John Cale - (I Keep A) Close Watch

Here's one of the most beautiful piano ballads ever written, and that's a fact. John Cale is evidently also quite pleased with it as he's recorded it twice. "(I Keep A) Close Watch" first appeared on his 1975 album Helen Of Troy, then was re-recorded for the Music For A New Society album in 1982. It's the perfect love song, full of potential heartbreak and vulnerability, as beautiful as humanly possible. Cale's voice is nowhere near brilliant, but when he sings "I can't live without you, any way at all" it's utterly believable. That's what you look for in a performance! This is a live clip from 1983, by the way.

Watch and listen