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Bryan Ferry’s rendition of “Where or When”, from his 1999 album As Time Goes By, is a perfect example of elegant nostalgia and sophisticated restraint. Originally written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart for the 1937 musical Babes in Arms, the song has been interpreted by countless artists over the decades. But Ferry, with his distinctive voice and cultivated aesthetic, brings a uniquely wistful grace to the timeless standard.
In As Time Goes By, Ferry pays tribute to the romantic popular music of the 1930s and ‘40s, and “Where or When” is one of the album’s quiet highlights. With its theme of déjà vu and dreamlike familiarity - “Some things that happen for the first time / Seem to be happening again” - the song is perfectly suited to Ferry’s artistic temperament, which has always balanced detachment with longing.
His delivery is characteristically cool but subtly emotive. There’s no vocal grandstanding here - just a gentle, smoky croon that fits the song’s atmosphere of ambiguous memory. The arrangement is lush but unobtrusive, with soft strings, brushed drums, and a delicate piano supporting his voice like fading candlelight in an old dance hall.
What Ferry captures especially well is the underlying melancholy of the lyric. This isn’t just a love song - it’s a meditation on time, memory, and the eerie way certain moments echo through life. In his hands, the song becomes not just a throwback to a bygone era, but a quietly philosophical reflection on how the past can seep into the present, uninvited and irresistible.
Bryan Ferry turns “Where or When” into a dreamy reverie - elegant, understated, and tinged with sadness. It’s a perfect example of his ability to inhabit a song without overpowering it, letting the emotional resonance speak through subtlety. A gem of graceful romanticism on an album steeped in timeless charm.
In As Time Goes By, Ferry pays tribute to the romantic popular music of the 1930s and ‘40s, and “Where or When” is one of the album’s quiet highlights. With its theme of déjà vu and dreamlike familiarity - “Some things that happen for the first time / Seem to be happening again” - the song is perfectly suited to Ferry’s artistic temperament, which has always balanced detachment with longing.
His delivery is characteristically cool but subtly emotive. There’s no vocal grandstanding here - just a gentle, smoky croon that fits the song’s atmosphere of ambiguous memory. The arrangement is lush but unobtrusive, with soft strings, brushed drums, and a delicate piano supporting his voice like fading candlelight in an old dance hall.
What Ferry captures especially well is the underlying melancholy of the lyric. This isn’t just a love song - it’s a meditation on time, memory, and the eerie way certain moments echo through life. In his hands, the song becomes not just a throwback to a bygone era, but a quietly philosophical reflection on how the past can seep into the present, uninvited and irresistible.
Bryan Ferry turns “Where or When” into a dreamy reverie - elegant, understated, and tinged with sadness. It’s a perfect example of his ability to inhabit a song without overpowering it, letting the emotional resonance speak through subtlety. A gem of graceful romanticism on an album steeped in timeless charm.