Two seems like such a simple, solid number. But from the songs nominated, we learned that 0 + 2 = 1, 1 + 1 = 3 or more, and 2 + 2 = 5. Not only that, but two have a habit of becoming one, which can sometimes result in three, and one taken away from two often feels like nothing.
Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston make it sound so easy on the Motown classic It Takes Two: “One can have a dream, baby/ Two can make that dream so real/ One can talk about bein’ in love/ Two can say how it really feels.” Let’s partner this one with another duet that captures the ecstasy of finding the person who makes up the other half of you: The Two of Us is a slice of indie-pop heaven from Sister Vanilla (Linda Reid, younger sister of the Jesus and Mary Chain’s William and Jim, with Stephen Pastel).
You don’t get much more binary than two people on a tandem bicycle. RR regulars listened to multiple versions of Daisy Bell so you don’t have to: thanks to suzi for unearthing Tin Hat Trio’s version. Who knew this music-hall standard could sound so sad and sultry?
Canadian singer-songwriter Kurt Swinghammer’s Bartlett Street is haunted by pairs: eyes, feet, lips, sheets. It’s a beautifully crafted song that could be an outtake from the Great American Songbook.
Jan & Dean can’t contain their delight at the 2:1 ratio of girls to boys in Surf City – a tune that wasn’t so much an inspiration as an instruction manual for the early Beach Boys.
But having Two Lovers can be complicated, as Mary Wells knows. One treats her good, one treats her bad – except that (spoiler alert) they’re both the same person. Atmosphere provides a male perspective on the same theme in My Lady Got Two Men.
Imogen Heap can’t enjoy an intimate personal moment when her Bad Body Double is always hanging around, with her grey hairs and dimply thighs. She sounds almost as hard to live with as Laura Marling’s companion in My Manic and I, an embodiment of the manic pole of a bipolar personality. Despite this being my favourite Laura Marling song, and the obvious clue in the title, I’d never listened to it this way before. I’m grateful to RR regular Noodsy for pointing it out.
There are two sides to everything, as Joni Mitchell discovers in the wise and wistful (and surprisingly unzedded) Both Sides Now. Has a more perfect song ever been written? On A Different Kind of Tension, Buzzcocks exchange opposing commands (“Be ambitious, be modest/ Plan ahead, be spontaneous/ Decide for yourself, listen to others/ Save money, spend money”). By the end the two voices merge, and each dichotomy seems to fuse into a single word.
Let’s end with a sublime duet between Welsh harpist Catrin Finch and Senegalese kora maestro Seckou Keita: two harps, two people, two cultures, one seamless whole. This video to Bamba is 15 minutes long; still, you’ll want to listen to it twice.
The Playlist:
Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston – It Takes Two
Sister Vanilla – The Two of Us
Kurt Swinghammer – Bartlett Street
Atmosphere - My Lady Got Two Men
Laura Marling – My Manic and I
Buzzcocks - A Different Kind of Tension
Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now
Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita – Live: Bamba
