Lewis Furey, né Lewis Greenblatt (7 June 1949) is a Canadian composer, sing… Read Full Bio ↴Lewis Furey, né Lewis Greenblatt (7 June 1949) is a Canadian composer, singer, violinist, pianist, actor and director.

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Furey trained as a classical violinist, and at age 11 performed as a soloist in the Matinées pour la jeunesse concert series of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He later studied at the Juilliard School in New York City. In 1972, he began playing and recording his own rock music compositions. In the ensuing years, he produced three albums of pop music: Lewis Furey (1974), The Humours Of (1976) and The Sky is Falling (1978). Distinguishing features of the albums were Furey’s Lou Reed-like vocal stylings, a number of songs with gay content (particularly the local Montréal radio hit Hustler’s Tango), and exotic arrangements featuring unusual uses of violin and banjo as well as elements of klezmer music.

In 1975, he began a very successful new venture as a composer for films. His first film score, for director Gilles Carle’s La Tête de Normand St. Onge (1975), won a Canadian Film Award. In 1976 he worked on the Gilles Carle film L'Ange et la femme along with his future wife, the actress and singer Carole Laure. This project involved more than composing alone; Furey and Laure are famously seen performing a sex act in the film. Furey also composed for the Allan Moyle film The Rubber Gun, which despite the risqué-sounding title was about families affected by drug use. Later in the 1970’s, Furey and Laure produced a number of successful stage reviews in Paris. Furey also served as producer and frequently also as songwriter for a series of albums by Carole Laure, beginning with Alibis (1978), a hit in Québec in 1978. In 1979, Furey wrote the music for another Gilles Carle film, Fantastica, which starred Laure in the lead role of Lorca. Furey also acted in the film and was nominated for a Genie Award in Canada for “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role.”

Furey further developed his career in film and television music with productions such as a 1983 Gilles Carle movie, Maria Chapdelaine, based on the classic Québec-based Louis Hémon novel of the same name. His score for this film won a Genie Award. His 1985 directorial debut was in the film Night Magic, with script co-written by Leonard Cohen.

Based in France since the late 1970’s, Furey has continued to score film and television work as well as producing and writing for successful albums by Laure, such as She Says Move On (1991) and Sentiments naturels (1997). A stage production based on the latter ran for over a month in Paris in 1998.

The Waltz
Lewis Furey Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

It's really hard for me to hate you
It's so hard to beat you
You make me feel sad about making me feel bad about this
I can't believe myself this time
Does it make you feel better
That I think about you sometimes
Do you forget what they did for you?
Forget what they did to me

Realize it's
Did you notice that you're passed out on the floor

And they're all alone
She's talking to me
I'm starting to cry
It's making you sick
You're all going home
You're leaving me now
I'm stuck here again
Just figure it out
It doesn't seem right
I'll do it again
You want me to go
And they've all gone home
You're freaking me out
This isn't a game
I didn't forget
You're breaking my heart

Try and forget

I've been waiting for so long
I've been waiting for so long

Overall Meaning

The Waltz by Lewis Furey is a song that captures the agony and confusion of a relationship that has gone sour. The lyrics reveal the singer's struggle in trying to move on from a relationship that has left him hurt and alone. The opening line, "It's really hard for me to hate you," suggests that there is still love and longing in the singer's heart, despite everything that has happened. He acknowledges that his partner has a hold on him and that he cannot shake off the feelings he has towards them. The following lines, "It's so hard to beat you/You make me feel sad about making me feel bad about this" suggest that the singer is finding it difficult to let go of his feelings towards his partner and that they are still in his thoughts.

The song paints a picture of a painful break-up, with the singer reminiscing about happier times before moving on to describe the current situation. He asks his partner if it makes them feel better to know that he still thinks about them sometimes, suggesting that he too wants to feel wanted and missed. The lines "Do you forget what they did for you?/Forget what they did to me" suggest that there may have been outside influences that led to the breakdown of the relationship, and that the singer is feeling particularly aggrieved by the way things have turned out.

The repeated lines "I've been waiting for so long" at the end of the song suggest that the singer is still holding on to the hope that things will get better and that the relationship can be reconciled. However, the closing lyrics "Try and forget/ I've been waiting for so long" capture the bittersweet nature of the song, with the singer trying to move on from his painful past, but still holding on to hope.

Line by Line Meaning

It's really hard for me to hate you
I struggle to find anger towards you

It's so hard to beat you
I find it challenging to surpass you

You make me feel sad about making me feel bad about this
You cause me to feel regretful for feeling remorse

I can't believe myself this time
I am surprised by my actions presently

Does it make you feel better
Does it bring you satisfaction

That I think about you sometimes
The fact that I consider you on occasion

Do you forget what they did for you?
Do you disregard the acts done for your benefit?

Forget what they did to me
Ignore the wrongs committed against me

Realize it's
Understand that it is

Did you notice that you're passed out on the floor
Did you perceive that you have lost consciousness on the ground

And they're all alone
And they are by themselves