Duets: Kisses Sweeter Than Wine

Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt: Kisses Sweeter Than Wine

[purchase]

Kisses Sweeter Than Wine was written by Pete Seeger for his group at the time, the Weavers; (I posted the original version on Oliver di Place a while ago, and the link is still active if you’d like to hear it.) Here, I have chosen a cover version over the original. On the Weaver’s version, Pete Seeger and Ronnie Gilbert sing alternating verses, but all four of the Weavers sing the choruses. But Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt perform the song as a true duet, again alternating on the verses, but with just their two voices on the choruses.

Like so many male/female duets, Kisses Sweeter Than Wine is a love song. But Seeger was not simply writing about that first rush of falling in love. The song starts there, but each verse goes another step onward. This is the only song I know of that traces how love grows and changes over a lifetime. .