Totemism

You Don't Know What Love Is (Music:Gene De Paul | Lyrics:Don Raye)

The interpretation of this jazz standard song from 1941 by Diamanda Galás has more in common with the ballad playing by Sonny Rollins than singers as Chet Baker or Billie Holiday. She sings it in a passionate, and of course, haunting way. Her singing is melancholy too, but her idea of melancholy may be different from yours. Her performance embodies the amalgam of emotion and intellect in an unprecedented manner. Not about remorse, or about regrets but about more the secret land of loss of which we are all too familiar with. Separation comes in many forms; a physical reality as in death or as a frame of mind.  The lyrics are the Alpha and Omega of her deeply felt approach. Every inflection is considered and thoughtfully executed. Through and through, I find myself yielding to the growing stillness of darkness. Singing is just another way of being silent. Was there ever a better anagram: silent - listen

Photo:Allan Amato