Anglophile Files 1.6: Dido

This woman.

Apparently there will be people in your life that you will never actually know, that will help you immensely.  I quite often feel at a loss for words, searching for the right word... not sure if it's being inarticulate or an inadequate vocabulary.  This woman, has ALL the words. I even dare say, she's Jane Austen, reincarnated. 

I first heard 'Thank You' during the credits of Sliding Doors (one of the most brilliant movies ever made), in 1999, as a senior in college. (There, I just confirmed that I am not 29).  I immediately bought her album, 'No Angel," but it wasn't until fall of 2000, my first semester in law school, that I actually listened to it. I was forcing myself to sit down and write (and pretend to care about) whatever legal writing assignment I was supposed to be doing. Listening to 'No Angel' while I worked was to get me to sit there until I did it.  

That album is the only reason I got through law school. Her album and song, 'Life for Rent' is the only reason the May + October planner was created. She's brilliant, witty, insightful and succinct. Her beauty is ethereal. She is the big sister I never had. She is my spirit animal.  

June 5, 2004, live at the Chicago Theater.

June 13, 2019, live at The Vic. 

I want to THANK YOU, Dido, for giving me two of the best days of my life. 

She is impeccable in person, a true musician. She might even be better live than recorded.  'Live at Brixton Academy' is a religious experience, with the last 2 minutes of 'See the Sun' being, what is played at the gates of heaven. I have had 19 years to perfect my own karaoke version of this and I have finally nailed it, all the way down to "Thank you, London!" 

Her best songs? I almost just went to list them...but that would be insane (how the hell could you pick?). Her best songs? All of them.