We Are One | Through the Shattered Lens

I think it’s time to slow things down a bit after several choices of rock and metal for Song of the Day. Thus, my pick for the latest Song of the Day is the song “We Are One” by Kelly Sweet.

Yes, I have a soft spot for adult contemporary singers like Kelly Sweet whose sound of modern jazz and classical leanings make for fine easy listening. Life can’t be all rock and metal. Got to have something relaxing and soothing once in awhile. Ms. Sweet is one of the hidden gems of the last couple years whose career is still doing a sow burn, but her debut album, also titled We Are One, has gained her quite a loyal following. The ballad chosen for the song of the day is one of her original songs in the album full of covers. While she does a great job doing both original and cover work, this paticular song is my favorite out of the bunch.

Her classical and jazz training gives her voice an almost ethereal quality during this song. It’s not too catchy and pop like her more successful contemporaries. Her songs are something both the younger and older generations can get into. This song will definitely not be something to inspire the casual booty call, but it is one that is definitely one to light up that slow burn romance that’s harder to create and even harder to keep.

We Are One

Didn’t need to ask
Don’t know the reason
Everything that I believe
Is right here

Not thinkin’ bout tomorrow
Couldn’t catch it if I tried
World is spinning too fast
So I’ll wait ’til it comes to me

I am you
You are me
We are one
Take me in your arms
And flow through me
I’ll flow through you

Steal my breath away
Cause I’m so moved by you
Deeper than I ever thought
Was possible, was possible, it’s everything, oh

Difference between me and you
It’s all in where your heart lies
And every day’s another chance
So let’s get it right

I am you
You are me
We are one
Take me in your arms
And flow through me
I’ll flow through you

Did you lose yourself out there
Did you lose faith and give up
Don’t turn away and hide yourself

Cause there’s a friend to make along the way
We are the heartbeat and our souls speak
And all the beauty I have ever dreamed
Is right here in front of me, oh

Is right here in front of me, oh

I am you
And you are me
We are one
Take me in your arms
And flow through me
I’ll flow through you…

When the infamous epic Caligula was first released back in 1979, a disco version of Caligula’s love theme — We Are One — was also released as a promotional gimmick. If you’ve sat through the behind-the-scenes footage on the Caligula Imperial Edition DVD, this song has probably been forever branded on your brain.

And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

This song is so over-the-top, so blatantly exploitive, so insidiously catchy, and so totally inappropriate for the film it was written for that it simply cannot be ignored. To me, this song represents everything that makes the Grindhouse great.

(As well, I hope whoever was playing bass got paid extra…)

While we’re on the subject, I’m also going to include the opening credits of Caligula because I’ve always liked the use of Profokiev’s Romeo and Juliet.

(I also love the fact that the screenplay is credited as being adapted from a script by Gore Vidal yet no one is given credit for doing the adapting, the editing is credited to “the production,” and director Tinto Brass is credited with “principal photography.”)