Vince Charming
Side One Side Two Side Three Side Four
Still Beautiful

Still Beautful (click to listen)

VC: vocals, Mosrite acoustic, Fender Strat, Fender Precision bass, Yamaha CS1 synth (organ & marimba), percussion, drum programming; Anglea Hessler: violin, and featuring Kay Roland: duet vocals

The Story

I wrote this in the spring of 2006 and only reimagined it as a duet as I begain recording. It's a simple story of people like me who have reached "a certain age" and would like to be still recognized and loved for their inner beauty. I know that many of my contemporaries can relate. In recent weeks this song has really begun to resonate more and more for me. I 've often thought of new song ideas and so many of them come back to the basic theme of this song and then I realize that I've already written the best song I could on the subject. We so often think of only women being judged by their exterior, especially after reaching forty. But despite being written about fictional characters, this song has become very personal to me. I'm still hoping that someone will recognize my inner beauty...it's there somewhere (smile) This is mostly a solo recording except for Angela's awesome violin and the great duet from ex- New American, Kay Roland. Angela's contribution give this a definite Dylan vibe (think Desire).


Do you remember her?
Well, I do!
She was the belle of the ball back in ‘82
As the nineties passed, she still lit up the scene
Now she looks in the mirror and stifles a scream

“I was beautiful
Stylish, smooth and silky
So wonderful
Just look deep and see
I’m still beautiful
Still beautiful, me!”

He was a maverick
Cute and cool
Down on Telegraph Ave. he was nobody’s fool
But the college days passed, he’s no longer a kid
Nobody cares what he’s doing, only ‘bout what he did

“I was beautiful
Flowing hair, tan and lean
So wonderful
Look past the gray and see
I’m still beautiful
Still beautiful, me!”

Can we get past skin deep?
Can we skip youth and flash?
Can we treasure intention?
Ignore bling and cash?
Can we focus on features our eyes cannot see?
Can we remember the beautiful?
The beautiful, we?

We were beautiful
Pure and plain, our hearts unstained
So wonderful
Just look deep and you’ll see
We’re still beautiful
Still beautiful, we!

VC
4/17 & 5/16/06

Vince Charming....Neo-Americana music for the New Millennium All contents copyright 2008 Charming Productions