Image Credit: Barbara Kinney/FilmMagic; Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesWhat is it with the Etta James classic “At Last” and presidents? Beyonce performed the tune for President Obama on the day of his inauguration. And this weekend Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky chose “At Last” to accompany their first dance as husband and wife at the pair’s wedding in Rhinebeck, N.Y.
It’s a beautiful song, and an appropriate one given the couple first met way back in 1993. But what’s your opinion about the choice? And where do you think we placed the tune on our list of the 25 Best Love Songs Ever?
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Predictable and a bit boring. Nothing against the song, but At Last must be the most used wedding first dance song of all time.
It’s a classic wedding song – you just cannot have a wedding with a bit of Etta James
right up there with “endless love” in originality.
Great choice.
I like it, but that doesn’t matter. Their wedding, their choice and it obviosly meant something to them.
Weak. Overdone and used in TV commericals. No originality.
I’d walk down the aisle – if boys did such a thing – to Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” (an idea I’d be poaching from a friend at work who actually did so to an instrumental version, much to the retroactive chagrin of her mother!).
My first dance would be to a big-band version of “Crazy for You.”
I don’t think it matters who else used it (including a commercial.) What matters is it just about the most beautiful song, and Etta made it a classic. But then I had Come Rain or Come Shine sung by Ray Charles as my wedding song …
I think it’s ridiculous to ask the general public to rate a bride and groom’s choice of a first-dance song. That’s such a personal choice and should be something that’s meaningful to the couple, not something to be judged on an originality scale by the world. Who cares that it’s been used before? If it means something to the couple, then it’s the right choice.
Totally agree with Jen. It’s a personal choice. Not everyone wants to have the bridal party dance down the aisle (which is fun) or have Tabitha & Napoleon teach 1st dance choreo to Rock the Reception. As long as it has meaning to the couple, that’s all that matters.
Also, it’s easy to discredit a song as trite; however, it’s entirely different if you’re watching a couple in love dance to their choice. I’m sure that those closest to them had tears in their eyes as they watched – even if they didn’t like the song, too.
Who cares about originality – it’s a classic and in my mind the perfect first song. It’s their choice and certainly better than anything “current”. We have no idea what it meant to them and have no right to judge the choice.
It is a classic but it is still one of those typical selections that are part of the list of songs that are most commonly played at a special occasion such as a wedding. It is rare that a person would choose a song like “The Best Thing” by The Style Council or something like that.
Don’t get me wrong, that song is beautiful and should not be discredited in any way. That being said, it is the most annoying over-used wedding song EVER. Come on, Chels, you got a custom Vera Wang…you couldn’t come up with a more original song that that?
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