If you are a songwriter you have to write one for the wife now and again and Ian outdid himself with the Just The Way You Look Tonight love song to Trudi. This song is so down to earth but lovely and it is a tribute to long-lasting domestic harmony about a working girl. The song references films with West Side Story, people from differing backgrounds as appropriate for Ian and Trudi, and the Swinging Sixties icon and actress Julie Christie (Hunter likes her classic jaw line). It seems to arise from an impressionable moment about a particular night.
The original is on When I'm President with a live version from 2012 released on Bag of Tricks Vol. 3 (box set only).
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2012) | 3:54 | This live version (recorded at the John Dee, Oslo Norway) was released on Bag Of Tricks (Vol 3) (box set only). |
Just The Way You Look Tonight
(Ian Hunter)
I fell in love with a working girl
We both grew up in a working world
Julie Christie's jaw full of them pearly whites
Just the way you look tonight
She never bought herself the finest clothes
She couldn't care less about buttons and the bows
She says what counts is what's inside
It's just the way you look tonight
Well it's just the way you look tonight
You got the face of an angel
I can feel your halo burnin' bright
Just the way you look tonight
There ain't no make up, not a trace
She can cut you off and put you in your place
Her bark has gotta be worse than her bite
Just the way you look tonight
It's just the way you look tonight
You got the face of an angel
I can feel your halo burnin' bright
It's just the way you look tonight
It's West Side Story, only two lovers could tell
When you walked in the room everything stopped
It's inevitable, inevitable
I fell in love with a working girl
It works for me 'n' it works for her
When we get it on lightning strikes
It's just the way you look tonight
It's just the way you look tonight
You got the face of an angel
I can see your halo shining bright
Just the way you look tonight
Ian Hunter and The Rant Band CD: "When I'm President"
Sleeve and track listing
Proper Records PRPCD104
- Comfortable (Flyin' Scotsman)
- Fatally Flawed
- When I'm President
- What For
- Black Tears
- Saint
- Just The Way You Look Tonight
- Wild Bunch
- Ta Shunka Witco (Crazy Horse)
- I Don't Know What You Want
- Life
Review
Now this is more like it. Ian's new album is a welcome return to form. The good news is this album is chock full of rockers. The bad news is... well, there isn't any. In the fullness of time this album could well turn out to be his best in many years.
The run of good albums that started with Rant and continued with Shrunken Heads continues here. Guitars are to the full, with strong solos from both James Mastro and Mark Bosch. Ian's singing is strong without ever sounding strained and the rhythm section is as tight as a duck's whatsit.
What helps of course is that the songs are top-notch. Comfortable (Flyin' Scotsman) sets the tone, being a powerful full-paced rocker with guitars and subtle use of saxes. The title track is also strong, a mid-paced rocker with a repeated keyboard refrain reminiscent of The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again.
What For is another rocker with strong guitars and piano reminiscent of early Mott The Hoople. Ian hasn't rocked like this for years, and it sounds like he's having fun. Black Tears is slower but powerful and moody with a guitar solo that reminds me of the much-missed Mick Ronson. Saint is another up-tempo rocker, this time it reminds me at times of Twisted Steel. Wild Bunch meanwhile is a rocker that reminds me of The Faces.
There are so many good songs on this album it is hard to pick out highlights. What's interesting is that this album is credited to Ian Hunter And The Rant Band. This is much more of a band album than most of Ian's recent albums, and it is much the better for it.
What more can I say? It's brilliant... 'nuff said,
Just The Way You Look Tonight | 3:34 | Originally issued on When I'm President. |
Just The Way You Look Tonight (live 8th October 2012) | 3:54 | This live version (recorded at the John Dee, Oslo Norway) was released on Bag Of Tricks (Vol 3) (box set only). |