The Sweetest Taboo

Possibly one of my favorite songs with a video to match.

Sade (pronounced shar-day) is as beautiful as her singing.

This song from 1985 represents everything that was right (and wrong) about the eighties in London. 

Right

A love of all things Spanish. Madrid was THE place to be and visit. The colours, the people, the styling, its music, the food and drink. And of course, love and romance.

The music video is London to a tee, in terms of fashion. Check out the band members.

Distressed denim. Blue, Levi's 501s were THE cut, paired with a leather belt and large silver buckle. Red bandanas tucked into pockets.

Note the zoot suit style of trousers with braces buttoned on. The pork pie hat.  The short back and sides, grade one haircuts. With a quiff. 

My youth.

The red shirt and denim jacket. The bass guitar up high, in his face, Mark King-style. All thumb strumming. Trombonists. Acoustic guitars. Black and white. And no second rate misogynistic rapping about byatches and bling.....

And her.

The large gold hooped earrings (I love). Red lipstick. Ponytail. Kohl-framed eyes. The brows.

Her high-cut light-brown suede jacket with silver clasp (very gaucho style) and cuff detailing. And the shoulder pads....

The way she walks, and moves across to the band.....absolute sensuality in a pair of old battered jeans. Evening gown or denim make no difference. She is the embodiment of her music. It speaks for itself. No novelties needed here.  

Sophistication. Beauty. In a class of her own.

And him. Strong Latino looks, crisp white shirt, and a pair of Raybans. Enough said....

And that tune.  The drum intro, sexy jazz bar style throughout. This was wine bar muzak in every way. That haunting voice....

Wrong

I love trying to interpret lyrics. But unless you are the song writer you will always find a different understanding to its original meaning.

Is it about her loving a man already in a relationship? Who knows. Written in the mid-eighties, a lot was still considered taboo.

But at the time it was rumored that the "sweetest taboo" was a reference to skag, better known as heroin. 

Something that will always be a painful reminder for those old enough to be pubbing and clubbing in eighties London.

Her riding the horse is supposedly a metaphor for "riding the horse", or taking heroin.

She was rumored to have been a junkie for several years, before becoming successful. And to have sold her body for her fix.

To know true happiness you must know pain first. And that comes thru clearly in this song.

Fortunately that rumor was proven to be totally untrue and its more likely to be about good old love, sex and romance.

The only certainty is that when she writes on the window at the end of her video, she is spelling out the word temor, Spanish for fear.

Is the sweetest taboo fear? Maybe. But a fear of what.....falling in love? 

(ADL)