidy, but it seems she didn’t seek celebrity. It’s possible she never even knew how good she was. By all accounts she was a brilliant light that burned briefly and intensely, as the purest lights often do, and then went out early. I like to think she has returned to the realm of angels, whence she came.
For what Eva Cassidy possessed was the ability to take a lyric and a melody, and mould it into magic. How she did it, I don’t know; I’m not a magician. All I do know is that listening to her is a unique experience. I like a lot of singers, but none has quite the magic she had.
Blessings Eva Cassidy, wherever you are now. Thank you for the magic.
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I met Eva Cassidy once - she was a gardener at that time. She was (and is) sublime. Perfect as peaches.
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