Yet Another Cycling Forum
Off Topic => The Pub => Arts and Entertainment => Topic started by: Regulator on 20 December, 2008, 01:04:45 pm
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Following on from the Cover Versions Which are Better than the Original (http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=12599.0) thread...
...here's the Worst Cover Versions Ever thread.
I'll kick off with the Whitney Houston version of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You". Parton's version (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_utP1mGoutQ) is a tearjerker - Houston's (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=HGC003Xz3CY) is vomit inducing.
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Some reckon this is,
YouTube - Celine Dion - You Shook Me All Night Long (AC/DC) (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=FONt47Z0KZg)
I think it has a certain charm.
Damon.
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Fugees massacring Killing Me Softly.
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The worst cover versions are the pointless ones, ie songs which cannot be improved on. Baker Street comes to mind.
Damon.
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Tin Tin Out's version of "Here's Where The Story Ends". Shelley Nelson, whoever she is, can't sing.
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Paul Anka's "Smells like Teen Spirit" (see same post in 'Best Cover Versions")
I can't make my mind up
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Anything by Boylife or Westdrone
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The worst cover versions are the pointless ones, ie songs which cannot be improved on. Baker Street comes to mind.
Damon.
Agreed. Also pointless are the ones where nothing is changed from the original in terms of tempo, instrumentation etc, but they manage to remove all the soul and charm.
Most of the 'Best' covers do something innovative - reading the other thread probably confirms this.
A sub-category of 'Pointless' would be where an artist rips off someone ELSE's interpretation of a classic. (I guess this is how X-factor is produced.)
(I'm sure SOMETHING good could be done with Baker St, if the human race lives long enough. they would probably need to ditch the saxophone. And the guitar solo which is really the best bit - simple but perfect.)
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Comfortably Numb by Scissor Sisters :sick: No contest :hand:
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As Hummers has broached the subject on the yin thread to this yang, Mark Ronson's version of "Stop Me..."
Original: YouTube - Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs-QttEvMfk)
Mark Ronson abomination: YouTube - Stop Me (International Version) (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dRG55KnZkqc)
I suppose they both have bikes in the video.
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my chemical romance version of under pressure. :( :( :(
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Why would you even try?
YouTube - God Only Knows (Mandy Moore & Michael Stipe) (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=HGSyPlctIxE)
Damon.
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I'm in two minds about Lawnmower Deth's version of "Up The Junction" ;D
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This one made it as far as the Royal Variety Performance.
YouTube - In My Life-ozzy osbourne (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fKJU2w7ymJU)
Damon.
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Comfortably Numb by Scissor Sisters :sick: No contest :hand:
+1.
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Elton John's Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was the first version of that song I heard, so I hated the original till I realised what an abortion Mr Dwight had made of it...
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Lennon & McCartney prove that original is best 8)
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Here's a seasonal one...
YouTube - FROSTY THE SNOWMAN Cocteau Twins (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=2P49MNDyf_Q)
I was a big fan of the Cocteau Twins but god only knows what was going through their minds when they made this.
d.
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When I was in a rock covers band a few years ago we rehearsed at Rich Bitch in selly oak, b'ham.
our usual room (the dance studio) was booked all week by the Happy Mondays so we had the room next door. They did Thin Lizzy's "The Boys are back in town".
It was fracking awful!!! :sick:
Van Gogh would have cut his other ear off ;D
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The Stereophonics version of Handbags and Gladrags. Kylie's version of Santa Baby. Westlife's everything.
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I think 'Fools rush in' by 'Lick the Tins' has all the charm of a badly photoshopped photograph.
The lead singer did appear rather tasty to a much younger person than what I am now..
more here (http://www.last.fm/music/Lick+the+Tins/+wiki)
..d
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IMHO, the cover version of Comfortably Numb by the Scissor Sisters is hilariously brilliant. It's more like a live mash-up of the Bee Gees and Pink Floyd. It is funny, which may confuse some Floyd fans who have forgotten that before they become so tedious they were once funny too... and let's face it, for all its little flashes of brilliance, The Wall is a work of absolutely monumental and bloated egotism which deserves to be punctured. The Scissor Sisters actually remember what the point of a cover version is - to do something new with a song. :thumbsup:
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The Stereophonics version of Handbags and Gladrags. Kylie's version of Santa Baby. Westlife's everything.
Oddly enough the version of Handbags and Gladrags that most people consider original wasn't the first version recorded - Chris Farlowe was the first to record a version. I only found this out when I was googling about the Manics cover of Out of Time, also recorded by Farlowe (as a cover of the Rolling Stones original).
I'm dizzy now.
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IMHO, the cover version of Comfortably Numb by the Scissor Sisters is hilariously brilliant. It's more like a live mash-up of the Bee Gees and Pink Floyd. It is funny, which may confuse some Floyd fans who have forgotten that before they become so tedious they were once funny too... and let's face it, for all its little flashes of brilliance, The Wall is a work of absolutely monumental and bloated egotism which deserves to be punctured. The Scissor Sisters actually remember what the point of a cover version is - to do something new with a song. :thumbsup:
The intention may have been an attempt at humour but it's still shit (IMHO, of course).
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As it's Christmas,
YouTube - Darts - White Christmas (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=uSrTEdniZSw)
Rock 'n' roll!
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I used to love Darts when I was a kid.
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Comfortably Numb by Scissor Sisters :sick: No contest :hand:
I agree this is terrible but I also think Leona Lewis murdered" Run " originally by Snow Patrol
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Murdering Snow Patrol is the best thing to do with them.
d.
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The most recent issue of Q has a list of the fifteen worst covers in the history of all things ever. Were it and I in the same county I'd list 'em, but we en't, so I shall just leave you with the horror that was La Ciccone's version of American Pie.
Kill, kill, kill, stab, murder and dispatch :sick:
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Back when I worked at the Science Museum, one of the people I shared a locker room with was a Michael Bolton fan - she had a picture of him on her locker and everything - I put a 'WANTED - FOR MURDER' caption on it.
When she asked me why I said "For slaughtering Otis Redding's '(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay'.
She was deeply unamused.
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Bad and awful and horrible because it takes two good tunes & pounds them into mush: All Summer Long, by Kid Rock - it uses Werewolves of London by Warren Zevon, and Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
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x fucter pish that has annihilated (sp?) hallelujah :demon:
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x fucter pish that has annihilated (sp?) hallelujah :demon:
Can't be as bad as the Aled Jones version..
..d
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The person or persons responsible for the version of Down Under played over the closing credits of the third Crocogator Dundee fillum want badly to be deported to rural Neptune in handy four-ounce servings.
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Hurrah for the Search function which managed to find this thread, albeit as the third result out of, er, three.
I put it to Thee Panel that His Bobness' Christmas In The Heart is almost certainly the Worst Thing in the World1. Imagine gravel-voiced 21st century Bob growling "O Come All Ye Faithful". In Latin.
Yes. Yes, he does.
Was the tax man after you? Was it the result of a misguided pub bet (probably with Bonio)? Is it actually the result of an experiment by mad spods cutting and pasting snatches of Bob's singing over a background of musical treacle stolen from a Shirley Temple movie? In God's name, Bob, WHY?
(Syringes ears with some nice tasteful early Sabbath)
1: No, I didn't buy it. Give me credit for some taste at least.
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Covers of Christmas songs are notorious for bringing out the worst in otherwise respectable artists.
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I can forgive John Fahey's various Christmas bobbins because:
- His Crimbletat was instrumentals, and
- He needed the money
but Dylan? The man who wrote "Desolation Row" and "Like A Rolling Stone"? No, that's a non-negotiable one-way trip to the area of Heck reserved for Hitler, Torquemada and Cliff Richard.
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Covers of Christmas songs are notorious for bringing out the worst in otherwise respectable artists.
The Phil Spector Christmas album is the one true collection of Christmas cover songs, no others should be allowed, ever.
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Covers of Christmas songs are notorious for bringing out the worst in otherwise respectable artists.
The Phil Spector Christmas album is the one true collection of Christmas cover songs, no others should be allowed, ever.
(Phil Spector belongs on the SuperTwat thread, methinks)
Still don't know whether this is brilliant or terrible. Is covering 'Trad.' a cover?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PAwuNg-7-U (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PAwuNg-7-U)
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Covers of Christmas songs are notorious for bringing out the worst in otherwise respectable artists.
The Phil Spector Christmas album is the one true collection of Christmas cover songs, no others should be allowed, ever.
(Phil Spector belongs on the SuperTwat thread, methinks)
Definitely he does but still he was a genius at music production.
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For tonal and especially rhythmic inexactitude, I give you Mrs Miller's These Boots Are Made For Walkin' (https://youtu.be/lgoGq6PTXZ4).
You may wish to explore some of her prodigious back catalogue. But proceed at your own risk.
Edit: I've found a new Mrs Miller favourite: The Girl From Ipanema (https://youtu.be/iEPPbONFXYc). Glory in that gentle bossa nova rhythm, the sultry stringed intro and light percussion, then WHAM as the song is frogmarched to a different rhythm in a choice of keys and indecisive editing.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMERPNrprkk
:sick:
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The renowned producer and singing Buggle, Trevor Horn, has made an album called Trevor Horn Reimagines the '80s.
It features several modern beat combos and solo artists, plus a handful of original '80s artists who are now, to put it politely, past their prime (and Robbie Williams) performing new versions of '80s numbers such as Everybody Wants to Rule The World, Slave to the Rhythm, The Power of Love, etc.
I have listened to it so that you don't have to.
I sincerely recommend that you don't. :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm:
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Anything by a bunch of wankers called Dead Belgian.
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I have to blame T42, as the last poster, for bringing this thread and its contents to my attention. But I can only blame myself for listening to some of the contents.
IMHO, the cover version of Comfortably Numb by the Scissor Sisters is hilariously brilliant. It's more like a live mash-up of the Bee Gees and Pink Floyd. It is funny, which may confuse some Floyd fans who have forgotten that before they become so tedious they were once funny too... and let's face it, for all its little flashes of brilliance, The Wall is a work of absolutely monumental and bloated egotism which deserves to be punctured. The Scissor Sisters actually remember what the point of a cover version is - to do something new with a song. :thumbsup:
I agree with this, mostly. What the Scissor Sisters have created is a completely different song which happens to have the same lyrics. This is in contrast to Mrs Miller, who is clearly trying to sing the original songs but failing horrendously due to her inability to grasp tune and especially rhythm. It's not that she sings out of tune as, for instance, I might do, she just seems to only be able to sing one tune, and it's not the one that goes with the song she's singing. Paul Anka is a different case. He can sing, obviously, and he's singing the original song but putting his own stamp and style on it. Unfortunately it doesn't work. (But Patti Smith has done a great cover of the same song, possibly better than the original.)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMERPNrprkk
:sick:
My ex dated Roland Gift before she met me.
Oh, the claim to fame thread, I hear you say?
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The worst cover versions are the pointless ones, ie songs which cannot be improved on. Baker Street comes to mind.
Damon.
Agreed. Also pointless are the ones where nothing is changed from the original in terms of tempo, instrumentation etc, but they manage to remove all the soul and charm.
Most of the 'Best' covers do something innovative - reading the other thread probably confirms this.
A sub-category of 'Pointless' would be where an artist rips off someone ELSE's interpretation of a classic. (I guess this is how X-factor is produced.)
(I'm sure SOMETHING good could be done with Baker St, if the human race lives long enough. they would probably need to ditch the saxophone. And the guitar solo which is really the best bit - simple but perfect.)
https://youtu.be/BO1qcWa6blQ
Make your own mind up. (Maybe it's been posted already – hard to say cos the youtubes or whatevers in the early posts in this thread just appear as blank spaces.)
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The renowned producer and singing Buggle, Trevor Horn, has made an album called Trevor Horn Reimagines the '80s.
...I have listened to it so that you don't have to.
I sincerely recommend that you don't. :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm:
But that sounds amazing!
Here's another act of 'reimagining' that might have been better left never imagined...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Indie-Pipe-Hits-Never-Pipes/dp/B001N1B3OW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1549904939&sr=8-1&keywords=never+mind+the+pan+pipes
My particular favourite is the take on Chelsea Dagger:
https://youtu.be/mGHUWCt9oE4
Like the Scissor Sisters take on Comfortably Numb, it brings out the hitherto unknown comedy side of the tune. You could almost call it genius if it weren't so unutterably terrible.
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Pseudo Echo's version of "Funky Town". Awful.
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'Funky Town' has to be the worst ever cover of 'Sunshine of Your Love' . Though there is a very funny video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVwiixXViT0
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Pseudo Echo's version of "Funky Town". Awful.
You watched ToTP 1987 on Friday, didn't you?
I don't remember Pseudo Echo. First thought on hearing that was that it didn't sound much different from the original, but then they whacked in a stupid guitar solo.
Trivia question: is Funky Town the only song that has been a one-hit wonder for two entirely different acts?
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Miss von Brandenburg has recently completed a three year stint of Stuffs-sitting for a mate who DJ's at the Windmill, a live music pub in Brixton. "You can get rid of those three large boxes of CDs in any way you see fit" he said. I had a rootle through the boxes on Sunday. Lots of unexpected country and...
...a promo copy of William Shatner's version of "Common People" :o I'm just glad, Tim, that you didn't actually have to pay for it.
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DIBS !!!!
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Miss von Brandenburg has recently completed a three year stint of Stuffs-sitting for a mate who DJ's at the Windmill, a live music pub in Brixton. "You can get rid of those three large boxes of CDs in any way you see fit" he said. I had a rootle through the boxes on Sunday. Lots of unexpected country and...
...a promo copy of William Shatner's version of "Common People" :o I'm just glad, Tim, that you didn't actually have to pay for it.
That track works if there's a good enough video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI3UfxyIdgs
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...a promo copy of William Shatner's version of "Common People" :o I'm just glad, Tim, that you didn't actually have to pay for it.
Unlike me. (I actually quite like it, for all its awfulness.)
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William... Shatner's spoken word... delivery... actually... works quite well... on Common People. :demon:
And he manages to be even more contemptuous of the class/poverty tourist than Jarvis Cocker (who, being a Star Trek fan, was quite approving of Shatner covering his song).
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Just about everything UB40 have ever done.
Horrible whiney voice over pretend Reggae :facepalm:
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Just about everything UB40 have ever done.
Horrible whiney voice over pretend Reggae :facepalm:
Their version of I Got You Babe was the first version I was familiar with and being young and impressionable at the time, I quite liked it. I only discovered the original and realised how bad UB40’s version is somewhat later.
Their version of Red Red Wine is even worse, of course, but I’m not much of a fan of the original version of that either.
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Apparently UB40 didn't even know it was a Neil Diamond song.
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.. William Shatner's version of "Common People" ...
Someone gave me a (probably illegal) copy of this. Probably so I could gape at its awfulness or something. That didn't work as I'd never heard it before. I rather liked it, so I went out and bought the original Pulp album, which I really like.
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Annie Lennox covering 'Whiter shade of Pale'.
Insipid, pointless singing. Like listening to your aged uncle play 'Rock classics' on his keyboard.
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This popped up on a compilation album I wast listening to in the car today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMT_fyy22Bg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMT_fyy22Bg)
I love Jennifer Warnes' Famous Blue raincoat, and her voice generally, but this cover is unspeakably awful.
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Second Band Aid single.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Annie Lennox covering 'Whiter shade of Pale'.
Insipid, pointless singing. Like listening to your aged uncle play 'Rock classics' on his keyboard.
Phew, I'm glad someone else has sid this - I was always scared to criticise Saint Annie.
Fortunately it doesn't get onto the radio very often, but when it does ...
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In Half Man Half Biscuit's "Paintball's Coming Home" the target of their scorn has having "nothing but total respect for Annie Lennox" listed among their many crimes.
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Annie Lennox covering 'Whiter shade of Pale'.
Insipid, pointless singing. Like listening to your aged uncle play 'Rock classics' on his keyboard.
Phew, I'm glad someone else has sid this - I was always scared to criticise Saint Annie.
Fortunately it doesn't get onto the radio very often, but when it does ...
Count me in too. I thought her first solo album was garbage and the second, from which that song is taken, like being held prisoner in a very bad karaoke club. I know she does a lot of good work for charidee but, aside from a couple of songs with her ex, I've never been taken with her singing.
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I still clearly remember listening to the HMHB Peel session when they debuted a bunch of new, unheard songs. One of which opened with the line “Quick, run, hide, here comes Dave Stewart...” which made me chortle muchly.
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I still clearly remember listening to the HMHB Peel session when they debuted a bunch of new, unheard songs. One of which opened with the line “Quick, run, hide, here comes Dave Stewart...” which made me chortle muchly.
While we're dis(cus)sing the sainted Annie, an old mate of mine who used to sound engineer for the the Tourists said it was a pain in the arse trying to sort out the sound for her because her voice was so quiet. I guess she had a bit of vocal coaching later.
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I still clearly remember listening to the HMHB Peel session when they debuted a bunch of new, unheard songs. One of which opened with the line “Quick, run, hide, here comes Dave Stewart...” which made me chortle muchly.
"Mars Ultras, You'll Never Make The Station", never did get an official release. Peelie, bless his hairy whiskers, commented that he could sympathise having once been taken to task by Mr Stewart for failing to play enough records by The Tourists. Who he didn't rate. On the other hand, Dave Stewart discovered the very fabulous Joanne Shaw Taylor, so he can't be all bad.
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Michael Ball's (no doubt more famous) version of "If Everyone Was Listening". Boring instrumentation, no dynamism and loses the pathos of the original.