ALBUM BY ALBUM GEORGE MICHAEL
C
overs albums have
long been viewed as
the last refuge for
those songwriters
whose muse has deserted
them. While it’s true that
George used this as a stopgap
between Older and the
long-in-gestation Patience, such
is the variety of source material
on offer here that Songs From
The Last Century makes for an
unusual and rewarding runt in
the Michael litter.
Essentially a showcase
for George’s abilities as a
singer and arranger, these
10 jazz songs range from
straightforward covers to
more intriguing refi ts of,
among others, The Police,
Roberta Flack and U2 side
project Passengers.The covers are impeccably
chosen, of course, and not
without pertinence to the rest
of Michael’s traditional
songwriting concerns. His
emotive retelling of Great
Depression-era standard
Brother, Can You Spare A
Dime? (George was a lifelong
critic of social inequality and a
philanthropist throughout his
career) is especially pointed.
Equally, a hushed reboot of
The Police’s Roxanne is an
anti-prostitution plea wrapped
in a love song.
Produced by George and
veteran Phil Ramone – the latter
had worked with everyone
from Dylan and Elton to
Sinatra, McCartney and Ray
Charles – lush orchestrations
underpin the vocals here but
never overpower them.
George has fun with Nina
Simone’s My Baby Just Cares
For Me, replacing the smile of
Lana Turner for the toothy grin
of Ricky Martin, while there’s a
reverential treatment given to
The First Time Ever I Saw Your
Face, made famous by Roberta
Flack. The tenderness of
Michael’s delivery is quite
breathtaking, there’s nograndstanding or fl ashiness,
just a singer purely serving the
emotion of the song.
The one major surprise here
is the inclusion of Miss
Sarajevo, the only single
released by U2
and Brian Eno
side project
Passengers,
which originally
featured a
guest vocal
from Luciano
Pavarotti. It’s
reportedly Bono’s
favourite self-
penned song and
obviously grabbed
Michael’s attention, too. Its
mixture of spiritual and pop
cultural lyrics are Bono’s way
of portraying the dichotomy at
the heart of those living
through the confl ict in Sarajevo
during the 1990s: “Is there a
time for fi rst communion? A
time for East 17? Is there a time
to turn to Mecca? Is there a
time to be a beauty queen?”
Equally impressive is the
recasting of I Remember You- did George know the track
from the movie The Fleet’s In
sung by Dorothy Lamour or the
cheesy 1960s pop song by
yodelling Aussie Frank Ifi eld?
Secret Love (“My secret love’s
no secret any more”) is, of
course, dripping with meaning
since George’s coming
out but he doesn’t
labour the point
here, merely
sounding
joyous about
it. Nina
Simone’s
infl uence
also
reappears for
Wild Is The
Wind, Michael’s
version far more
restrained then the extravagant
David Bowie cover found on
Station To Station.
Don’t skip over this outlier in
George’s back catalogue.A
t 14 tracks and 70
minutes long, Patience
was George’s most
expansive project.
Five long years in the making,
the star’s fi fth and fi nal studio
album of new material was an
uncompromising affair.
Its opener, the mournful title
track ballad was written and
recorded on the same piano
on which John Lennon wrote
Imagine (George bought it for
£1.6 million and put it on display
for Beatle fans); fi tting for the
man who penned the equally
anthemic Praying For Time.
While there’s often a bleak
outlook at the heart of Patience,
there are fl ashes of hope, too.
The breezy acoustic-led dance
track Amazing paid testament to
the way that new partner Kenny
Goss had turned George’s
life around following the death
of Anselmo.
As an expression of the
bereavements that George
suffered later in life, Patience’s
contents often touch on the
theme of mortality in the face of
an unloving God; Cars And
Trains’ intro shows, though, that
even through tragedy, the
songwriter retained his black
humour: “Hello, you’ve reached
the afterlife message centre/ The
God you are trying to reach is
not available to take your call.”
Equally questioning of the
idea of life’s randomness and
the brutality of fate is John And
Elvis Are Dead; George’s
long-standing battles with
depression may be alluded to,
too, with the line: “I’m thinking
about asking the doctor if he
could put me back to sleep.”
Its main refrain of “If Jesus
Christ is alive and well, then
how come John and Elvis are
dead?”
is proof
perhaps
of a man
who has
given upon religion. There’s a lot of
pain inside the bruised heart
of Patience.
If Michael is in philosophical
mode throughout much of the
album, his knack for
button-pushing
controversy still
bubbles to the
surface on the
sexualised
raunch of
Freeek! ’04
and Shoot The
Dog – featuring
The Human
League’s Love
Action (I Believe In
Love) the latter manages
to be a thoroughgoing critique
of his own weaknesses set
against well-aimed
political pot-shots
at Tony Blair and
George W Bush.
Patience’s use
of samples and
reinterpretations
continues on Flawless
(Go To The City), which
utilises US dance act The
Ones’ Flawless as its
foundation. It’s a rare
slice of undiluted upbeat
pop here.More representative of the
overall tone is My Mother Had A
Brother, George’s heartbreaking
tale of an uncle who died
tragically on the day that the
singer was born. Michael
drafted in James Bond
composer David
Arnold to score
Through and
there are further
Bondian
references with
a sample of
John Barr y’s
Moonraker
theme in Please
Send Me Someone
(Anselmo’s Song).
Once more, the LP was mined
for singles – there were six
releases in all – three of which
made the Top 10 in the UK and
the LP went on to healthy sales of
more than four million. George
was still a global player.“SONGS
FROM THE LAST
CENTURY IS AN
UNUSUAL
AND REWARDING
RUNT IN THE
MICHAEL LITTER”PATIENCE
Released 2004
Label Sony Music
Chart Position
UK No.1 and US No.12SONGS FROM
THE LAST
CENTURY
Released 1999
Label Virgin
Chart Position
UK No.2 and US No.157“PATIENCE
FEATURES
GEORGE IN
PHILOSOPHICAL
MODE BUT STILL
KEEN TO PUSH
BUTTONS”Elvis Are DeadElvis Are DeadElvis Are Dead; George’s ; George’s
long-standing battles with
depression may be alluded to,
too, with the line: “I’m thinking
about asking the doctor if he
could put me back to sleep.”
Its main refrain of “If Jesus
Christ is alive and well, then
how come John and Elvis are
dead?”
is proof
perhaps
of a man
who has
given upof his own weaknesses set
against well-aimed
political pot-shots
at Tony Blair and
George W Bush.
Patience
of samples and
reinterpretations
continues on
(Go To The City)
utilises US dance act The
Ones’ Flawless
foundation. It’s a rare
slice of undiluted upbeat
pop here.