Modern Classics: Seal - Kiss From a Rose

Switched on Pop

Vox Media Podcast Network

Music Interviews, Music History, Music, Music Commentary

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 14 March 2023

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“Kiss From a Rose” is one of the most unusual number one hits of all time. Seal’s song can’t decide if it’s in minor or major, it uses an old-fashioned waltz rhythm, and its lush orchestration and elaborate vocal harmonies support mysterious lyrics about a “greying tower alone on the sea.” Seal himself wasn’t sure about the song, and needed some convincing to include the composition on his 1994 album SEAL II. But once director Joel Schumacher decided to use the track for the end credits of the film Batman Forever, the song went global and has remained a cultural phenomenon ever since. Ahead of his upcoming 30th anniversary tour for the albums SEAL I and SEAL II, we speak with the singer and songwriter about the enduring appeal of “Kiss From A Rose.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Your plans? Today it's dinner with the parents at your spot. We gotta come back here.
0:06.0	Now they're spot or you're on the edge of your seat at the game.
0:10.0	Come on, just one time!
0:12.0	And it's the one!
0:14.0	Or maybe you're catching the max flight to...
0:18.0	Now boarding flight 1850.
0:20.0	Oh, that's you!
0:21.0	The choice is yours and when you're with AMACs, it's not if it's going to happen.
0:26.0	But one, American Express, don't live life without it.
0:30.0	Close your eyes and picture a graying tower alone on the sea.
0:45.0	A light hits the gloom on the gray.
0:51.0	And now your rose is in bloom.
1:08.0	Welcome to Switched On Pop. I'm musicologist Nate Slun.
1:12.0	I'm songwriter Charlie Harding.
1:14.0	And this is Modern Classics. Kiss from a rose.
1:18.0	Ooh! What do you bring me, Nate?
1:22.0	Close your eyes again, Charles. It's the mid 90s.
1:26.0	You're young Jewish boy.
1:28.0	I'm not. No, you are. You have to use your imagination, okay?
1:33.0	Okay, let's take for the sex or size.
1:36.0	You're young Jewish boy. You're gonna get me canceled.
1:38.0	Balled up into your fist is the money you've saved over the past three months from allowance and various chores.
	...

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