The Pop Zeal Project (Track 77): Kylie Minogue: Bittersweet Goodbye
It’s no wonder the word, lullaby appears in Kylie Minogue’s “Bittersweet Goodbye” from her 2000 album, Light Years. The song itself sounds as if it is one, with its tender piano and sweet, comforting vocals. However, it’s not the traditional kind of tale from parent to child, but this time from one lover to another, during the night into the dawn, before the couple parts. The song is written ambiguously to allow for interpretation; the story doesn’t automatically deduce that a breakup per se is about to happen. Yet this still doesn’t lessen the curiosity as to what makes the goodbye bittersweet, eluding, in part, that there is some benefit or joy that comes as a result. Perhaps it’s the future reunion that can only happen after one leaves in the morning light.
Hold this Note: Kylie hardly performs this track live in concert, but did so during her 2012 Anti-Tour, a scaled-down outing, which stopped only in select cities in Australia (Melbourne; Sydney) and England (Manchester; London), where b-sides, demos and rarities were performed in smaller venues.
Pop Playlist: Kylie Minogue: “The One”
The final single from Kylie’s 10th album, the aptly titled, X, “The One” is unique in that it’s part ballad, part dance. There have been various versions: The album appearance leans toward hypnotic ballad, while the Freemasons Vocal Club Mix picks up the pace and turns up the bass. The latter was adopted on her X2008 tour and in part on her 2009 North-American For You, For Me tour; Kylie Live in New York audio release. In 2011, she opted for a blend for the Aphrodite live performances. A video for the song was also released, with old Hollywood glamour (Kylie’s long-haired Veronica Lake look; kaleidoscopic visuals as homage to movie musicals) and bright art-deco arch references, serving as inspiration. The video also features one of Kylie’s dancers at the time, Jason Beitel. Ten years later, “The One” still resonates with Kylie, as it now resides on her 2018 Golden Tour set list.
Better with Age: Kylie Minogue Reimagines “Hand On Your Heart”
In 2012, to commemorate her 25th anniversary in the music business, Kylie Minogue released The Abbey Road Sessions, a 16-track album of remixes, not the expected dance remixes of her pop songs, but rather ones that were reimagined and recorded with her Aphrodite touring band and a full orchestra at London’s legendary Abbey Road Studios. Let’s focus on one track in particular, “Hand On Your Heart,” originally appeared on her 1989 album, Enjoy Yourself. Written by Stock, Aitken & Waterman (S.A.W.), the Ford, Carnegie & Rockefeller of “hit factory” Brit-pop music of the ‘80s, the song initially sounded sunny and matter of fact, a carefree account of its main character asking her guy to “Put your hand on your heart and tell me/that we’re through.”
The Abbey Road Sessions’ version dons a mature feel. It embraces a soothing arrangement, complete with a delicate sweeping brush beat and mesmerizing acoustic-guitar sequence. It sounds as if the main character is retelling the same account, but from a different point of view and place in her life. The once nonchalant teenager is now a more serious, vulnerable woman, confident that even if this guy is not around, she’ll survive. Kylie’s delivery as a balladeer is sweet and sensitive with a somber lower register, especially at the resounding lyric: “that we’re through.”
By offering a quieter version of the originally upbeat, head-in-the-clouds track, it allows the S.A.W. lyrics to be honored, proving that although seemingly factory-like, pumping out shiny product off the line, their operation did in fact produce enduring gems. The Sessions also applies a similar treatment toward two other S.A.W. songs: the unrequited infatuation with a fantasy lover on “I Should Be So Lucky”; the devoted desperation on “Never Too Late.” The release is yet another example that disproves the many who thought Kylie was an Edsel of the ‘80s, confirming instead that after all these decades she’s always been a Bentley of pop.