Syd Carter West Sings an Emotive cover of John Waite's “Missing You”

Photo by Maddy Cristall

By Keir Nicoll

The title of this song is tricky, because it does not necessarily indicate what it initially seems to. Instead of really missing your heartbreaker, this song brings in the chorus of “Ain't Missing You At All.” One of the songs of the prolific John Waite, this rendition is a heartfelt heartbreak one. The woman chanteuse of Syd Carter West, conveys the history of the time of the song as she clearly represents from the 70s and 80s of rock n' roll culture.

In her photoptics, she is dressed to kill in all black including eyeliner. In her version of this song, she weaves a tapestry of darkness about the one who she once loved but is now regretting to leave in the past. It is a moving song and leaves an impression in my heart. The sounds of the guitars are deep cuts of classic-rock to indie to today's genres of hard-working-poetic-rock.

The song is brought in with slow-moving guitar strings being single-picks. “Every time I think of you/I always catch my breath/And I'm still standin' hear/and you're miles away/and I'm wondering why you left.” She describes these song-lyrics with plausible reality of experiential wisdom. She's trying to admit that she doesn't care anymore, although the pain is so great, of loss, of “since you've been gone”. Her yowl sounds of a cat in pain, yet her whisper is soft. She sends a 'telegraph out through this song'. It is clear that she is saying something to her ex-lover, that she wants him to hear and yet she doesn't want to see him anymore. She wails on the last refrains of “I ain't missin' you,” over and over again, at the end of the song, when the piano rumbles and takes it out. Her vocal style is 'deeply resonatin' and she 'reveals the difficult state of unrequited love in a gentle manner'. Syd shares, "I created a version that embodies the grief and devastation of losing that person but trying to convince yourself you don’t need them any more - hence “I ain’t Missing You at all.” There is a clear pathos coming from the song. She can sing other harder rock n' roll tunes but this one song is very poignant. Instrumentally, the song is very sparse in parts and you can feel West's breath, intoning her lyrics. Then her breath breaks forth and her spirit rises. She is still distracted by her ex-lover. Her broken heart resounds. Just guitar, piano and vocals on this track. It has a poised sense of rhythm. She has no meaning in their life. She wails and shouts during the choruses and the instruments surge. There is an arc to the song, from quiet to louder and the outro again. You can hear her voice clawing at the air. A climactic finish., a compelling delivery from a beautiful local singer.

Listen to Syd Carter West here