Me and Liza
| "Me and Liza" | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Single by Rufus Wainwright | |
| from the album Vibrate: The Best of Rufus Wainwright | |
| Released | January 20, 2014 |
| Format | Digital download |
| Genre | Pop rock |
| Length | 3:21 |
| Label | Universal |
| Writer(s) | Rufus Wainwright |
"Me and Liza" is a song by American-Canadian singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright for his greatest hits album, Vibrate: The Best of Rufus Wainwright (2014); it appears as the third track on the album's standard issue, serving as its lead single. The song is about Wainwright's relationship with Liza Minnelli, who was reportedly upset by his 2006 tribute concerts to her mother, Judy Garland. It premiered on BBC Radio 2's Weekend Wogan on January 12, 2014 and was officially released on January 20. "Me and Liza" reached a peak position of number 59 on Belgium's Ultratop singles chart.
"Me and Liza" is about Wainwright's relationship with Liza Minnelli, who was reportedly upset by his 2006 tribute concerts to her mother, American actress and singer Judy Garland. Wainwright re-created Garland's concert album Judy at Carnegie Hall (1961), later releasing his own live album Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall (2007). Wainwright said of the song: "I have to be very diplomatic with the track. Let's just say it's about legend and arson. It's very playful. A playful jab. Oh, and you know, possibly a hit?" In a March 2014 interview published by Radio Times, Wainwright went into more detail:
"I'm trying to be as chivalrous as possible here. I'm a big Liza fan and a big Judy fan and I can't say that Ms Minnelli has been too thrilled by my ovations. When I performed the Judy Garland show, she really didn't really get it. I could not tell you what's wrong, I suppose anything to do with her mother makes it very difficult for her. My dad grew up with Liza for a couple of years in Beverly Hills, so they were friends as kids. I think I've become her recurring nightmare."
Chris Coplan of Consequence of Sound described the song as a "sultry, Bowie-esque pop-rock ballad". The song begins with a bass drum and cymbal rhythm, accompanied by acoustic guitar; David Whiteway of Renowned for Sound wrote that the song's beginning is "saturated in a sense of hesitance and tenseness, a parallel to how his relationship with Liza stood at the time". As a driving bass line emerges, lyrically Wainwright references his father's "connection" to Minnelli years ago. The chorus describes the "perils" that come with fame and being members of well-known families. Wainwright sings that he and "Liza" are now friends, that he looks forward to their next reunion, and that they will be "famous til the day that [they] die". An "uplifting" horn section accompanies the final chorus. Whiteway noted that "Rufus leaves it until the final lines of the song to correct the inherent syntax errors, singing "Liza and I" as his iconic vocals fade out."
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