by The song I do with the karaoke
My daughter is a typical teenager. She is 13 and is not much interested in what I do, but recently I sang “Begin the Beguine” by Cole Porter and she actually came down and asked: “What the hell was that?” So this song has something magical . It always raises the world around me.
I can no longer hear the song
Stephen Sondheim is brilliant, but I can’t send in the clowns. I just feel on my tits. Yes, I know that is a very British expression. I give you a pleasure.
The first single I bought
Sweet Dreams (are made of this) from Eurythmics, on 45, from this great record shop called Phantasmagoria in Montreal when I was 10. I had seen Annie Lennox on TV and had the feeling that I was witness to a heavenly nature.
The best song you can play at a party
“The Way You Make ME FEEL” by Michael Jackson. I think Michael Jackson from the time before the thriller is less obvious.
The song that has changed my life
I was about four or five when I saw “The Wizard of Oz” for the first time on TV. When I heard Judy Garland sing “Over the Rainbow”, it immediately became my hymn and I then started to dress up like Judy and scare my parents.
The song to which I inexplicably know every text
The Hotel California by the Eagles was hammered in for inexplicable reasons. I am always fascinated by the story and melody out of morbid curiosity.
I secretly like the song, but tell everyone I hate
I hate the whole Pro-American, crazy flag-swivel crap, but the singing of The Star-Spangled Banner, the American national anthem, is a lot of fun. It really pays off. The Whitney Houston version deserves the most famous version. Was I ever asked to sing it? Not yet. I’m not sure if I would do that.
The song that wakes me awake in the morning
“Dancing in the Dark” by Bruce Springsteen is one of the great, energetic songs. It recognizes the sadness, but gets it going.
The song that makes me cry
I covered “Heading for Home” by Peggy Seeger on my folkocracy plate. What I love is that it is about accepting age and accepting death.
The song I want to play at my funeral
I would have a piece of viola called Offertorium from my new classic album. I’ve always loved classical music, but now that I am a classic artist, she no longer notices when you add “Rufus Wainwright”. It only appears if you enter “Wainwright”. So now I’m officially mononymous, like Mozart and Madonna.
Rufus Wainwrights new classic album, Dream frequencyIs now outside.
