Sometimes choosing a Classic Clip really is as easy as having a song coming on shuffle to remind you how breathtaking the track in question is, which was the case with this pick, a 2004 performance of ‘The Art Teacher’ by Rufus Wainwright.
It’s the tale of unrequited love that a girl never got over for none other than, well, her art teacher. While it might sound like slightly questionable territory, as always, Wainwright makes the subject real and tender – as is the special kind of love he sings of, be it unrequited or otherwise, that you can only really feel in your youth. “There I was in uniform / Looking at the art teacher / I was just a girl then / Never have I loved since then” he tells us with delicate vulnerability, voice and piano all that’s needed to convey the emotion the lyrics hold, before ultimately concluding: “Here I am in this uniformish, pant-suit sort of thing / Thinking of the art teacher / I was just a girl then / Never have I loved since then / No, never have I loved any other man.”
Heartbreaking, but beautiful just the same.
