Michael Ball has an extraordinarily broad repertoire of easy-listening songs, but "Since You’ve Been Gone" stands out for its more rock style. That’s not to say it’s anything like a rock track, but it does demonstrate the same smooth, light vocals that make easy work of ballads, gospel, country; and pop tracks, amongst others, can also take on this more aggressive genre. As such, it is a good place to start for those who want to find out if ‘easy listening’ music has anything to offer them.
The lyrics of "Since You've Been Gone" are all about frustration. The narrator has lost the woman he loves—she's even been cruel to him—but he is unable to forget her, destroying his sleep and his happiness. He is “under [her] spell”, and he wants her—not to come back, but to free him from his continued obsession with her. (One damn is used in the song at this point, but to an effect that would be difficult if not impossible to duplicate without the swear word.)
The nuances of frustration, anger, despair, and pathos are well highlighted by both the backing track and the vocals. The accompaniment begins with violin, suggesting a pacy but classical tune. But this quickly metamorphoses into a dramatic electric guitar riff that accords with the anger in the lyrics. This is backed with an insistent drum beat, yet the violin also remains, providing a subtle depth that emphasises that this track is about more than just rage.
This meaning is borne out in the vocals. Michael Ball’s voice is always light and smooth, but here he uses its power to full effect. He does not, however, merely belt out the track at full volume, but nuances his voice to each lyric from the sad “you can’t know what you mean to me”, to the angry “your poison letter” through to sarcasm in the “huh” after the potentially pleading and conciliatory “if you will come back, baby, you know you’ll never do wrong”.
This is a powerful song, especially by easy-listening standards, and while the themes and lyrics are standard fare, the performance is memorable, even excellent. If you like easy-listening tracks, you’ll probably like this in spite of the rock undertones. If you like rock, this may be a more comfortable entry into the genre than calmer tracks, and therefore is well worth a listen (or two!)
Lyrics: *3/5
Music: 5/5
Vocals: 5/5
Overall: *7/10
*Includes one instance of damn
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