20 Love Songs To Cure Your January Blues

13. They Don't Know - Kirsty MacColl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIsyQ2qCDQ8 In her tragically short lifetime, Kirsty MacColl never received the recognition she deserved from the public, but among her peers she was worshipped as a godlike talent. She sang with bands as timeless as The Smiths, Happy Mondays, and most famously The Pogues on 'Fairy-tale of New York'. She had the voice of an angel and is one of our most unappreciated songwriters - the everyday language she used in her songs reminds me of the vernacular wordsmithery Alex Turner brings to the Artic Monkeys. But she was always destined to be the bridesmaid, never the bride, as witnessed in her song 'They Don't Know', which should have been her first hit, but she was denied by internal problems at her then record company. So Tracey Ullman got the hit with this instead, with Kirsty graciously singing backing vocals on it and seeing it provide the launchpad for her friend's success. 'They don't know' is another story of 'us against the world', a defiant song 'They don't know about us, and they've never heard of love.' But the real trick here is that is sounds so sugar sweet, upbeat and joyful. "I get a feeling when I look at you, wherever you go now I want to be there too". This is the story of an old love, it's not about the first flush of romance which, if anything, makes it even more romantic.