Please excuse the lengthy explanations, but this album is so great that I can’t just rush through it. This is also why it took so long for me to compile this review. The album awakens so many emotions. There is so much to say about this album.
A Wonderful Life ReviewI’m honest when I say that this album did not have the same impact on me as Lara’s debut English album. It did not have that striking effect of each song making you anticipate the next one. This album grew on me the more I listened to it and soon realized that this album was not made to impress, but to touch. Once the beautiful selection of songs moves you, you understand how exceptional this album really is. If it is able to move you emotionally then it must be a special album and a wonderful artistic feat by the artist. Most albums are designed to appeal to a wide audience (something that Lara is trying to do with her next release) but you get goose bumps if you think that this album was designed especially for you. Yes I get the feeling Lara compiled this album with her loyal fans in mind, French, English, it doesn’t matter, she made this one for her fans. But why, may you ask? It’s really simple if you know what circumstances was present in Lara’s life during the making of this album. It is something I can’t express with words, how an artist uses the same record company to publish an album, which generally speaks of her struggle with them, it is something I can’t comprehend. Just shows that most record companies doesn’t understand the language of music, they only understand the music of money, Lara knew this and I believe this is why she took this chance.
If you look even deeper into the songs of this album you see that she did not only write about her own life struggles these songs are universal, telling a stories most of us experience in our lives all of the time: pain, struggle, love, sorrow, frustration, the list is never ending. I think this album was made during one of the most difficult times in her life. Her dearest companion Rick was no longer with her, although they did not always get along and agreed with everything, I think Rick has been the only one who really understood Lara’s music. Just think what this album would have been if Rick were on the production team. Without Rick’s presence she had to stand on her own two feet at the mercy of a record company not giving her the artistic freedom she deserved. But was she really denied artistic freedom in this album? I think this is a lame excuse many people used to label the album as a failure. Lara is a very clever songwriter. If you don’t allow her to do things her way she will find a way, even if it meant that things had to be done another way. She reached her goals with every song and because she kept the goals in her eyesight, it did not matter how she got there. In the end she pleased the record company, but laughed to them in “Silence” because she reached her goals in the end. Maybe not in terms of the distribution of the album, but the album itself was a great success. This is the one thing so many people overlooked in 2004. You can’t label an album as a failure if the record company refuses to give the album the exposure it deserves. I wish that music fans can realize, it is not the record company who makes the album a success (although they have the last say), but it is the artist behind the album. It is really as simple as that, without the artist there is no album, no matter how big and influential the record company is.
This brings us to another piece of criticism the album received. Many people felt that the album was rushed because she only wrote 7 of the 12 songs on the album. Hey that is 58% of the album. The other 42% was not merely picked at random, Lara is an artist, and she picks songs for her album with a specific reason in mind. Lara is not only a songwriter, she is a composer and singer also. She has the right to choose whether she wants to write to song herself, recompose an existing song, or simply include a specific song in the album to support the central theme the album conveys. I feel the other 42% of the album was cleverly selected. The Last Goodbye, Conquered, Review My Kisses, Wonderful Life, and Walk Away, take a very good look at them, listen to them, read the lyrics and experience the melodies. Each of these songs except Walk Away expresses love and compassion, realizing how special something or someone in your life is. Walk Away is exactly the opposite and a clever choice to finish the album, speaking of betrayal and hurt. Now lets have a closer look at A Wonderful Life.
Taking a look at the technical aspects, the CD cover, the lyrics booklet the CD itself, really gives me the feeling of a wonderful life. Lara looks so happy and peaceful on the photos included in the booklet, so pure (strange how this album’s art reminds you of Pure), so beautiful, the portrait of a true woman. Lara’s happy appearance supports the theme of A Wonderful Life. Having a look at the CD supports if even further. Bright silver with the songs printed all around the edge of the disc. I like the choice of the little flower below the title of the album, rounds of the theme of the album very well. One criticism though, but not surprisingly, against Sony Music Entertainment. The copy control that were added to the CD. I mean, why cause discomfort people who buy the album legally if the copy control can be bypassed anyway. Sony released a patch for PC users after it was discovered that the software installed on your computer and more specifically, software devices attached to your system, caused security vulnerabilities on Windows XP systems. Many users may have noted that you can’t play the CD in any media player, whether it is Winamp or Windows Media Player. You could only play the CD on a PC with Sony’s own music player called MUSIC PLAYER. You could still bypass this, by playing the CD with Sony MUSIC PLAYER and recording the playback through the Wave output of your system. Many albums by Sony Music Entertainment of various artists contained this copy control software.
Now a song-by-song analysis:
No Big DealI’m amazed by the quality of the lyrics of this song. It speaks so clearly with her struggle with her record company:
Looking from a distance, seems like I’ve lost it all
and everyone around me is waiting for this girl to fall
But my heart isn’t missing I’ve just lost control
If I don’t know why
Why would I know how?
Working with the devils
trying to exorcize
Feelings I’ve been hiding down in the darker side
There wasn’t any trading, never sold my soul
Simply moving on
Going, going, gone…I never realized this until we discussed the music video of this song on lara-fabian.com and Paula was the first one to mention this. I could not believe how much Paula’s comments made sense and I almost fell of my chair when I took a closer look at the lyrics.
But my heart isn’t missing I’ve just lost control
There wasn’t any trading, never sold my soulThese two lyrics explains why I said earlier that Lara reached her goals during the making of this album, although she wasn’t granted complete artistic freedom. Her heart wasn’t missing, the record company could not take Lara’s heart out of her music. And she did not compromise her music by doing it in another way to reach her goals, she never sold her soul, she kept her music sincere.
I love the use of the piano and the guitar in this song and Lara raising the pitch of her voice when she sings: “After all I know, there is nothing left to say…”
This song does not only speak of Lara’s problems but also has a universal appeal to the listener of the music. If life gives you a slap through the face, No Big Deal, get up and move on. Going, going, gone…
[10/10]I AmThis song almost a follow-up on No Big Deal. She sums it up during the first verse:
How many miles
How many steps
Must I take
How many tears
How many times
Can I breakThis is who Lara is, someone who loves to open up to her audience, record companies should never limit this, it is the existence of any true artist. Being limited to express herself gave me the idea that she struggled with her own conscience, so bad that it gave her nightmares. I guess she asked herself: ”Am I revealing my true feelings to my audience this way?” It is clear that she made peace with it, after finding a way to achieve this goal and she were able to dream again, feeling alive, because the choke that were placed on her artistic freedom were broken.
I need to show
Every side of my heart
Now I can face the night
Daring to dream again
Suddenly I’m aliveLara almost begs in this song to be accepted the way she is:
Take these empty hands
This is all I am
I am, I amBut isn’t this also something universal? Doesn’t you just hate it when someone wants to change you, trying to make you into someone you don’t want to be. Some people will never realize that no one is the same, each and everyone is unique in their own special way.
The lyrics of this album are so great that I tend to forget about Lara’s beautiful voice and the lovely music that accompanies her voice. Her voice and the selection of instruments give even more credibility to the song.
[10/10]The Last GoodbyeI am honest when I say I get all emotional inside when I listen to this song. Men don’t always want to reveal things like this. That is why we fight against the tears when watching a sad movie, we want to retain our macho appearance. But Lara sings this song so beautiful that I almost can’t help myself. Maybe because I can relate to it. But even more, she makes you realize that no matter who you are, male or female, you got to have the freedom to show your true feelings. You should tell your loved ones how much you love them, stop wasting time letting other things influence your true feelings because life is too short for that. And if people open up to you, you must also open up to them.
Just let me grow old
Here by your side
Until the end of time
Till the last goodbyeLara also emphasizes loyalty between two persons with the last two lines of this verse.
This is my most favorite song of this album, next to Wonderful Life. Strange, not one of these two were written by Lara, but she performs them so beautiful that they always captivate me when I listen to them.
[10/10]I Guess I Loved YouA lovely intro with the piano, and Lara sounds very depressed and down when she starts the song.
“Now.” So hopeless, so sad. She emotes this song exceptionally well.
You never realize how much you love someone or something until you loose it. You get the impression that she sings about Rick in this song, feelings of guilt coming to the foreground.
I guess I loved you
Less, less then I could
And now it’s time
Another round,
To mend both of our broken hearts,
To tell how much I do love you now.It is interesting that Rick Allison co-wrote this song. Maybe he felt that he made a mistake after leaving Lara, but that it was too late to turn back. Everyone who is familiar with the history of Lara’s career, will know that it was very clear how much she loved Rick. The separation brought doubt in her mind, maybe she thought she did not show him enough how much she loved him. No one will ever know what went on inside Lara and Rick’s minds when they separated, so I can only assume and it is only a personal observation I’m making.
[10/10]ConqueredWhat a song? I love Lara’s aggressive approach in this song. I noted that Paula mentioned how I Am reminded her of I Am Who I Am. But Lara’s aggressive style during the chorus of this song reminds me of her sassy approach in I Am Who I Am. Straight to the point. The content of the songs may not be the same but her approach is.
You made me believe
…
‘Til you conquered meI love the background singers and the several climax points in the song. I just love it when an artist makes moments of silence just before a climax.
Now everything I thought my life would be
Changed the day you conquered meMy favorite part of this song is just after these two lines: A bit of music with the violins, the background singers sings
“You made me believe”, again a short piece of music by the violins there is two after that 5 short drum beats and then a moment of silence. The music starts again followed by the chorus. Absolutely breathtaking.
[10/10]Review My KissesMaybe Lara’s most intimate song of the album. That skin feeling she talks about on the promotion video. But she sings so much sense. The first verse of the song is exactly all the emotions you go through when you are in love and Lara portray these emotions so beautifully.
I’m only happy when I’m with you
I only feel good when I’m talking to you
And I’m a mess when you don’t call me (isn’t this so true)
Call me at night
Where did you go
Where did you go
And did you think of meAgain Lara opens up to her fans
I want to reveal my secrets
That only you should knowThe choice of the guitar and the rhythm of the song are cleverly chosen. It is sad that Lara and Jean-Felix went separate ways, because they make a mean team juts like Lara and Rick made. Again I can’t find something wrong with this song.
[10/10]UnbreakableSuch a delicate song. The pictures on the album booklet beautifully portray this.
Take a look at these lyrics and then at the stunning photo at the back of the booklet and tell me if you can see the truth in these lyrics
Take another look beyond these eyes
It’ll take you right around my heart
I feel, you should know
That I’m not unbreakable.
It is hard for me to show the other side
Telling you about it is a lie
You read me you know,
that I’m not unbreakable
Doesn’t she looks so soft and fragile. Not unbreakable at all. With this song and this photo she tells everyone that she is a normal human being, her super star status is only a disguise. But few people see Lara outside the room of being a famous artist, but inside her heart there are so many things she can’t describe with her music, something that only she understands no one else not even her most dedicated fans.
Outside this room, no one ever sees the
whole me
Only the stronger side
But inside this heart there is much to
know about me
Words can not describe
If you look, if you really really read
between the lines.
You will see this is just a disguise,
a disguiseA song packed with metaphors that play very strong with words.
[10/10]Wonderful LifeThe first time I heard this song, I knew I heard it before, but could not lay my finger on it. Yes the classic song by C. Vearncombe aka Black. I asked my folks if they knew the song, but they could not recall hearing the song before. I searched for the original artist on the Web and neither the name Black nor C. Vearncombe, rang a bell.
It must have played ages ago, in the late 80’s, on radio when I was a little boy in primary school. I most probably never heard it again after those years and that is maybe why I could not remember who sang it, but the distinct sound stayed in my memory and I the fact that I remembered some of the lyrics as well the lovely melody, told me that it must have impressed me at that time. How would I know that more than 14 years later my favorite artist ever, will name her album after this song and feature it on that same album?
Wonderful Life has the same effect on me as The Last Goodbye. It makes me sad if I think of everything that’s going wrong in my life, but still realize how a wonderful life God gave me. No need to laugh and cry, no need to run and hide, it is a wonderful wonderful life, live life the its full potential, because God gave you this life. Don’t just look at the bad things happening in life, rather count your blessings, the beauty of the nature, the sunshine, the magic in everywhere.
I can relate to this song and I believe for the same reason as Lara. She needed a friend during these testing and frustrating times while making this album, a friend to make things easier. But standing upstraight in the sunshine made her realize there is a greater Hand in all of this. You can see this if you read the 4th last line of her Thank Yous in the album booklet. I just feel that she could have written the “you” with a capital letter. It would have shown greater respect for the Intangible infinity she lives and believes. Intangible infinity is an excellent word choice, Intangible but there to infinity.
The selection of rhythm, instruments and the use of Lara’s beautiful voice were spot on. This is really a magical song, which Lara performs beautifully.
10/10IntoxicatedThis woman just knows how to choose words. How better can you describe that feeling of love, by describing it as being intoxicated?
the feeling of dancing with this pain
…
I toss and turn and then roll on your side of the bed
…
How can I stand alive
…
How do I breathe in here,The symptoms of someone truly in love.
The title of the song says it all, backed up by great lyrics, a lovely atmosphere that’s created by the piano and Jean-Felix’s guitar. Is there anything more to say?
[10/10]I’ve Cried EnoughI love it when Lara takes her French songs and makes an English one of it. Although the lyrics aren’t the same, she still preserve the feeling the original song creates. Most people are not impressed by the thunder at the beginning of the song. I’m going to be different about that. The thunder creates that image of a rainy day, that image of depression and sadness. But when the sunshine forces itself through the clouds and reveals the rainbow you feel you’ve cried enough, it is time to move forward. The last two sentences came to mind before I thought about the music video of J'y Crois Encore. They came spontaneous to mind without being triggered by the image of the music video. I mention this to prove what I said in the beginning. Lara preserves the feeling of the original French song, Isn’t it wonderful how you can attach this same image to two very different songs in even two different languages. Lara is a maestro songwriter isn’t she?
It is for passion I’ve fallen
But now, I’m back on my feet again
…
How could I ever feel sorry
For being stronger than I am
…
I’ve cried enough
Over this priceless time I’ve lost
I’ve learned the going gets too tough
When you regret love
…
Why would I try to deny it
Most of my dreams are a mess
But what didn’t kill me in fact has taught me
Live’s a big game of chessWhen you look at these lyrics you again see her struggles during her English career. You also get a glimpse in the same breath of her struggles in love. Two themes with exactly the same words. I say again, she is a maestro musician.
This is the only song I have a slight criticism about and that is how she ends it. It kind of undoes all the great lyrics and mood the song creates from the very start. You get the idea that Lara was not really sure how to end the song, not in lyrical terms, but melodically.
[9/10]SilenceAnother French transformation, but in this case a complete facelift. Lara has given me the impression that she loves the sound of tribal music (just think of the way she wanted Imagine to sound, but something that did not realized). I guess this was her response to the fact that she could not do it wit Imagine. Those of you who are familiar with the Intime Documentary will remember Lara who wanted Dorian Sherwood to do a tribal hymn in the background. Here I didn’t agree with Rick, I too would have liked this in the song. She made this possible with the tribal singers in the background of Silence.
The lyrics of both the French and English version is amazingly similar. So I guess that is why Lara was not afraid to change the feel of the song by adding some tribal flavor to it. The fact that the lyrics of both versions are so similar, again illustrates that language is no barrier for music, but it must also be said that not any artist is able to convert a song from one language to another and still keep content of the song the same.
I’ve learned so much
After all these years of despair
And I’ve been in touch
With the deepest side of my pain
…
But you’ll be amazed
What stillness can do
It will get you right to you
Silence
Is a moment between every word
Is the best friend you’ll have in the world
That moment in time
Will help you to survive
…
Silence
Let your consciousness
Finally be heard
It’s unconscious
But you’ll hear them burst
The voices inside
Will bring you back to lifeI believe Lara had these moments in time with record companies, where her silence was her best friend in those challenging times. You get the sense that Lara wrote this song when she was on the edge of bursting out in anger, anger form being limited by the mediums given to her as an artist. It was her silence that saved the day. There are times in life when you are far better off by keeping your mouth shut. By bursting out in anger, you create possibility for big problems because an offensive approach will most of the times get an offensive response. It is clear that she learned so much during the frustrating times of her English career, learning out of her mistakes and applying the solutions in similar future scenarios.
I don’t know if Lara is familiar with Vangelis, a great composer. One of his songs and a huge favorite of mine are called Voices. The song has the same tribal feel to it at the beginning. The last two lyrical lines and the tribal background singers of Silence made me thing of Voices of Vangelis. Full marks for taking the risk she took with the French counterpart of this song. Although they carry the same message across they are both unique in their own way and I think this is what Lara intended to achieve. She clearly indicated with this song that she does not port songs from her French albums because she sometimes run out of original ideas, the English versions are songs that exist on their own, original songs, they are no copycats. Superbly done
[10/10]Walk AwayThis may be about her breakup with Rick. I may even go so far to say that she included this song in the album because of her problems with Sony.
Did you break me to see if I’d break
Did you wanna know what I was made of
big mistake
Cause There’s nothing now that you or anyone can say
So Save your breathe and walk away
And your excuses they make me
wanna scream
I could have sworn you were a man that
would never be mean
I could have sworn you were the light and
the end of the dark for me
But you proved that its never what it seems
Sony gave a money back guarantee with her debut album, but gave almost no prominence to this album. These may be the the
man that would never betray.
Lara might have thought that Sony was her big break in her music career,
the light and the end of dark for me. And the simple excuses they made for not doing it Lara’s way, made Lara want to scream, but she didn’t, she remained humble in Silence. Having heard this song for the first time did not really made a great impression on me. But looking deeper into it made me appreciate it much more.
Did you wanna know what I was made of
big mistakeThis lyric made me decide to give the song full marks. Lara did not write the song, but this little piece of lyrical excellence is just what Lara is, fragile and not unbreakable. Try to see what she’s made of will make her break. She is such a lovely person, why would you want to see what she’s made of and yet she’s so open, why can’t you see what she’s made of? If you can’t see what she’s made of, then walk away.
[10/10]Lara seemed to impress me further and further as I completed my review, I never looked this deep into this album but soon realized how a great album this really was. To me this was an overall success and I have high regard for this album. Maybe some sentimental feelings too, because this was the very first full album I had at that time, that really introduced me to her music. Every song captivated me in a very emotional way. Truly and emotional album. Overall:
[10/10]
