ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Nora York - Singer, performance artist
"Philosopher diva" Nora York is an adventurous singer-songwriter with a drive to explore the human condition.

Why you should listen

Nora York is an adventurous jazz singer and performance artist whose genre-crossing work defies easy categorization. With a sultry, soulful voice and hypnotic stage presence, York has carved out a territory all her own — call her a "singer-songwriter-truthteller" (the Village Voice did). She brings a witty and literate twist to her performances, recombining songs and merging genres in thought-provoking ways.

Voice is at the center of York’s expression and creative invention, which emcompasses composition, live performance, and visual and multimedia arts. She's released four CDs: To Dream The World, Alchemy, What I Want (representing the outcome of the ‘02 NYSCA commission) and Power/Play. She has performed at universities and music festivals; most notably the Newport Jazz Festival, New Sounds Live series at Merkin Hall NYC, and Lincoln Center Out of Doors. York teaches musicianship and performance as member of the faculty at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, New York University. For her latest project, York received a Robert Rauschenberg Foundation grant to write and present the multimedia concert Water Water Everywhere.

More profile about the speaker
Nora York | Speaker | TED.com
TEDSalon 2006

Nora York: Singing "What I Want"

Filmed:
438,874 views

Nora York gives a stunning performance of her song "What I Want," with Jamie Lawrence (keyboards), Steve Tarshis (guitar) and Arthur Kell (bass).
- Singer, performance artist
"Philosopher diva" Nora York is an adventurous singer-songwriter with a drive to explore the human condition. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

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I'd like to begin this song I wrote
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about ceaseless yearning and never-ending want
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with a poem of popular Petrarchan paradoxes
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by Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder:
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"I find no peace, and all my war is done;
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I fear and hope, I burn and freeze like ice;
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I fly above the wind,
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and yet I cannot arise;
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And naught I have,
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and all the world I seize upon."
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♫ I want what I can't have, need what I can't want ♫
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♫ Have what I don't have, what I want ♫
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♫ What I can't have, need what I can't want ♫
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♫ Have what I don't have, what I want ♫
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♫ What I can't have, need what I can't want ♫
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♫ Have what I don't have, what I want ♫
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♫ What I can't have, need what I can't want ♫
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♫ Have what I don't have, what I want ♫
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♫ What I can't have, need what I can't want ♫
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♫ Have but I don't have ♫
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♫ It feels like all I got is loss on a bad back ♫
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♫ Gone with the last train, honey don't you fret ♫
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♫ Every cloud has a silver lining ♫
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♫ Just a little rain, just a little rain, just a little rain ♫
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♫ I want what I can't have, need what I can't want ♫
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♫ Have what I don't have, what I want ♫
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♫ What I can't have, need what I can't want ♫
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♫ Have but I don't have ♫
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♫ My mind won't stop, and my heart says go ♫
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♫ Nobody knows how to hold me ♫
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♫ My mind won't stop, and my heart says, ♫
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♫ "Good things come to those who wait" ♫
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♫ And I can't stand in ... ♫
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♫ I can't stand in line forever ♫
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♫ Stand the cold air ♫
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♫ Glad-handed ♫
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♫ Sick and tired of the "Later, maybe" ♫
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♫ Take it, fake it, take it, take-it-or-leave-it life ♫
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♫ And I gotta just tame it ♫
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♫ I gotta just name it ♫
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♫ I gotta just seize, so please, oh please, oh please, oh please ♫
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♫ Oh please me right, 'cause ♫
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♫ My mind won't stop ♫
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♫ And my heart says go ♫
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♫ Nobody knows how to hold me ♫
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♫ My mind won't stop -- and my heart says go-ooooo ... ♫
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♫ Good things must be here -- yes, right here ♫
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♫ Here, right here, right here ♫
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♫ I won't live this life forever ♫
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♫ One time round is all the offer is ♫
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♫ Sick and tired of the "Later, maybe" ♫
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♫ Take it, fake it, make it, leave it life ♫
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♫ And I gotta just name it, I gotta just claim it ♫
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♫ I gotta just seize ♫
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♫ Oh please, oh please, oh please me right ♫
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♫ I want what I can't have, need what I can't want ♫
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♫ Have what I don't have, what I want ♫
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♫ What I can't have, need what I can't want ♫
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♫ Have but I don't have -- you know that ♫
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♫ My mind won't stop, and my heart says go ♫
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♫ Nobody knows how to hold me, no ♫
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♫ My mind won't stop, and my heart says go ♫
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♫ 'Cause I want what I can't have, need what I can't want ♫
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♫ Have but I -- have what I want ♫
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♫ What I can't have, need what I can't want ♫
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♫ What I can't have, need what I can't want ♫
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♫ Have but I don't have, what I want ♫
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♫ What I can't have, need what I can't want ♫
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♫ Have what I don't have, what I want ♫
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♫ What I can't have, need what I can't want ♫
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♫ Have but I don't have, what I want ♫
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♫ What I can't have, need what I can't want ♫
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♫ Have but I don't have what I want ♫
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04:18
(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Nora York - Singer, performance artist
"Philosopher diva" Nora York is an adventurous singer-songwriter with a drive to explore the human condition.

Why you should listen

Nora York is an adventurous jazz singer and performance artist whose genre-crossing work defies easy categorization. With a sultry, soulful voice and hypnotic stage presence, York has carved out a territory all her own — call her a "singer-songwriter-truthteller" (the Village Voice did). She brings a witty and literate twist to her performances, recombining songs and merging genres in thought-provoking ways.

Voice is at the center of York’s expression and creative invention, which emcompasses composition, live performance, and visual and multimedia arts. She's released four CDs: To Dream The World, Alchemy, What I Want (representing the outcome of the ‘02 NYSCA commission) and Power/Play. She has performed at universities and music festivals; most notably the Newport Jazz Festival, New Sounds Live series at Merkin Hall NYC, and Lincoln Center Out of Doors. York teaches musicianship and performance as member of the faculty at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, New York University. For her latest project, York received a Robert Rauschenberg Foundation grant to write and present the multimedia concert Water Water Everywhere.

More profile about the speaker
Nora York | Speaker | TED.com