Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, politic… Read Full Bio ↴Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician Dave Stewart went on to achieve international success in the 1980s as Eurythmics. Appearing in the 1983 music video for "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" with orange cropped hair and wearing a man's lounge suit, the BBC states, "all eyes were on Annie Lennox, the singer whose powerful androgynous look defied the male gaze". Subsequent hits with Eurythmics include "There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)", "Love Is a Stranger" and "Here Comes the Rain Again".

Lennox embarked on a solo career in 1992 with her debut album, Diva, which produced several hit singles including "Why" and "Walking on Broken Glass". The same year, she performed "Love Song for a Vampire" for Bram Stoker's Dracula. Her 1995 studio album, Medusa, includes cover versions of songs such as "No More "I Love You's"'" and "A Whiter Shade of Pale". To date, she has released six solo studio albums and a compilation album, The Annie Lennox Collection (2009). With eight Brit Awards, which includes being named Best British Female Artist a record six times, Lennox has been named the "Brits Champion of Champions". She has also collected four Grammy Awards and an MTV Video Music Award. In 2002, Lennox received a Billboard Century Award; the highest accolade from Billboard. In 2004, she received the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Into the West", written for the soundtrack to the feature film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Lennox's vocal range is contralto. She has been named "The Greatest White Soul Singer Alive" by VH1 and one of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone. In 2012, she was rated No. 22 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women in Music. In June 2013 the Official Charts Company called her "the most successful female British artist in UK music history". As of June 2008, including her work with Eurythmics, Lennox had sold over 80 million records worldwide. As part of a one-hour symphony of British Music, Lennox performed "Little Bird" during the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in London. At the 2015 Ivor Novello Awards, Lennox was made a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (The Ivors Academy), the first woman to receive the honour. Lennox and her Eurythmics partner Dave Stewart were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020, and the duo were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.

In addition to her career as a musician, Lennox is also a political and social activist, raising money and awareness for HIV/AIDS as it affects women and children in Africa. She founded the Sing campaign in 2007 and founded a women's empowerment charity called The Circle in 2008. In 2011, Lennox was appointed an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II for her "tireless charity campaigns and championing of humanitarian causes". On 4 June 2012, she performed at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert in front of Buckingham Palace. In 2017, Lennox was appointed Glasgow Caledonian University's first female chancellor.

Studio albums
Diva (1992)
Medusa (1995)
Bare (2003)
Songs of Mass Destruction (2007)
A Christmas Cornucopia (2010)
Nostalgia (2014)

The Saddest Song I've Got
Annie Lennox Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Darling are you feeling
The same thing that I'm seeing
The troubles of the day

Took my breath away
Took my breath away

Now you're no longer talking

And I'm no longer listening
There's nothing left to say

Said it anyway
Said it anyway
And I want you not
And I need you not

I'm dying
Cause this is the saddest song I've got
The saddest song I've got
Darling are you healing
From all the scars appearing
Don't it hurt a lot
Don't know how to stop
Don't know hot it stops
Now there's no sense in seeing
The colours of the morning

Hold the clouds at bay
Chase them all away
Chase them all away

And I'm frozen still
Unspoken still
Heartbroken

Cause this is the saddest song I've got
The saddest song I've got

Overall Meaning

The Saddest Song I've Got, written and performed by Annie Lennox, is a hauntingly beautiful ballad that speaks of heartache, pain, and the struggle to heal from a traumatic experience. The song's opening verse captures the mood perfectly, as Lennox sings, "Darling are you feeling the same thing that I'm seeing, the troubles of the day took my breath away." The lyrics suggest a shared sense of despair between two people, each grappling with their own personal demons.

The second verse continues with the theme of communication breakdown between the two individuals. Lennox sings, "Now you're no longer talking and I'm no longer listening, there's nothing left to say, said it anyway." The repetition of the phrase "said it anyway" drives home the futility of their attempts to communicate effectively, with both parties feeling unheard and misunderstood.

The chorus is where the song's emotion truly shines through, as Lennox lays her heart bare and proclaims, "I'm dying, cause this is the saddest song I've got". The repetition of this phrase throughout the song, coupled with the sombre melody, creates a mood of intense sadness and melancholy. The final verse ends the same way it began, with Lennox questioning her partner's healing process and expressing her own sense of emotional paralysis.

Overall, The Saddest Song I've Got is a moving and powerful song that speaks to the human experience of pain and heartache. It reflects the difficulty of communicating effectively in times of crisis, and the challenge of coming through the other side. Lennox's vocals are hauntingly beautiful and capture the raw emotion of the lyrics to perfection.

Line by Line Meaning

Darling are you feeling
Are you experiencing the same emotions that I am?

The same thing that I'm seeing
Do you perceive the difficulties of life in the same way that I do?

The troubles of the day
The challenges that we face in our daily lives

Took my breath away
Were so overwhelming that I felt paralyzed

Now you're no longer talking
You have stopped communicating with me

And I'm no longer listening
I am no longer receptive to what you have to say

There's nothing left to say
We have exhausted all possible conversations

Said it anyway
We spoke despite the futility of doing so

And I want you not
I do not desire your presence

And I need you not
I do not require your help or support

I'm dying
I am losing my spirit