CLAIR
GILBERTO O’
SULLIVAN
SONGWRITER:
GILBERTO O’ SULLIVAN
COUNTRY: IRELAND
ALBUM: BACK
TO FRONT
LABEL: MAM RECORDS
GENRE: POP
YEAR: 1972
"Clair" is a
popular song by Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan and is one of his
biggest-selling singles. Written by O'Sullivan and produced by Gordon Mills, it
was the number one single in the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in November
1972, number one in Canada on the RPM 100 national singles chart the following
January, and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. It was
also O'Sullivan's second and last number one hit on the U.S. Easy Listening chart,
after "Alone Again (Naturally)".
The song is the love song of
a close family friend who babysits a young girl (actually the artist's
manager's daughter), though for the first part of the song, the ambiguous text
leads one to think that it is from one adult to another. The brief instrumental
introduction is the sound of O'Sullivan whistling, before he comes in. The
real Clair was the three-year-old daughter of O'Sullivan's producer-manager, Gordon
Mills, and his wife, the model Jo Waring. The little girl's giggling is heard at the end of this
song. The "Uncle Ray" mentioned in the song is O'Sullivan himself, a
reference to his real name of Raymond O'Sullivan. The instrumental
break in the middle section is done half a step up from A to B-Flat, before
going back to A.
"Clair" was
included in O'Sullivan's álbum Back to Front (1972). An Italian version was
performed in 1973 by the crooner Johnny Dorelli. A cover by Singers Unlimited was
sampled by producer J Dilla for the Slum Village song "Players".
Clair
The moment I met you, I swear.
I felt as if something, somewhere,
Had happened to me,
which I couldn't see.
And then, the moment I met you, again.
I knew in my heart
that we were friends.
It had to be so,
it couldn't be no.
But try as hard as I might do,
I don't know why.
You get to me in a way
I can't describe.
Words mean so little
when you look up and smile.
I don't care what people say,
to me you're more than a child
Oh, Clair.
Clair
Clair
If ever a moment so rare
Was captured for all to compare.
That moment is you
in all that you do.
But why in spite of our
age difference do I cry.
Each time I leave you
I feel I could die.
Nothing means more to me
than hearing you say,
"I'm going to marry you.
Will you marry me?
Oh hurray!"
Oh, Clair.
Clair
Clair
I've told you before
"Don't you dare!"
"Get back into bed."
"Can't you see that it's late."
"No you can't have a drink."
"Oh all right then,
but wait just a minute."
While I, in an effort to babysit,
catch up on my breath,
What there is left of it.
You can be murder
at this hour of the day.
But in the morning the sun
will see my lifetime away.
Oh, Clair
Clair
Oh, Clair.
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