Tuesday 10 September 2013

Enigma 'Sadeness'

Chart Peak: UK 1
YouTube

Yes, 'Sadeness'. That's the title under which it was released pretty much everywhere except the UK, where the label presumably feared that we'd think it was a spelling mistake. The title, of course, refers to the Marquis De Sade who's addressed in his native French at various points in the track. The combination of heavy breathing and hits of sexual debauchery with religious imagery (the sampled Gregorian chant) was obviously something with appeal to the more pretentious but I found it more annoying than anything else (even though I was about the right age then, 12). And it's laid over music that could be described as "new age", also not a selling point in my book. I think the most enjoyment I've ever got out of it was trying to work out what the French lyrics were. In truth, the vocals work more as a texture than as a text and that's presumably part of the reason the song could become such a global hit.

Available on: The Platinum Collection

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