A Song I Love #1: The Changing Lights by Stacey Kent

intro

I was introduced to jazz singer Stacey Kent through a compilation of her song's lyrics in a bookstore, which intrigued me simply because the lyrics were written by author Kazuo Ishiguro, several of whom's (?) novels I have read. The lyrics were insightful and varied, transporting me to various times and places with their simple yet effective descriptions. When I left that store, I resolved to listen to the songs and I was not disappointed. Kent's smooth performances of emotion combined with apt instrumentals meant several of those tracks immediately made their ways onto my playlists. Now, several years later, I still listen to her work frequently - especially The Changing Lights, one of such collaborations with Ishiguro. 

This brief post will outline some stuff about this song, especially its lyrics. I hope it convinces you to listen to her music :)

but first, the lyrics:

Were we leaving Rio
Or were we in New York?
I remember bossa nova on the breeze
We were in the back seat
Of a cab we couldn't afford
You were holding my old rucksack on your knees

You leaned towards your window
To see the traffic up ahead
"These commuters here, " you said
"Could be the walking dead."

And we vowed to guard our dreams
From all the storms that lay ahead
From the winds of fear and age and compromise

And we laughed about the hopelessness
Of so many people's lives
As we slowly moved towards the changing lights.

It was near Les Invalides
Or perhaps Trafalgar Square
It was late at night, the city was asleep
You were clowning in the back seat
With some friends we'd found somewhere
The kind, back then, we always seemed to meet.

There were those in this great world you said
Just fated to go far
And among the lucky ones
Were we inside that car.

And your friends began to sing
When You Wish Upon A Star
And you clapped along like you didn't have a care

But once I turned to glance at you
As we drove across the square
And your face looked haunted in the changing lights.

Was it last September?
It was autumn more or less
You were waiting to cross some busy boulevard

Talking on your phone
To your family I guess
Your briefcase tucked up high beneath your arm
As I approached you turned around
A question in your eye
As though I might ignore you
And just simply walk on by

But we smiled and talked awhile
About each others lives
And once or twice I caught a wistful note
Then you moved towards the crossing
As the cars slowed to a halt
And we waved and parted beneath the changing lights.

the pain of change

What's magical about this song is how incredibly bittersweet it is. Through three "moments", the singer narrates how her relationship with another, implied to be romantic, faded as they moved away from their youth and towards "the changing lights", representing the change and loss of idealism in their lives. 

In the first "moment", the protagonist of the song is young and carefree. We were in the back seat/Of a cab we couldn't afford/You were holding my old rucksack on your knees establishes the adventurous nature of the couple. They discuss hope, and naively promise to guard their hopes and dreams/From all the storms that lay ahead, believing they will never give up on them unlike the majority of people and the "hopelessness" of their lives. However, they are already moving towards the changing lights.

The protagonist is once again in a car in the second "moment". There is still a carefree sense of hope, but it is combined with bits of foreshadowing of what comes ahead. You were clowning in the back seat/With some friends we'd found somewhere/The kind, back then, we always seemed to meet. illustrates the abundance of fast friendships in one's youth, which may not be the case in the future. Despite the abundant companionship, something has changed. The last three lines mark a change in tone: But once I turned to glance at you/As we drove across the square/And your face looked haunted in the changing lights.

In the third and final "moment", more time has passed and the protagonist and her partner no longer see each other regularly. They have matured; compared to the antics of the previous "moments" the Kent sings how she notices her former partner in a chance encounter Talking on your phone/To your family I guess/Your briefcase tucked up high beneath your arm. This final interaction is pleasant, but it is clear things will never be the same again. The line And once or twice I caught a wistful note implies some small amount of regret, but it is time for them to move forward. As the cars slowed to a halt/And we waved and parted beneath the changing lights.

and some other details

In the first two "moments", the protagonist is in a car, isolated from the masses and the loss of hope they feared, but in the final "moment", they are a pedestrian, illustrating how they have become what they believed they would avoid.

The vagueness of the times and places of the "moments" (Were we leaving Rio/Or were we in New York?) show how the narrator has is far past this part of her life. The fact that the protagonist chooses to sing about her past itself could indicate that she has still not found complete closure for the things that happened so long ago.

On the road, changing traffic lights from green to yellow to red means a vehicle needs to slow down and stop. This mirrors the fast-paced and adventurous life in the first "moment", the subtle uncertainty in the second "moment" (as a car facing a yellow light could still try to speed through the intersection", and the acceptance and maturity in the final "moment".