from OLD FRIENDS
Written by Peter Allen & David Foster
“When This Love Affair Is Over” was a magnificent ballad that David Foster co-wrote with the late, phenomenal Peter Allen (1946-2008) for the singer/songwriter’s 1980 Bi-Coastal album. Its refined structure, gorgeous melody along with Allen’s inspired lyrics immediately won the heart of quality pop lovers.
Although “When This Love Affair Is Over” never became a widely known composition or a hit, it still masterfully closed Bi-Coastal’s side B. The evergreen value of “When This Love Affair Is Over” was first pointed out by another late singer, jazz great Mark Murphy (1932-2015), who covered it on his 1988 September Ballads album.
That same jazz flavor can be found on a recent cover of “When This Love Affair Is Over” as performed by Mark Winkler and David Benoit on a release titled Old Friends. Winkler is another superb jazz singer while Benoit is one of the most important contemporary jazz pianist of the past 40 years. Their rendition sounds more restrained and bluesy. “When This Love Affair Is Over” delivers all the magic and has such a gorgeous melody. Winkler’s vocal is pure ear candy with no need for tricks or acrobatics. Winkler gives a confidential, elegant performance that’s top-notch and classy. The song benefits from Benoit’s trademark piano playing and some tasteful doubling on a Hammond B3. Pat Kelley’s guitar also plays an important role to accentuate the bluesy feel of the arrangement. Old Friends includes a string of other great covers of classics written by geniuses including Paul Simon, Randy Newman and Johnny Mandel (1925-2020) plus three of Benoit’s instrumental classics performed with newly-written lyrics.
For music lovers, this is one of those albums that promotes real music and beautiful melodies. For those interested in the archives, there are past reviews of Allen’s original version of “When This Love Affair Is Over” and Murphy’s 1988 cover.
Listen
- Lead Vocals: Mark Winkler
- Acoustic Piano and Hammond B3: David Benoit
- Guitar: Pat Kelley
- Bass: Gabe Davis
- Drums: Clayton Cameron
- Arranged by David Benoit
- Produced by Barbara Brighton
Lyrics
In this life where nothing’s certain
Let me tell you one thing that’s for sure
When this love affair is over
I won’t love anymore
You have seen the final curtain
When you leave please close the door
When this love affair is over
I won’t love anymore
I’ve been everywhere and back
And everything I’ve seen
Points me straight towards the fact
I don’t want to go
When I’ve already been
So if you ask me who I’m fooling
Like I said everytime before
When this love affair is over
I won’t love anymore
I won’t love anymore.