Bradley
Susie Child
I must admit that the 11 year old me, did not initially fully appreciate that glory that is Savage. When it was first released, some of it went over my head and struck the younger version of myself as being too difficult and – to my limited knowledge – a real move away from what I’d heard from Eurythmics before. It felt like quite a jump from Revenge to Savage but of course that range is one of the things I like about them know.
So the tape tended to stay in my older sister’s room, as she seemed to like it more. Then a couple of years later I needed something to listen to on my early Sunday morning paper round and for some reason took Savage.
‘Six o’clock in the morning, and I’m stepping through the streets, the pavement’s cold and empty got the blues beneath my feet’ somehow seemed the perfect accompaniment to me trudging along the streets delivering papers when no one else was around. I also found the strong beat to songs like Beethoven very beneficial to my pace.
So thanks to the need to save up some money and the solution offered by the local paper shop, I came to develop a real appreciation for the many merits of the genius that is Savage and I have valued it ever since. It is certainly my favourite Eurythmics album. I would be overwhelmed if I ever got to witness them play live what in my opinion is Eurythmics’ best ever song; Savage.
Norma Koning
Eduardo Micet
Savage represents that kind of liberation. The album opens with an elegant ode to Beethoven, as we can see the video, a typical of a selfless housewife and how she becomes other person totally the opposite and the message is very clear and reflexive: We’ve got only one oportunity to be ourselves.
That’s why this album for me is a good story of the human condition and probably I can be identified with it. Some times people do things automatically, following a pattern, repeating things to satisfy our parents, our society and probably we are the last one to be happy and suddenly I’m thinking in the line: “These are my guns, these are my furs, this is my living room, you can play with me there sometimes if you catch me in the mood”
All the songs in the album are very interesting. I still remember very clearly I had listened “You have placed a chill in my heart” on the radio about an oldie hits, before to be a fan of eurythmics. So when I heard the song in my first eurythmics disc of greatest hits, I felt familiar and I still love the song, it’s so pop and lovely.
But probably my favorite songs in the album are “Savage” and “I need you” the lyrics amd the melodies are beautiful in both cases and I still find them very emotive and elegant but I can enjoy the other songs specially the powerful “I need a man” It’s about to enjoy all the sprectum: The pop and the rock. The savage and the eurythmic.
Lynne Foster
Take me to the desert where there’s got to be a whole heap of nothing for you & me.
As a longtime member and moderator of the Eurythmics Yahoo group, I have often been asked to state my favorite album. I am unable to offer a definitive answer. I consider each of these works as a musical offspring of the Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart collaboration. So, how can one choose? You love them all for what they are as individuals. But Savage would be the most woeful of the progeny. She is a girl. Indeed, she is a wide-eyed girl of a tender age. She looks up at you with tortured eyes and frightens you a bit. She also is the one who digs a place in your soul with such rawness it is difficult to explain or ponder. It cuts that deep.
I always thought (and still do) Savage was the most personal of all the Eurythmics albums as it conjures most of what it appeared life was to them at that time. Fame had affected them in a massive way. And it certainly wasn’t all good. Rather, quite the opposite. Love had been cruel, as well. To listen to Savage, is to be transported to a painful place. It is not an easy listen. Unquestionably, Annie was suffering through many issues. Dave matches her intensity. His solo on the eponymous song on Savage is, in my opinion, one of rock’s coldest and erotic-feeling guitar riffs. In fact, Savage is distinctly the most sexual of Dave and Annie’s albums. Several songs actually evoke the act itself in cadence and tone, rising and falling away. (This was certainly the intent with the live performance of I Need You in the We Too Are One tour. A version is included as Bonus Track of the 2006 premastered CD.)
I am always struck at the brilliance of the underappreciated song Shame and still wistful of the loss of it not becoming a radio hit. It is even more relevant today as people covet lifestyle chic at the cost of their integrity and soul. The video for Shame sits in my memory bank almost frozen in time. It is a grainy piece, like a fast moving piece of art. Annie is lying back in Dave’s arms. They are both defiant and vulnerable in their nudity. They sing together as this song belongs to both of them. The betrayal is clearly on both of their faces. At the song’s conclusion, Annie is overcome with anguish. Dave shields her eyes from her horror. He nearly snarls at the camera, “We loved you.” And then, like children in a lullaby, the two lean against one another exhausted.
In taking a fresh look at Savage, I am amazed at it all. It is a brilliant child, now 25 years old. How could a quarter of a century have gone by in a heartbeat? I am pleased that Annie and Dave seem in a better place now. No less a miracle, I am too.
It’s a Brand New Day. And the world said, “Hey.”
Lynne Foster
Portland, Oregon USA