This is such a wonderfully rich, utterly classic tune that's more than a song to me, it's more like a little life anthem in music that runs over five glorious minutes. It's got such a stark true to life real quality about it, there's nothing pretentious or that doesn't need to be there in the video, it's just a lone woman coolly walking down a long street, not bothering anybody and ain't nobody bothering her, until she finally turns a corner and vanishes from sight - but there's such a deep, profound raw kind of everyday beauty and resonance that comes out of everything around her, as well of course as her beautiful moving vocals which are complemented by the music and video so well, without her voice I don't think Unfinished Sympathy would have turned out so magnificent as it did. I love the grittiness of the strip that she walks on, the area looks like if has a lot of old stories to tell, and it kind of follows one person's story, as she goes on her way and eventually turns a corner and leaves the picture, and who'd ever remember she was there or ever notice she'd gone... It's so incredibly heart-wrenching around the 3.20 mark when the music swells to a crescendo in the part of the song that really moves me the most, I've gotten teary-eyed many times over the years at that part. It is the entire song that I really find so moving though, it makes me think about stuff like lost time, lost friends, lost youth.. But I wouldn't dismiss the song by labelling it as depressing, it's much more than that, it's a very beautiful and profound piece that I find to be uplifting and mesmerising, harsh and poignant, unpredictable and so very fleeting...to me if captures the tumultuous essence of life itself. The video and the song together form such a finely realised and encapsulated moment in time, everything about it subtly balances out perfectly and I wouldn't change a single frame, it's a goddamn masterpiece - and unlike some, I'd never use the word lightly! One of the best songs ever made, this legendary track is pure soulful magic. Peace out. X
