A Favourite Song - Elaine Paige

I have many songs I would call 'favourites'. There's my iTunes playlist called 'Musical Favs Etc' which has 762 songs on it. I could apparently get through 1.7 days listening to nothing but my 'favourites'. Nevertheless, some songs are just downright beautiful and I have to listen to the lyrics over and over again. I'm thinking of 'Vincent' by Don McLean and 'Waterloo Sunset' by The Kinks, both of which make the hairs of the back of my neck stand up. But there's another one obsessing me at the moment. I've been entranced by it since Sarah Kennedy played it on her old Radio 2 morning show (happy days, I miss Sarah) then I remember Elaine Paige herself being encouraged to play it on her own Radio 2 show. For a major West End star, Elaine is notoriously reluctant to play her own songs but I could happily listen to this one on a loop - as I did last night.

The set-up: 'Like An Image Passing By' uses the tune of ABBA's 'My Love, My Life' (itself a gorgeous song about losing love) and was used in the English version of a musical for children based on ABBA songs. I don't much care about the context of the song - it works perfectly well alone. This is a song of failure and loss but Elaine Paige puts so much emotion into it that it damn near breaks my heart every time.

I know it is too late,
From this moment time and tide will not wait.
Yet I was master of my fate,
Being the ruling queen,
I never wanted a change of scene.

Like an image passing by, I see my life,
In the twinkling of an eye, my lonely life,
And at this my darkest hour, fading like a flower,
Beauty is bound to die.

From the present to the past, I see my life,
Catching up with me at last, my empty life.
Now the hourglass is turning, 
And in my eyes are burning,
Tears I should have cried long ago,
Now I'll cry forever.

Now, it's my turn to sleep,
Oh, how true that beauty's only skin deep.
I was wrong, thinking I could keep,
Everything in my hand,
Knowing my castle was built on sand.

Like an image passing by, I see my life,
In the twinkling of an eye, my lonely life,
And at this my darkest hour, fading like a flower,
Beauty is bound to die.

From the present to the past, I see my life,
Catching up with me at last, my empty life.
Now the hourglass is turning, 
And in my eyes are burning,
Tears I should have cried long ago,
Now I'll cry forever.

Now I'll cry forever.