Eva Cassidy is probably the best singer you’ve never heard of before. She tragically died in 1996 at the age of 33 before ever really achieving major success, so her name is not a common household name. However, those who have heard her voice will never forget her. I have to admit that I did not know that she had passed away until tonight! I’ve been a fan of her music for years and yet somehow never knew that she was no longer with us.
I first fell in love with her music in 2002 during the winter olympics in salt Lake City when Michelle Kwan skated to Eva Cassidy’s version of Sting’s “Fields of Gold”. I remember how beautiful her voice was and how haunting the arrangement was. The entire performance was amazing because Kwan had just lost another shot at the gold medal and obviously still emotional over it but she honored her obligation to skate in the special ceremony. It was so moving to watch what unfolded. Here was one of the best champions the sport has ever known skating with a broken heart to a song called “Fields of Gold” while wearing a gold dress. It was obviously supposed to be a celebratory performance of attaining her lifelong dream of a gold medal but it was not to be. If you watch closely at the end of the performance you will see how emotional she was by the experience as tears are streaming down her face as she waved goodbye to the crowd. It was as if she knew that she might never actually make her dream of gold come true which has actually been the case as she’s never won the Olympic gold.
To me, knowing the facts about Eva Cassidy’s passing at such a young age has made her music and most of all that song and Kwan’s performance all the more special and memorable to me. I just watched it again and I am not ashamed to admit that it moved me to my heart’s core. I felt the bittersweetness for Kwan but now so much more for the late Eva Cassidy. What a sweet angelic voice that was silenced far too soon. I just wish she knew how much people love her and her music today all over the world. Go to Wikipedia to read how popular she has become after she died.
Note: Eva’s arrangement of John Lennon’s Imagine was used recently by American Idol contestant David Archiletto. Her “Over the Rainbow” arrangement was used two seasons ago by runner-up Katherine McPhee.
Here is the hauntingly memorable performance by Michelle Kwan with Eva Cassidy’s “Fields of Gold”
Sting, the songwriter and original singer of Fields of Gold, said the following about Eva’s cover of the song:
“A lot of people have covered my songs. And it’s a strange emotion, you know, because your own songs are like your own babies. I mean you might hear someone reinterpreting them and maybe you don’t agree with what they’ve done. But this version was just so pure, so excellent, that I was deeply moved by it, and so happy that she covered it. Eva’s is one of the best versions of my song I’ve ever heard…There is something about her voice – a quality – that you can’t really put into words. It’s a magical quality. People respond to its purity. It suggests something ethereal– something unattainable.”
Here are the lyrics
Sung by Eva CassidyLyrics by Sting
You’ll remember me, when the west wind moves
Among the fields of barley
You can tell the sun in it’s jealous sky
When we walked in fields of gold
So she took her love for to gaze a while
Among the fields of barley
In his arms she fell as her hair came down
Among the fields of gold
Will you stay with me, will you be my love
Among the fields of barley
And you can tell the sun in it’s jealous sky
When we walked in fields of gold
I never made promises lightly
There’ve been some that I’ve broken
But I swear in the days still left
We will walk in fields of gold
We’ll walk in fields of gold
Many years have past, since those summer days
Among the fields of barley
See the children run as the sun goes down
As you lie in fields of gold
You’ll remember me when the west wind moves
Among the fields of barley
You can tell the sun in it’s jealous sky
When we walked in fields of gold
When we walked in fields of gold
When we walked in fields of gold
Here’s her version of “Somewhere over the Rainbow”
Here’s her amazing “What a Wonderful World” also live
