It is an offering of love and acceptance for what cannot be changed. I tried to reproduce the beauty, inevitability and sadness in French - in order to do so - I had to take some poetic license with the vocabulary. I agonized over this translation of Stevie’s luminous lyrics - I tried to remain completely faithful to her meaning as I understand it. I pondered how difficult the art of poetry translation is and I decided to accept the challenge my subconscious was throwing down.The song deserves no lesser sacrifice. But then I thought - what would Stevie Nicks do? If she hadn’t written it - she’d find a way to make it her own… So, I found my way in, through translation- little snippets of the lyrics started coming to me in French. I was terrified to touch this song at first - it is such an iconic classic and has been covered by so many. “Landslide” – Fleetwood Mac (Stevie Nicks) Sade’s voice gives me strength and hope.Ģ. I hope to have the privilege of meeting her one day. Sade lights the way for so many of us - I remember how electrified I felt the first time I heard her and saw her on television - a mixed heritage black woman like me - not fitting easily or neatly into any box- transcending them all. “By Your Side” may have lost the Grammy back in 2001 - but it has won the test of time. I’ve returned to this song almost daily during these hard months. This pandemic has been devastating for our little ones. I couldn’t get through it without crying. I was singing this one to my seven-year-old daughter, Ida, like a lullaby. “By Your Side” – Sade – (Sade Adu / Andrew Hale / Stuart Matthewman / Paul S.Īn endlessly expansive and inclusive song of love - it could be the love between lovers, the love of a parent for a child, the love for an elder who is not long for this world…It feels like it has always existed and always will - it feels like an expression of our collective unconscious - it comforts me and invokes a melancholy yearning all at once.
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