Damage: David Sylvian & Robert Fripp (1993)

Damage: (lyrics) I found the way By the sound of your voice So many things to say But these are only words Now I’ve only words Once there was a choice Did I give you much? Well, you gave me things You gave me stars to hold Songs to sing I only want to be loved And I hurt and I hurt And the damage is done You gave me songs to sing Shadow and sun Earthbound, starblind Tied to someone Why didn’t I stay? Why couldn’t I? So many lives to cross Well I just had to leave There goes everything, Everything Can I meet you there? God knows the place And I’ll touch your hand Kiss your face We only want to be loved We only want to be loved I only want to be loved And I hurt and I hurt And the damage is done You gave me songs to sing Shadow and sun Earthbound, starblind Tied to someone ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Audio: Recorded live on the “Road to Graceland“ tour from a performance at Royal Albert Hall, London in December 1993. Vocals: David Sylvian Music production: Robert Fripp Video: Homemade on iPhone, all photos by me. The last of the white roses before they were ‘damaged’ by disease. Robert Fripp commented online about the song ‘Damage’: ‘Until the present incarnation of King Crimson, working with David was the happiest undertaking of my professional life; and this song, one of my all-time favouritists. What gorgeous singing, heart-wrenching! A privilege to accompany.’ Pat Mastelotto responded, ‘To sit silently crying, trembling motionless, on stage in a pool of light, night after night, during this song, was one of the hardest privileges of my life.’ (2018) I shared a draft of this article with Pat before publishing it. Why such a deep response to this particular piece of music? ‘That’s a heavy tune…It just weighs on you emotionally… as your head thinks of all the people you have damaged… And how fragile humanity is.’ The live album recordings of this tour – also released under the song’s name as Damage – were captured at the London shows, and we have both Robert Fripp’s mix from the original 1994 release and David Sylvian’s alternative working from the 2001 re-issue. For the latter Sylvian worked with tour sound engineer, Dave Kent. Both versions push Trey Gunn’s bass-line higher up than Seigen Ono’s mix for the video of the Tokyo show, with the 2001 reworking bringing the vocal right to the fore, matching Sylvian’s approach on the recently released Dead Bees on a Cake. See full article: David Sylvian collaborations (Spotify Playlist):