Reflections on the Piano and the Human Voice

The American Music Awards gave Annie Lennox  a special merit award. Justin Timberlake introduced her, and she quietly sat down at a grand piano and in the key of C she began to sing: "How many times do I have to try to tell you that I'm sorry for the things I've done..." It was simple, a woman and a piano, singing about a broken relationship, and it was devastating.
There has always been something about this combination that reaches deep into the psyche and the heart. Long ago, singer-songwriter Laura Nyro, at a very early age, did the same thing—she revealed herself through song, that mysterious four minute journey into lyrics, major and minor chords, that so often produce emotion. Joni Mitchell turned to the piano in 1974's Court and Spark, leaving behind the folk-infused and often strangely tuned guitar in favor of the chordal orchestrations that the piano so eloquently delivers. Annie Lennox sat down at the piano and made the world have a breakdown. Maybe it’s the intensity of the lyrics, maybe it’s the simplicity of the music (it’s a three chord song), we never really know what makes us feel. It just does.