(Curator: Christopher Reynolds)
This song has been covered by many an artist including Duke Ellington and Stanley Worth. There is something about k.d. lang’s rendition here that resonates with me. Her voice here is delirious, drunk on the fumes of love. She slips in and out of consciousness, sometimes singing as though half-asleep, sometimes completely present. Her voice is velvet, ethereal. She recorded this on her album Drag, which is entirely covers of songs about smoking. While the whole album is a fascinating study in reinvention, this track has always been my favorite. The refrain is so cleverly thought out, it straddles the border between humorous and tragic:
Love is like a cigarette
You know you had my heart aglow
Between your fingertips
And just like a cigarette
I never knew the thrill of life
Until you touched my lips
Then just like a cigarette
Love seemed to fade away and leave behind
Ashes of regret
And with a flick of your fingertips
It was easy for you to forget
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