Damn, I wish I was your lover by Sophie B. Hawkins

Hello everyone! I am very excited for this week’s Lydia’s Girls post because I will be discussing Sophie B. Hawkins! My personal background with Sophie’s music goes back to the second Lydia’s Girls album song, As I Lay Me Down. When I first heard this song, I instantly fell in love with Sophie’s voice. I remember in the 4th grade when a classmate asked me who my favorite artist was, and I immediately said Sophie B. Hawkins. My dad also put Sophie on Lydia’s Girls four with Don’t, Don’t Tell Me No, which is another amazing song and one of my favorites of hers. When I was nine, I would spend my time at night listening to her albums my dad had (because this was before streaming) while playing solitaire on the computer. As you can already see, my dad is a fan of Sophie’s music as well, and *FUN FACT!* my dad worked with her! He was one of the cinematographers in her 1998 film The Cream Will Rise.

Moving on into Sophie’s background. Born in New York City, Sophie started out as a percussionist and attended the Manhattan School of Music. She used her percussion skills to play drums and sing to her songs at many gigs. Sophie has made five albums: Tongues and Tails (1992), Whaler (1994), Timbre (1999), Wilderness (2004), and The Crossing (2012). One thing that I love about Sophie is that she is so creative with her music; she wants to move people. Sophie remembers listening to Bob Dylan when she was little and cried because she wanted to be the song. Sophie’s love of music goes to a deeper level than most.

Alright, let’s move on to the song recommendation. I have chosen… (Drum roll please) Damn I wish I was your lover! This is probably my favorite song of hers for many reasons. The song has such an interesting structure. It starts out with an intro verse. The music has that industrial feel with the beats, but also feels whimsical with a synthesizer. Then she heads straight into the chorus which becomes so powerful with the back up vocals and additional instruments. At this point in the song we are grooving. Another quick five line verse then right back into the chorus followed by a post chorus. All the while, the song is building up to the bridge, which explodes with new instrumentation and killer vocals! Then the song takes a turn to how we started in the first verse. I feel like this is the part of the song where Sophie is taking a step back and reflecting on the situation. But don’t worry, because we go right back to for another round of the chorus which fades into the end.

The lyrics are also incredible, with her first lines: “That old dog has chained you up alright. I give you anything you need to live inside a twisted cage, sleep besides an empty rage. I had a dream, I was your hero.” I mean WOW! Haven’t we all been there? Someone we like is in a relationship, but we know we could offer them more. Sophie expresses this in such a unique way. Then one of my favorite lyrics she has is: “Don’t say you’ll stay, ‘cause then you’ll go away”. I mean, come on! This song leaves me speechless, and if you haven’t listened to Sophie I highly recommend her.

Author: Lydia MacDavid

Chief Editor: Jacob Tomeny