One More Kiss, Dear

Song of the Day 10/13/2022

One More Kiss, Dear by Vangelis and Peter Skellern

One More Kiss, Dear features as part of the soundtrack to Blade Runner, composed by the Greek electronic musician Vangelis and sung by the British singer-songwriter Peter Skellern. You might notice something odd and haunting about this song, as if it were written not by an artist from the 1920s, but by an AI algorithm wishing to portray a period that no longer exists. It’s beautiful to listen to, but something's off. 

Since Blade Runner takes place in a fantastical, dystopian, future version of Los Angeles (although Los Angeles in the present is dystopian enough), the song was intended as simulacrum, something the inhabitants of the film’s world could listen to as a form of escape and relief, evoking a place and time more peaceful than the present. It still works.