Paris Tonight: Anna Domino’s “Paris” (1990)

Anna Domino’s Mysteries of America (1990) went largely unnoticed by the general public (like much of her other work). It was a shame, since the album contained some of the most beautiful compositions put together by a recording artist at that time. Today the album still stands the test of time, its ethereal, autumnal warmth radiating the kind of gentle sensuality reserved for Eric Rohmer films. Americas’ most gorgeous number was “Paris”, a lovely paean to the city of lights that featured the most popular elements of chanson (chiming guitars, accordion) and was built upon a circular, hypnotic rhythm of Latin percussion.

Impeccably arranged, the song is pulled even further into the swooning lights of a Parisian midnight by Domino’s most romantic poetic exploits: “Caught at the edge of a dream/Water dissolves from brilliant to black”. Slated for a single, the track was eventually passed over by the label heads at Crépuscule, who had already been giving the artist plenty of strife over the years regarding distribution of her work. Says Domino of the planned music video for the planned single release: “For ‘Paris’, I planned to jump off a bridge, slowly, falling through a cloud of scattered birds. In black and white, with double exposures and soft colored lights that would spin and come and go…”