Lilac Wine

Single infobox
Name = Lilac Wine


Type = Song
Artist = Elkie Brooks
alt Artist =
Album = Pearls
Published =
Released = January 1978
track_no =
Recorded = 1978
Genre = Rock/Pop
Length = 3:54
Writer = James Shelton
Composer =
Label = A&M Records
Producer = Mike BattSong infobox
Name = Lilac Wine
Artist = Jeff Buckley
Album = Grace
Released = 1994
Format = CD, LP
Recorded = Bearsville Recording Studio, Woodstock, NY (Fall 1993)
Genre = Rock
Length = 4:32
Label = Columbia
Producer = Jeff Buckley
Andy WallaceExtra tracklisting
Album = Grace
Type = studio
prev_track = "Last Goodbye"
prev_no = 3
this_track = "Lilac Wine"
track_no = 4
next_track = "So Real"
next_no = 5

"Lilac Wine" is a song written by James Shelton (words and music) in 1950. It was introduced by Hope Foye in the short-lived theater musical revue, "Dance Me a Song." It was covered by Eartha Kitt (1953), by Judy Henske on her first, self-named album (1963), by Nina Simone on her album "Wild Is The Wind" (1966), was a solo hit by Elkie Brooks and appeared on her album Pearls and later by Jeff Buckley on his début album "Grace" (1994). It was covered live by Sarah Slean in 1997 [concert in Toronto, September 20 1997] , More recently, the song was covered by Katie Melua on her debut album "Call Off the Search" (2003). In 2008 it was sung (Jeff Buckley version) at least once as background music in the French film, "Tell No One".

Jeff Buckley considered Simone's to be the definitive interpretation of the song, stating, "I've only heard Nina Simone's...And that's the only one that matters. There's one by Eartha Kitt. There's one by Elkie Brooks, which I've never, ever heard. There's another one. They've done it, but Nina does it best. That's the end all of it. That's the be all end all version. She's the king." [ [http://www.jeffbuckley.com/rfuller/buckley/faq/13grace.html Jeff Buckley FAQ] ]

The only artist to have major chart success with the song was Elkie Brooks in 1978 and the song remains closely associated with her, especially in the UK.

Lyrics

The lyrics describe the heady feeling of being in love, of being "hypnotised by a strange delight". The narrator remembers being in love, and is reminded of it by drinking lilac wine he (or she) made at the time.

Notes