| Christine
on... |
| Fly
Me to the Moon |
"There
is that wonderful moment in a song between the verse and the release...You listen to the
verse and you're saying - "what IS that...", "where is this GOING..."
and then the song releases and everything in you releases with it...That's what happened to me the day I
heard Tony Bennett sing this song." |
| Song
of Bernadette |
"A
certain school of thought believes that all illness is caused by resentment and lack of
forgiveness. Whatever your belief, these are extremely uncomfortable states of mind
to find yourself constantly absorbed in. The beauty of this song softened me and my
own mind-state the first time I heard it...looking at forgiveness through the child
Bernadette and her vision." |
| On
a Clear Day (You Can See Forever) |
"'Clear
day' came about in a traffic jam between 33rd and 34th Street in Manhattan. Marty
just started beating rhythms out on the steering wheel of the car and the rhythms and
arrangement of the song as it is on my recording just came about in 30 minutes. We
said, 'We've got to have a couple of 'up' tunes, you know!'" |
| Harry's
Dreams |
"Joel
Higgins wrote 'Harry's Dreams' for his friend Hap quite a few years ago....Hap recently
died of cancer, a young man with young kids. I met him a few times, didn't know him
well, but I wanted to sing his dream, his song. |
| Love
is Good |
"Marty
originally wrote this for an off-Broadway show some time ago. The first time I heard
it, I heard French --everywhere--! We were putting together a concert for the White
House, a really elegant and private affair for a very sophisticated crowd--French was a
good idea--Years later, I used this song for my 'Pimpernel' audition for the very French
Marguerite St. Just--again, it was a very good idea and kept me busy for a year on
Broadway. It also sounded like a beautiful
title for an album..." |
| Love
Don't Need a Reason |
"I met
Peter Allen working with him in 'Legs Diamond' in 1989. What a great songwriter and
entertainer...what a great guy. I never found out the real story behind this song,
but I'm told it was written for his lover before his death, the message being, 'I'm
staying whether you like it or not. There is no time in our lives right now for
remorse or guilt, forget about it. I'm here for you'. It's a very special love
song." |
| Pirate |
"Marty
found 'Pirate' somewhere in Nashville. It's kind of surreal. I can just see
the video: A woman in a long, black dress walking around her widows walk high atop her
house on the New England coast at turn of the century, looking out at the stormy grey sea.
She's waiting for her man to come home, he never does...I know, I know,...too many gothic
novels...I love that stuff." |
| Cover
Me (Featuring Joel Higgins) |
"Joel
and Marty wrote 'Cover Me' and it was just a unique way of looking at romantic
partnerships. It says, 'cover me, take care of me, when I'm a little out of it I
know you're going to be there to help me through it'. It wasn't like 'save me' -
that's different. I don't do "I'm nothing - save me" songs - I can't stand
those songs. But 'Cover Me' is different. It says, 'I'm just feeling a
little depleted right now, so help me get back on track'. I love that idea and I
loved singing with Joel. He was great." |
| The
Moon's a Harsh Mistress |
"Jim
Webb is a wondrous writer and I consider this a poem set to music, full of images and
symbols. I understand it to mean that woman is a mystery even to herself. We
are essentially intuitive and don't always understand what we do or why." |
| Storybook |
"'Storybook'
truly speaks for itself. I was playing Marguerite in The Scarlet Pimpernel
and Frank Wildhorn allowed me to include this song on my album before the cast album was
even begun. Harold Wheeler and Marty arranged it a bit differently, but it's the
same exuberant waltz." |
| All
My Tomorrows |
"One
of Sammy's great songs. I worked with Sammy Cahn in a musical called 'Words and
Music', my first Broadway show. Sammy was a real character and adored singing and
playing his own music. I could sing a hundred versions of this sentiment if I could
find them--'times get tough, but together we'll always find our way and move
on.'" |
| Some
Enchanted Evening / Younger than Springtime (Featuring
Joel Higgins) |
"Sometimes
you can put a song or songs in a fresh context and it wakes you up to the song again - You
hear the lyrics' intent and the beauty of the musical line anew - with all its
integrity."
|
| And
So It Goes |
"The
first time I heard Billy Joel sing this song I sat very still for a long time. His
voice came from a place so deep within himself, it was one of the most private readings of
a song I had ever heard, like Kristofferson's eulogy to Janice Joplin, 'Why Was She Born
So Black and Blue'. I aim to be the kind of singer whose voice changes with the
intent of the song. To let the song color me."
"Marty and I recorded this album at
Angel Studios in London...it's an old church, and we sat in the hollowed out belly of this
old church together and recorded this song in one take...it was an exquisite experience." |
