When I was a kid I wanted to be Melanie Griffith's character in Working Girl. At the time I didn't quite understand that Tess was a broke bitch from the wrong side of town committing fraud while rocking some of the worst fashion of all time. As far as I was concerned she was the epitome of glamour and success. After all, the secretary-turned-CEO caught a ferry to work and vacuumed in the nude. I was sold! While my appreciation of the film has changed over the years, it still strikes a deep chord with me. Tess just wanted to escape her shitty past and be someone new. To live up to her potential. I get that. All I have to do is hear the damn theme song and I'm Googling flights to New York.
"Let The River Run" won the Academy Award for best song in 1989 and proved to be Carly Simon's last entry on the Billboard Hot 100 (as a solo artist), peaking at #49. It really is an extraordinary track that still gives me goosebumps. A beautifully written hymn to New York, the song juxtaposes its poetic lyrics with what could almost be described as a sedate tribal beat. Throw in a choir and Ms Simon's trademark nasal vocal and you have a quirky blend of sounds that shouldn't work but turns out to be so much more than the sum of its parts. Then there's the classic video (below), which features actors from the film and Carly's crazy horse teeth. Perfection from beginning to end.
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