Celebrating Marianne Faithfull, 29th December 1946 to 30th January 2025.
I was talking to Mrs. K, when Marianne's passing was announced on BBC News, so I was admittedly only half-listening as the prepared obituary was delivered, but the snippets I caught made me increasingly upset.
I know obituaries by their very nature frequently celebrate and devalue a life in a few paragraphs or minutes. Even so, the fragments that penetrated my consciousness seemed to focus on Marianne's achievements in the 1960s, living in the shadow of men (including several Rolling Stones) and the drugs. Of course, the drugs.
What I wasn't picking up was Marianne's incredible achievements beyond the 1970s and 1980s and well into the 21st Century, in the face of prejudice, preconception, misogyny, debilitating and near-fatal health challenges (not least COVID) and inevitably the ravages of time from life lived increasingly on her own terms.
I don't have a huge amount of Marianne's music in my collection, but it charts an incredible journey and a fearless confrontation and defiance of convention. Not just as a singer, but a songwriter (for Grace Jones), a collaborator (Bowie, Sly & Robbie, Patrick Wolf) and an interpreter of other's songs (everyone from Sonny & Cher to The Decemberists).
Marianne released a single written by Serge Gainsbourg in 1967; forty years later, she revisited another of his songs to celebrate his life. Both are very special interpretations by a unique artist.
I've included a version of As Tears Go By, transmitted as part of a David Bowie special on US TV in 1973. The Rolling Stones regretted passing on the song when Marianne had a hit and belatedly recorded their own version. It's good, but not as good.
I've omitted Sister Morphine, the song Marianne subsequently co-wrote with and for the Stones. Likewise, I've not included the original version of Broken English, the title track of Marianne's 1979 album, opting instead for a remix and a cover version, both from the 2000s.
I bought a secondhand CD of Patrick Wolf's 2007 album The Magic Position (which is brilliant, by the way) and discovered halfway through the song Magpie, featuring a surprising and delightful appearance from Marianne. It's a highlight among highlights and just one example of her continuing relevance and inspiration to future generations of musicians.
Sliding Through Life On Charm, written with Jarvis Cocker, Mark Webber, Steve Mackey and Nick Banks from Pulp, is a semi-autobiographical rollercoaster and provides the title of today's post and tribute selection. To quote the full verse,
I wonder why the schools don't teach anything useful nowadays
Like how to fall from grace
and slide with elegance from a pedestal
I never asked to be on in the first place
You can read much about Marianne, including much in her own words, but we'll never know the whole story, really know Marianne. But what a legacy she leaves.
Rest in power, Marianne.
1) Broken English (Baron Von Luxxury Light Touch Remix By Blake Robin) (Downtempo): Marianne Faithfull (2008)
2) I Got You Babe (Live @ The Marquee, London) (Cover of Sonny & Cher): David Bowie ft. Marianne Faithfull (1973)
3) I've Done It Again (Album Version): Grace Jones (1981)
4) The Crane Wife 3 (Cover of The Decemberists): Marianne Faithfull ft. Nick Cave (2008)
5) Guilt (Album Version): Marianne Faithfull (1979)
6) As Tears Go By (Live @ The Marquee, London): Marianne Faithfull (1973)
7) Hier Ou Demain: Marianne Faithfull (1967)
8) Lola R. For Ever (Lola Rastaquouère) (Cover of Serge Gainsbourg): Marianne Faithfull & Sly And Robbie (2006)
9) If I Never Get To Love You (Cover of Lou Johnson): Marianne Faithfull (1965)
10) Broken English (Cover of Marianne Faithfull): Claudia Brücken & Andrew Poppy (2004)
11) Magpie: Patrick Wolf fft. Marianne Faithfull (2007)
12) Sliding Through Life On Charm (Album Version): Marianne Faithfull (2007)
1965: Marianne Faithfull: 9
1979: Broken English: 5
1981: Nightclubbing: 3
2002: Kissin Time: 12
2004: Another Language: 10
2006: Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited: 8
2007: The Magic Position: 11
2008: Easy Come Easy Go: 4
2016: Love Hit Me! Decca Beat Girls 1962-1970: 7
2017: The 1980 Floorshow: 2, 6
2021: Luxxury Edits Vol. 3: 1
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