Play it Again, Sam #31a - "Twist in My Sobriety"

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A very, very busy day meant no time for Play it Again, Sam yesterday, but we are back this morning. As always, this is a two part discussion consisting of an original song followed by a cover of that song. We are at #31a, the "original" portion, and it's a song that I absolutely love: "Twist in My Sobriety" by Tanita Tikaram. Born in Germany, Tanita Tikaram hails from England, and with her 1988 debut album, Ancient Heart, rode the wave of the female folk singer/songwriter revival led by Tracy Chapman. Recorded while Tikaram was just 19, "Twist in My Sobriety" is a somber, cryptic look at the world through the eyes of a youngster entering adulthood, with an opening lyric taken from the title of a book by Maya Angelou. "Twist in My Sobriety" remains Tanita Tikaram's biggest hit, reaching #25 and #47 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks and Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks charts, respectively. The song also hit #22 in the UK, but it was in mainland Europe that it found it's most success, achieving Top 10 status in six countries (all told, the single charted in a total of 11 countries.) I got to see Tanita perform this in concert in Belgium, where the song charted at #22 in the Flemish speaking part of the country, and she received a huge response. My other fond memory involves drinking heroically one night in a bar outside of Frankfurt, Germany. A very pretty, but obviously very sad bartender kept playing the tune over and over. I loved it, although I felt kind of bad for her. Stay tuned! (Info verified by Wikipedia)