I’m finishing some work at my desk tonight, listening to Eva Cassidy’s gorgeous cover of Cyndi Lauper’s aching “Time After Time”. Cassidy performed this version at the Blues Alley club in Georgetown, DC, ten months and one day before her death. She was 33 when she died from melanoma in 1996.
“Lying in my bed I hear the clock tick,
And think of you …”
Lauper’s song and this recording by Cassidy overflow with yearning.
Writers understand there is no story without yearning.
Take five minutes to listen to Cassidy’s recording. It’s hard to listen only once.
Look up Lauper’s lyrics and read them with care.
“Secrets stolen from deep inside
The drum beats out of time…”
Listen to the recording again, and let it flow through you. Experience the desire, the regret, the tension of longing, hear the rise and fall of the music, hear how it’s set to–and in contrast to–the words. Together they tell a story.
“You said go slow
I fall behind
The second hand unwinds…”
