Wow. How things have changed in 25 years.
The Berlin Wall still stood. Ronald Reagan was President of the United States. The Simpsons premiered on the Traci Ullman Show. I was in highschool.

I remember the release of “Savage” with some disdain. I had seen Eurythmics live the year before, and was enamoured by the “stadium show” they put on. Solid guitars, black leather, bleached hair… all the things that made the Revenge Era so popular among fans.

Then, “Savage” was unleashed on us. Such an about-face from the rocking-edge “Revenge” had produced. Such heartfelt lyrics. Painful melodies. It seemed like an entirely different Eurythmics had entered my psyche. And then I realized it….

This was the heart and soul of the band that I had worshipped for 4 years. This is what was hiding underneath the mask of “Touch”. Annie and Dave were Being Themselves, not just for Tonight, and not just for themselves.  They were telling us to dig deeper into them, into ourselves, to hear so much beyond what black vinyl or silver plastic could ever churn out.
After my first listening of “Savage”, I desperately needed to read and memorize the lyrics, and I believe I wore out the liner notes before the album itself got scratched, and ultimately, replaced.  I still have that original record in my collection…from “Shame”, to “You Have Placed a Chill ln My Heart”, to “Brand New Day”, listening to this entire masterpiece again and again, including today, it makes me feel like I’m 17 again.  I truly was that age when “Savage” was released.  There is an intended metaphor to the 1999 single.  But that’s how I’m feeling now….nostalgic for all the things that have come and gone since those innocent days of my youth.

“Big ol’ sun is rising up so elegant and thin,
Another day is over for a new day to begin….”

Cameron Carr