I Drove All Night

It's easy to discount the merits of a song like "I Drove All Night". For many, the mere fact that it was written by pop schlock duo Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly (best known for penning the chart-ropping "True Colors" as well as hits for Madonna and the Bangles, among others), is cause enough for dismissal, but I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the song.



Of course, that was because Cyndi Lauper sang the hell out of the song, which appeared on her 1989 record, A Night To Remember. Of course, my good friend (and guitarist on three of my CD's), Rob Newhouse also played guitar on the track, but even if he hadn't, I'd have still loved the song just as much. There's just something amazingly sexy when Lauper wraps her voice around lines like "I drove all night/Crept in your room/Woke you from your sleep/To make love to you/Is that alright?/I drove all night".

Sadly, it would be Lauper's last Top 10 single.

Cyndi Lauper-I Drove All Night

A few years later, the song would pop up on the posthumous Roy Orbison album, King Of Hearts. Like many tracks on the album, it had been recorded during the sessions for Mystery Girl (released just after the singer's death in 1989), but failed to make the final cut. Produced by Jeff Lynne, Orbison's version is definitely more subdued - the song almost over before Orbison unleashes the full fury of his amazing falsetto and makes us believe he actually got in the car, much less drove all night.

Roy Orbison-I Drove All Night

When I saw the words "I Drove All Night" appear on an advance press release announcing the latest Celine Dion album, my first reaction was admittedly one of trepidation. While boasting pipes of steel, Dion is not exactly someone who exudes passion. I mean, come on, she's married to some geezer and obviously has some king-size daddy issues, but I digress. Thus, when I finally heard her version of the song, every suspicion I'd had was confirmed.

Which is not to say that Dion's version is bad...necessarily. Sure, that jittery Euro-pop drum beat was already dated by the time Dion adopted it for her take on the song, but maybe if I hadn't heard the Cyndi Lauper version, I'd have been able to accept Dion's version on its own merits.

The thing is, Lauper sang the hell out of this song, making it almost pointless for anyone else to think they had anything to contribute to the song. Thus, Dion's version smacks of misplaced bravado, thinking that just because she can nail the notes, she can somehow make it her own.

Thus, when I found myself in Las Vegas to do a residential photo shoot for a realtor client of mine and came to the realization that the owner of the home - the woman in the t-shirt and sweats who'd been on the phone when I arrived - was none other than Ms. Dion, my jaw dropped. Not knowing what to say when she wandered into the gigantic gournet kitchen as I fidgeted with my wide angle lens, I offhandedly mentioned that "I Drove All Night" was one of my favorite songs. I had not lied, mind you. I just hadn't identified whose version of the song was cause for such praise. Before I'd had the chance to congratulate myself on the excellent bending of truth, Celine immediately leapt toward me, as if receiving the first compliment of her life, and hugged the stuffing out of me.



Having experienced my fair share of polite hugs, I was soon taken aback by the length of this particular embrace. It seemed to last forever, not that I minded. Then she stuck her tongue in my ear. I kid you not. Was this a French-Canadian thing, I wondered?

I figured the best way to proceed was to pretend it was all in a day's work and set about finishing the photo shoot for which I had been hired. Celine followed me through the humiongous mansion as I snapped away, talking about everything and anything. Over the next hour or so, I came to view one of the hugest pop stars in all the world as yet another beautiful soul aching for meaningful human contact. Why should she be any different than the rest of us?

The result of that experience is that whenever I hear Dion's version of "I Drove All Night", it is that woman that I see in my mind's eye and I can't help but smile.

Celine Dion-I Drove All Night