“Like the leaf clings to the tree,

Oh, my darling, cling to me

For we’re like creatures of the wind,

and wild is the wind

Wild is the wind”

Originally written by Dimitri Tiomkina nd  Ned Washington and recorded by  Johnny Mathisfor the 1957 film  Wild Is the Wind, this romantic heartbreaker got big with Nina Simone in 1964 and later by David Bowie. I first heard the Bowie version in High School (NYC 1985) and fell in love with him and with it. Then I discovered Nina. All over again. Bigger.

Today’s song is for  N. on a big birthday. For wild is the wind and gentle is the journey. Thank you for all the winds so far and those to come. Remember how the trees suddenly started dancing on the night of my birthday upstate? That wind. that dance. O Happy gently wild winds of will and grace ahead.

– Amichai

Amichai’s Top 50: Soundtrack of my life. 4/20-6-8 2019/Passover-Shavuot 5779

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