Lost MP3 of the Week: Laura Nyro, “Gonna Take a Miracle”

There’s something so beautifully painful about “Gonna Take a Miracle.” In a way, she sounds almost happy about the hurt that her lover’s leaving has caused her. It’s a jubilant, upbeat song, and yet, she’s upset.

Laura Nyro: “Gonna Take a Miracle” (download)

It captures such a particular point in time, such a particular feeling. It’s an odd thought, finding joy in the misery of love. Is it because that’s how we know love: when we are willing to suffer so much in its name? A quote jumps to mind, courtesy of Swingers:

Mike: How did you get over it? I mean, how long did it take?
Rob: Sometimes it still hurts. You know how it is, man. It’s like, you wake up every day and it hurts a little bit less, and then you wake up one day and it doesn’t hurt at all. And the funny thing is, is that, this is kinda wierd, but it’s like, it’s like you almost miss that pain.
Mike: You miss the pain?
Rob: Yeah, for the same reason that you missed her… because you lived with it for so long.

These moments are so infrequently portrayed in art, but for some reason, so effective when it is. Does anyone else have a favorite song, quote, moment, etc., that captures this oxymoronic emotional state?

10 Responses to “Lost MP3 of the Week: Laura Nyro, “Gonna Take a Miracle”” »»

  1. Comment by wendy | 01/14/08 at 7:53 pm

    It’s better to feel pain than nothing at all ;-)

    I love Laura Nyro, thanks for the download!

  2. Comment by Wesley | 01/28/08 at 7:43 pm

    I heard this song in A Home At The End of the World and absolutely fell in love with it. I’ve been trying to track an Mp3 of it down for months, so thank you!

    -Wes

  3. Comment by Taylor | 01/28/08 at 8:06 pm

    Funny, Wes, that’s where I first heard of her, also.

  4. Comment by Ralph Bruno | 07/19/08 at 10:09 pm

    The emotion isn’t sorrow so much in the song “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle.” It’s the mixed emotions that follow completion and acceptance. Along with “Désiree,” Laura was acknowledging a love to her then “flame” and eventual life partner, Maria Desiderio.
    In producing “Gonna Take a Miracle”, creativity wise Laura’s contract gave her carte blanche. The CBS archives expressly state that these two songs were “…lesser-known covers.” After a four-year hiatus, Laura and Maria had a rendezvous in June 1971, to celebrate Maria’s seventeenth birthday. Laura’s attribution of “Désiree,” was the paean to that love. “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle” was the catharsis. At this time, Laura had few options to pursue this love. Therefore, she turned to her music.

  5. Comment by Ralph Bruno | 07/19/08 at 10:13 pm

    The emotion isn’t sorrow so much in the song “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle.” It’s the mixed emotions that follow completion and acceptance. Along with “Désiree,” Laura was acknowledging a love to her then “flame” and eventual life partner, Maria Desiderio.
    Laura and Maria had a rendezvous in June 1971, to celebrate Maria’s seventeenth birthday. Laura’s attribution of “Désiree,” was the paean to that love. “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle” was the catharsis.

  6. Comment by Ralph Bruno | 07/19/08 at 10:15 pm

    The emotion isn’t sorrow so much in the song “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle.” It’s the mixed emotions that follow completion and acceptance. Along with “Désiree,” Laura was acknowledging a love to her then “flame” and eventual life partner, Maria Desiderio. After a four-year hiatus, Laura and Maria had a rendezvous in June 1971, to celebrate Maria’s seventeenth birthday. Laura’s attribution of “Désiree,” was the paean to that love. “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle” was the catharsis.

  7. Comment by Ralph Bruno | 07/19/08 at 10:17 pm

    The emotion isn’t sorrow so much in the song “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle.” It’s the mixed emotions that follow completion and acceptance. Along with “Désiree,” Laura was acknowledging a love to her then “flame” and eventual life partner, Maria Desiderio.

  8. Comment by Jay Fluck | 11/17/09 at 9:00 pm

    It has been ages since I heard this song – for sure full of pain and brings back memories…
    btw – the d/l link goes to an error page?

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  1. Pingback by links for 2008-01-23 « Chatquah and Galoshes | 01/23/08 at 10:28 am

    [...] T-Sides » Blog Archive » Lost MP3 of the Week: Laura Nyro, “Gonna Take a Miracle” (tags: folk music media) [...]

  2. [...] The chorus goes, “Now I’m living by myself without a care in the world / I never think about you / And I’m happy as I’ve ever been — well, I pretend I am / I never think about you.” In my version, that third line went, “And I’m as happy as I’ve ever been — without pretending I am.” This makes for a huge change in the song’s message. In actuality, Lewis thinks about this person all the time and is singing all this for show, where I had thought he was genuine. I probably should’ve guessed I was hearing it wrong, because it’s not exactly a happy song. I suppose I just assumed that he was sad to see it all go, like that quote from Swingers I love so much. [...]


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