See the results of last week’s battle here:
Hip Hop takes on Brit Pop on this episode, with Lauryn Hill (Amazon link) taking on rock politicos Manic Street Preachers (Amazon link) with Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” as their weapons of choice.
Which one is just too good to be true?
Listen to the podcast featuring both songs:
[audio: http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/backbeat.cachefly.net/coverville/audio/Coverville-WDIB-014-CantTakeMyEyesOffYou.mp3]
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Between the two versions, I'd have to say Lauryn Hill, which pains me because I had really high hopes for the Manic Street Preachers version. I know their singer can hit higher notes than that — their cover of "Suicide Is Painless" comes to mind — and often has more pep than shown here. That was less Britpop and more shoegaze, I think.
But my favorite is going to have to remain the Pet Shop Boys' medley pairing the song with "Where the Streets Have No Name." It captures the same earworm quality of the original, sticking it your head long after you've finished listening to it, and makes that a GOOD thing, same as the original, while obviously having its own sound distinct from the original.
Of these two, I like the Lauryn Hill version better. Aside from the Pet Shop Boys, Muse and Straight No Chaser both did very good and different covers.
The question of “off of” vs. “off” is somewhat controversial. Those who specify that one is wrong usually prefer “off,” but it seems that both are in sufficiently common usage to be acceptable in all but the most formal writing. See, for example, .
I too prefer the Lauryn Hill version.
Those are both really good covers, which successfully transform the song while staying true to it… but I've got to give the edge to Manic Street Preachers. It's so infectiously joyful!
I'm not a huge fan of Lauryn Hill, but she does very good things with this song. Manic Street Preachers also do a good version, but it doesn't have as much life. Both good versions, though. It's quite the opposite of the problem from last week.
Of these two, I have to say Lauryn Hill. I really liked both of them, though. My favorite version, though, is Heath Ledger's version from 10 Things I Hate About You! Lame, I know, but it makes me smile!
Interesting – this version from her re-release is just mildly different than the version on Lauryn's original CD. Wonder why the change? Anyway, there's also a good version of this song by Morten Harket (of a-Ha fame).
Love the Manic Street Preachers version. Had a sort of Beach Boys vibe to it.