The Walk

The first time I heard The Walk, I was hooked by that air between melancholic and danceable that it has. It's not just the rhythm marked by the winds, which sound like a party but with a hint of nostalgia, but that voice of Annie Lennox that sways between whispers and controlled shouts. The song progresses with a synthetic base that seems taken from a 60s film, but with a modern twist that gives it that new wave touch that the Eurythmics handled like no one else. The most curious thing is that, despite sounding like a hit, at the time it went unnoticed on the charts, though it later became one of the songs that defined the album's sound.

Recorded in 1981 in their own 8-track home studio, The Walk was born as the duo's fourth single and ended up being part of Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), their second album released in 1983. The production was handled by David A. Stewart and Adam Williams —former bassist of The Selecter—, who gave it that organic feel despite the synthesizers. The song even had several versions: the original for the 7" single, an extended one for the 12" maxi, and even a remix called Let’s Just Close Our Eyes that appeared on the group's next single. What few knew is that there is a video of the song, directed by Marek Budzynski when he and the team were students at the London College of Art. Filmed in a backyard with a budget of a thousand pounds, the most remembered image is Lennox with a long black wig singing in front of the camera while Stewart reads a newspaper in a dark corner. The footage was lost for years until in 2017 a YouTube channel rescued and restored it. The criticism of the time highlighted the brilliant winds and Lennox's powerful voice, though some noted that they had not yet fully refined their style. Today, with time, The Walk sounds like a bridge between the vintage and the futuristic, just as the Eurythmics had planned.