Your favorite Lani Hall-written lyric?

[William]

Lani's singing is rightfully lauded on a regular basis, but I'm curious as to what the general opinion is on the lyrics she penned. I'm expecting "Festa" to rank highly and "Where Are You Coming From" to come out near the bottom, based upon previous commentary. I limited this poll to Lani's career with Brasil '66 since that's probably the period people here will be most familiar with.

Anyway, Lani's lyrics strike me as "stream of consciousness" things, concentrating more on imagery and emotion than on symmetry or rhyme. It works better in some songs than others, IMO. She did have a knack for coming up with some evocative turns of phrase, a talent which I personally think was best exploited in the songs "Crystal Illusions" and "Empty Faces."


- William

 

[Rudy]

"Like A Lover" ranks tops with me (how can a person not melt with that singer and those lyrics )..."Festa" a very close second, tied with "Song Of No Regrets" and possibly a couple of others. Near the bottom? "The Look Of Love." Just because I dislike the trite, poppish arrangement compared to Dusty Springfield's original version (which is one of the few that preserves the original meaning of the song), and it just feels completely "generic pop song" to me. This one ranks only above those dark, gloomy tunes like "Where Are You Coming From".

I hardly own any solo Lani recordings anyway, although I favor the Latin or Brazilian recordings more than anything else I've heard. That album that I believe she recorded with Calderon (Fandango's producer) is one I've been searching for.

It's your poll, amigo--if you want to add "Like A Lover", fine. If you want to limit it to the songs listed, I'll make my choice from those.

-= N =-
...who wonders how to vote for "tied for second place" in his own personal list...

 

[William]

Well... I left out your favorites because Lani didn't write them. "Like A Lover" is a Bergman lyric, "Look Of Love" is of course Hal David's.

The poll is supposed to be just the songs that Lani actually wrote the words to herself. I'll edit the poll to clear up any confusion.


- William

 

[Harry]

^^ Well, I understood your poll, William, even if our fearless leader had a brain cramp!

Have to go with "Festa." One song I always had a problem with, lyric-wise is "Canto Triste." The song is lush and sensual, but the lyrics seem to ramble on a bit, not really "fitting". Somehow, they seem jumbled. Hard to explain.

Harry
...fully comprehending, online...

 

[DAN BOLTON]

My knowledge and exposure to Lani's writing is limited to "Crstal Illusions", which is something of an acquired taste...I don't think it will ever rest as one of their best works...it's too far "out there" for my tastes, although the chorus isn't too far out of the mainstream. I think we have an idea of what the NEXT poll might be, though....


Dan

 

[Mike Blakesley]

As happens often, I tend to agree with Harry. "Festa" is one of my all time favorite B'66 songs.

I also love "Crystal Illusions," always have. In the store, back in the 70s we had a "quad" setup that would 'synthesize' quad sound from non-quad LPs. It was a real trip to crank up "Crystal Illusions" and sit in the middle of the speakers. That song is just so spooky, it's great. Although I don't really listen to it for the lyrics, just love the sound of it.

The only song I really hate on this list is "Where Are You Coming From?"

 

[Rudy]

^^ Well, I understood your poll, William, even if our fearless leader had a brain cramp!

Your "fearsome leader" is also having "a really bad week" that will probably last until next spring, and doesn't quite understand a lot of what's going on right now either....

I voted for "Festa", just because it's more cheerful. "Song Of No Regrets," though...it's a close race.

-= N =-
...who plans a faraway vacation next year...