Longing: Musicians in search of their twin

Many artists enrich our lives with their images and touching songs. Soulful songs often reveal a particular longing for a loved one in a moving manner.

However, this longing is not always focussed on a sexual partner. Not all love songs are written for a male or female object of romantic or sexual desire.

Some lyrics are full of mystic longing and totally devoid of sexuality. When they are sung by a touching voice they can make butter melt in the refrigerator. We presume that they reveal the longing for a vanished twin.

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The longing for a vanished twin is expressed in the soulful lyrics of some artists. Such love songs sound somewhat wrong because they are about something intangible and unattainable instead of being about a living love interest. Their images are often surrealistic.

Georges Moustaki - 'Ma Solitude'

The song 'Ma Solitude' by George Moustaki is a particularly good example of lyrics that express the longing for the missing other. Here are some extracts:

Pour avoir si souvent dormi avec ma solitude
Je m'en suis fait presqu'une amie
As I have slept so often with my loneliness,
I have turned it almost into a girl-friend

Une douce habitude, elle ne me quitte pas d'un pas
A sweet habit, I cannot make one step without it

Fidèle comme une ombre, elle me suivit ça et là
Aux quatre coins du monde
Faithful as a shadow, it followed me here and there
Into all four corners of the world

Non, je ne suis jamais seul avec ma solitude
No, I am never alone with my loneliness

Quand elle est au creux de mon lit, elle prend toute la place
When it is in the hollow of my bed, it takes up all the space

Et nous passons de longues nuits tous les deux face à face
And the two of us spend long nights together face to face

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