Subscribe
now to receive all the new
music
Allison Crowe creates,
including
26 back-catalog releases,
delivered instantly to you via the Bandcamp app for iOS and Android.
Learn more.
Famous in its original, glorious, pop incarnation by singer-songwriter Annie Lennox, "Why" is a song recast here by Allison Crowe’s elemental voice and guitar.
“Art is emotion” observed Alfred Hitchcock, and the Canadian musician’s singular way of communicating emotion makes her one of the great interpreters in popular music today as well as one of our finest modern songwriters and concert performers.
Strings on this version are arranged and orchestrated by Hollywood film-scorer Kayla Schmah – herself an artist inspired by the themes and ideas of Hitch’s frequent collaborator, the brilliant, pioneering, composer Bernard Herrmann.
The music's visually paired with an excerpt from Jean Vigo's marvellous cinema masterpiece - "L'Atalante" (1934) – one of the most beautiful, poetically real, films ever made. Lovers of movies – of life itself - seek it out, and enjoy the full experience.
This, the second version of this song on Allison Crowe's "Spiral" album, features additional string orchestration.
lyrics
Why
Composed by Annie Lennox
As Performed by Allison Crowe
How many times do I have to try to tell you
That I'm sorry for the things I've done
But every time I go to tell you
That's when you have to tell me
Hey, this kind of trouble's only just begun
I told myself too many times
Why don't you learn to keep your big mouth shut
That's why it hurts so bad to hear the words
That keep on falling from your mouth
Falling from your mouth
Falling from your mouth
Tell me
Why
Tell me, why
I may be mad
I may be blind
I may be viciously unkind
But I can still read what you're thinking
And I've heard it said too many times
That you'd be better off
Besides
Why can't you see that this boat is sinking
this boat is sinking, this boat is sinking
Let's go down to the water's edge
And we can cast away your doubts
Some things are better left unsaid
But they still turn me inside out
Turning inside out,
turning inside out
Tell me
Why
Tell me
Why
This is the book I never read
And these are the words I never said
And this is the path I'll never tread
And these are the dreams I'll dream instead
And this is the joy that's seldom spread
And these are the tears,
The tears we’ve shed
This is the fear
And this is the dread
And these are the contents of my head
These are the years that we have spent
And this is what they represent
This is how I feel
Do you know how I feel?
I don't think you know how I, why I, feel
credits
from Songbook,
released March 17, 2014
Allison Crowe - voice, guitar, engineer
Kayla Schmah - orchestrator, string arranger, producer
"The Keys" fully displays the formidable talents of Erica Mulkey, along with the sense of playfulness and humour that makes her work so enjoyable. "Trouble" is an impressively sensual and charming song, and "Cruelty" and "Fugue Fugue" are also particularly strong tracks that fully display Mulkey's musical strengths. Special props are reserved for the mash up of Kate Bush and Ciara. a clever blend of two thematically similar songs that work wonderfully together. rikm
This posthumous record by the lead singer of the Tragically Hip, containing both electric & acoustic takes, showcases his songwriting gifts. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 12, 2020