[MUSIC] "I Drove All Night"

[rfmcdonald]

I happen to own several mp3 versions of the song "I Drove All Night", downloaded for curiosity's sake. Roy Orbison's original, recorded before his death, is a credible song, delineating the processes of passionnate and aggressive sexual desire. I might be wrong to imagine certain echoes of my favourite Joy Division song, "Love Will Tear Us Apart" in these lyrics, but certainly the whole romantic idea of lovers unnaturally separated was in the air at the time. Desperate romance is always fun.

I had to escape
The city was sticky and cruel
Maybe I should have called you first
But I was dying to get to you
I was dreaming while I drove
The long straight road ahead, uh, huh

Could taste your sweet kisses
Your arms open wide
This fever for you is just burning me up inside

I drove all night to get to you
Is that alright
I drove all night
Crept in your room
Woke you from your sleep
To make love to you
Is that alright
I drove all night

Cyndi Lauper's 1989 version is equally powerful, with her every sung word coming across as a sultry come-on.

Céline Dion's version? Dion is a good singer, and some of her French material is authentically moving. All that you can hear in her version is her passion for driving--the passion of the song doesn't enter into things at all.