Eighties songs reimagined by David Paul Jones

Ben Harrison and I have been creating theatre work together for over twenty years, via productions with Grid Iron and beyond. Cover versions of songs have always played a significant role in our theatrical narratives and soundworlds. 

For Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me, Ben asked me to compile a playlist of classic 1980s songs with one or two perhaps lesser-known songs. We both agreed from the outset that we would not attempt to parody the soundworld of the 1980s but to get underneath the poetry of the lyrics and explore the relationship and potential themes with Ben’s beautiful stories. While I remain faithful to the original melodies, I have taken a more elegiac, contemporary classical approach to the songs, with a core soundworld of piano and ambient soundscape, interwoven with the exquisite playing of cellist, Justyna Jablonska.

In Smalltown Boy we have stripped-back the multi-layers of the original to more of a piano-ballad with a haunting and persistent cello counter-melody; with Boys Don’t Cry we pull the tempo down to a slow, quiet, almost lullaby-like delivery and with Song To The Siren we pay homage to Elizabeth’s Fraser’s legendary, unforgettable delivery and then turn the song in the direction of an explosive and yearning finale. 

DPJ
davidpauljones.com

Smalltown Boy

Song To The Siren

Head Over Heels

King of Pain

Boys Don't Cry

True Colours

Russians

Like A Prayer

If The Winds Allow*

Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me

The Power Of Love

* David Paul Jones original song