If You Were My Love...
 

No one has said much about this song, but it is the song I'm sort of caught on. I think it contains one of the biggest emotional highlights of the album. It's my favorite on the album right now.

The song is slow, methodical and reminds me of a cross between Time by the Alan Parson's Project and Closer to my Home by Grand Funk Railroad. Throw in some Daisy Jane by America.

The song trods along and then stevie gets to the must touching part of the whole album

………...you would never have been frightened at all …at all… with our crosses to bear

They way she sings that line is so touching. It's the emotional climax of the album for me. SQUIRT!!!!! I have to listen to the song over and over.

SOOOO IIIIIIIIII LLLLLLLLLOOOOOVVVVVEEEEEEEESSSSS IIIIIITTTTTTT!

AND HOPE IT GETS MORE ATTENTION. :)

I need to be able to listen to the songs individually to make further judgments. I like it well enough (I think). I'm not a big fan of the Mirage version; I always thought the song called for a more languid arrangement, and I think this one is a good mix of all of the versions.

(doing my best imitation of the Wayans Brothers characters "Men on Film"): hated it! (snap) LOL

No offense to anyone who likes or loves it. Difference is what makes the world go round.:thumbsup:

It is beautiful. I love it. The mood, the tired voice, the lyrics.

Agreed! Cuz I LOVES IT!!! :D

Again one of the demos I probably only listened to once or twice ..but here the finished version works.I can't agree with those who wish it were speed up or had more"omph" Would we want Storms or Beautiful Child to be more rocking:shrug:

I've always been on the fence about the demos of If You Were My Love. The Mirage version comes the closest to being likeable, for me.

This new version has everything I don't like about the demos. I'm not one to shy away from slow songs - I love slow, sappy, depressing songs, but this one just gets on my nerves. It's rare to skip a song I've never heard, but if it weren't for the record player requiring me to lift and reposition the needle, I'd have skipped it about a minute in to the track.

It and Carousel, I can live without.

This song has always been my favorite unreleased demo, and I was honestly terrified of it being recorded for this album. If it were done poorly, I would have been devastated. However, I truly think they nailed it. You can tell this one was very near to Stevie's heart, because it was handled very reverently. The soft, sad vocal. The spare, spooky production. My absolute favorite addition is the wandering, haunting electric guitar. It's very Mark Knopfler sounding.

I really do get the critiques that this version didn't rock like the Mirage outtake, though. However, I was always partial to the original piano demo. I felt like it captured the spirit of the subject matter better. I think the addition of the electric guitar in the background does create a crescendo that the song needed. I'm terribly pleased with this song. Somebody else compared it to Storms, and I think that's a very apt comparison.

I've always been partial to the Mirage outtake, and strongly loathed the SA version. I liked the Tusk outtake, but always found it a bit slow for my taste. So I was a bit skeptical upon hearing the snippet. But I gotta say, this one's grown on me a lot. It's a gorgeous song, perfect vocal, and I LOVE LOVE the witchiness and atmospherics that build towards the end to the song. Just gorgeous, pure Stevie.

I heard the song on the free streaming that they're doing on Amazon - that song was definitely a highlight for me too - I love how the did the drums - very subtle Native-American-like beat. Although towards the end it was kinda short which I thought made it awkward but overall I loved it.

Just to echo what I've said in another thread, I think it's probably quite a good song, but my judgement of it is clouded by the fact that I adore the Mirage outtake. Basically, I miss Christine, John, Mick and Lindsey!

Am I the only person in the world that loves (and I mean absolutely loves) the Street Angel outtake version? For me, that was perfect - it was actually the first version of the song I heard. Some time later, I heard the Mirage version and I liked it a lot (of course very different from the SA version I was familiar with). And lastly, I heard the sparse Bella Donna demo. Oddly enough, this new version is the only version of the song I'm not crazy about. But since I like all the others, it has tough competition with itself! ;) But it's also very new to me - so of course it could grow on me.

Jondalar, you compared it to Alan Parsons' "Time" - I like that song a lot - but it also needed to grow on me. So maybe I'll feel more as you do with time.

You're not alone!
I really love the tropical and languid Street Angel version of If You Were My Love.
I don't understand the abject disdain others have for it. I also like the Fleetwood Mac version.I haven't heard new version yet.Is it posted somewhere so I can preview it?

The standard version of the album is streaming on Amazon for free!

http://www.amazon.com/24-Karat-Gold-...=UTF8&sr=&qid=

Thanks ! I listened to all of it on my head phones at top volume. It's a great album.