Clannad - Brave Enough
Click to view5. Brave Enough.
Clannad tricked me with this one; I wasn’t expecting to like it much, especially after hearing the beginning, a chord-strummy guitar with a bit of country twang. But abruptly, the melody dips into a lower tone, a drum introduces a nice clipped beat, and Máire (2) starts singing. There’s a sense of sudden urgency to the song, which fits her opening lyrics well:
“I will need to face what I’ve done
I will stay true. I know what is wrong.
Am I strong, will I fail, am I brave enough today,
or will I fall, will I fail, am I brave enough today?”
Then a man takes up the introspective words - the Irish singer Duke Special - and though he’s not one of the Brennan men, his voice is really appealing, just the right amount of musk to sultry up his clear tenor as he sings:
“From not knowing where to begin,
’til the need for more gets under my skin,
Am I strong, will I fail, am I brave enough today?
or will I fall, will I fail, am I brave enough to say?”
Later he and Máire harmonise beautifully, and all in all, this song gives a bit of electronica-cum-chanting, a little bluesy gravel, some yearning Clannad harmonies rendered by non-Clannad folk; there are bits of several different genres here, all smushed together into a surprisingly pleasing song.
(And thank goodness they got Duke Special to perform instead of Viscount Mediocre, ’cause that guy sucks.)
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http://candledance.wordpress.com/2013/09/29/review-clannad-nadur/