Sunday, September 14, 2008

On the Street Where You Live

For some reason, I have been in the mood for some old-school musicals. Perhaps it is like comfort food - during times of stress or uncertainty, it is nice to watch or listen to something that is familiar. Anyway, as I was dithering around on YouTube today, I happened across this rather lovely version of "On the Street Where You Live," as performed by some character on Skins, a British television show. Although I have never seen this particular show and have no idea of what the basic plot is like, I really do like this.



While the song in and of itself doesn't really have a stalker vibe, its context within My Fair Lady is a little disturbing. Freddy, completely infatuated with Eliza, walks up and down the street that she lives (hence the title) and sings this song. According to the script, he supposedly has written her numerous letters and spends most of his nights on Eliza's street (presumably singing this song until the local constable threatens to arrest him). While Freddy is fairly harmless in terms of My Fair Lady, I can't help but think that, if the musical was made now, Freddy would be reduced to calling Eliza and drunkenly singing this into her voice mail. However, as far as stalker songs go (The Police's menacing "Every Breath You Take, Clay Aiken's disturbing "Invisible"), this is perhaps one of my favorites.

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