Episode Summary
We're discussing some of our favorite cover songs again! If you missed the first time we did it, you can check out episode 23, "You Can Get With This, Or You Can Get With That," where we talked about songs from Snoop Dogg, Rihanna, K-Ci Hailey and more. This time around, we’re running through some more classics, so join us as we listen to a few.
Transcript
Christina: Welcome back to They Reminisce Over You. I'm Christina.
Miguel: And I'm Miguel. A couple months ago, we did an episode where we discussed our favorite covers. The ones we liked, the ones we didn't like, the ones we thought were hilarious. [sings] "If you think you lonely now."
Christina: [sings] "Wait until tonight!" Sounds like a threat.
Miguel: Yeah, it is. So we're gonna do that again. So this is part two of episode 23 called, "You Can Get With This, Or You Can Get With That." Don't know what this title's gonna be just yet, but you know, here we are and we're gonna do it again. You can follow along with us in two different ways. You can pull up the playlist from our website, troypodcast.com, for this episode and listen along. We'll have a link to this in the show notes. So you can just click through from there. Or if you have a Premium Spotify account, you can listen to it on the Spotify mobile app at the Music + Talk Edition of They Reminisce Over You. That one has an integrated playlist, right in the episode. If you don't have a premium account, you can still listen to it. You'll just get a random 30 seconds of each song rather than the full version. Otherwise just carry on listening here. You ready to get started?
Christina: Let's do it.
Miguel: Okay. So, the first one I'm gonna pull up for you…
Christina: Mm-hmm.
Miguel: Is one that I assume you like because this is one of your favorite singers. It's Case, "Missing You."
Christina: Yes.
Miguel: Which is a cover of Joe's "Missing You," that had come out a year before.
Christina: See this one's a little bit—it's not like your typical quote cover. Is it a cover if… Joe wrote it for himself, and then they kind of just gave the song to Case?
Miguel: But it was released on Joe's album in 2000.
Christina: Mm-hmm.
Miguel: But only on the European version. And then it was on The Nutty Professor II soundtrack with Case doing it. And then it came out on Case's album the year after. So, it is a cover because it was released.
Christina: True. Just not your typical cover.
Miguel: Yeah. It had a, a long and winding road to get to Case.
Christina: Yes.
Miguel: So what we're gonna do is start playing the song and we're gonna listen to it. While you hear some random music that I'm gonna put in later, and then we'll be back after that.
[music break]
Miguel: And this is Joe's version of "Missing You."
Christina: Okay already the beat feels a little bit lighter, a little more dreamy.
Miguel: I get it.
Christina: This is a—
Miguel: It is.
Christina: Outstretched arm song and pounding your chest. Okay.
Miguel: So that was Joe's version of "Missing You." Do you have any thoughts?
Christina: Well, I didn't even know about the Joe version until pretty recently, maybe a couple years ago. I think I may have just stumbled upon an article or a YouTube comment or something. So I was so used to hearing the Case version already, that hearing the Joe version… you can't help but automatically compare it.
Miguel: Of course.
Christina: So I think if I had heard the Joe version first, I would've enjoyed it. But just comparing it to the Case version, it doesn't sound as strong.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: Because he sings it a lot more delicately.
Miguel: It's a little softer.
Christina: Yeah, he enunciates a little bit better. He sings it a little more softly and delicately, but it still sounds good.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: But just knowing what the Case version sounds like, I was like, eh, it's a good thing they gave it to Case.
Miguel: I'm not mad at it.
Christina: Yeah.
Miguel: I didn't know that it existed either till a couple years ago. And same thing, I don't remember how I found out but I instantly made the connection when I thought about it, because I didn't know that Joe wrote the song for Case anyway.
Christina: Right.
Miguel: But soon as I found that out, it was like, oh, this makes sense. Because I can hear Joe in the song. Even though it's Case. So with that said, let's listen to Case's version.
[music break]
Christina: Okay. The production sounds better.
Miguel: Well, I was trying to see if it was the same producers, because it said this one is produced by Tim & Bob. And on Joe's album, they did like three or four songs. But for this song, there's no credits. So I don't know if they did it[1] or somebody else did it. I don't know.
Christina: So there was something I wanted to say when you mentioned, that you instantly made the connection, 'cause you can hear Joe in the song.
Miguel: Yes.
Christina: I believe his background vocals are still on Case's version. It sounds like it. But also, I'm pretty sure I read that. Maybe I should have told you this before we listened to it, but I was specifically trying to hear the background vocals.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: 'Cause you know Case's voice is a little raspier?
Miguel: Right.
Christina: So if you listen to the background vocals...well we can run it back if you want.
Miguel: We can.
Christina: You can kind of hear Joe's more delicate sounding voice.
Miguel: Okay. Well, I notice his in the lead, but I wasn't listening to his background vocals.
Christina: Yeah. If, if it isn't Joe, then somebody else other than Case must be doing the background because it's not as raspy as Case usually sounds. Do you wanna run it back?
Miguel: Let's do it.
Christina: I'm gonna look it up.
Miguel: Okay.
[music break]
Miguel: Yeah, those sound like the same vocals.
Christina: Or at least not Case.
Miguel: Yeah. It's definitely not Case.
Christina: Mm-hmm.
Miguel: And it sounds a lot like Joe's vocals.
Christina: Mm-hmm.
Miguel: So I'm gonna say that it is him.
Christina: I can't seem to find the article that I was reading, but I—don't quote me on it, but I'm pretty sure they left his background vocals on it.
Miguel: Yeah it sounds like it, and just been enhanced a little bit.
Christina: Right.
Miguel: More than his version, but I'll go with it.
Christina: Yeah. So Case's version, the production just sounds a bit richer in general.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: And I prefer the Case version 'cause I like, his voice is just more raspy and it's more like the, you know, the male R&B voice that I like.
Miguel: What'd you say the last episode? Problematic...
Christina: Yep.
Miguel: Babies all over town. But raised in the church.
Christina: Yep. Well, I did tell you I watched this interview with Case[2] when he was talking about when him and Mary were dating and he was cheating on her, on the road, even though his like, bodyguard was her cousin or something. Like come on man. He's like, yeah, I know it was stupid.
Miguel: That's pretty bold.
Christina: It is pretty bold. So we know he was at least problematic at one point in his life.
Miguel: Yes. All right. So we've listened to them both. And I think I know what your answer is, but which one is your favorite of the two?
Christina: Case.
Miguel: Same here. I'm going with Case as well.
Christina: Yeah. I generally just prefer Case over Joe anyways, but they do have "Faded Pictures" together.
Miguel: They do.
Christina: Which I really love. So it's not like I hate Joe, but it's just Case is a little bit better.
Miguel: Well, when I was listening to the Joe version, it sounds very "whispery bitch" to me.
Christina: A male whispery bitch?
Miguel: Yeah. Whereas the Case version, it's not loud and aggressive, but it's not whispery either.
Christina: Right. So it has a little more girth to it.
Miguel: Yeah. So I'm going with Case.
Christina: Have we explained this "whispering bitch?"
Miguel: Yes.
Christina: Other than in the, in the transcript notes?
Miguel: No. We've mentioned it once before.
Christina: Okay. 'Cause I feel like—
Miguel: Because we gave Phonte[3] his credit for bringing it to us.
Christina: So we've done an explanatory comma.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: All right.
Miguel: And I assume people can figure it out too.
Christina: I hope so. Because it sounds much more aggressive than it is if you don't know the context.
Miguel: Right. All right. So the next song that we're gonna listen to is "Killing Me Softly."
Christina: There are many versions of this. What are you gonna—
Miguel: There are.
Christina: Play for me?
Miguel: When I was looking for some notes for this song, they have a list of a lot of people that have covered it. Not including the ones we're gonna talk about. So Johnny Mathis, Perry Como, Precious Wilson and Sky Train, whoever the hell that is.
Christina: I don't know who any of these people are.
Miguel: Luther Vandross, Amii Stewart. But no mention of Al B. Sure! So what I'm gonna do is go update that Wikipedia page and put Al B. Sure![4] on it.
Christina: It is crowdsourced.
Miguel: It is. So I'm putting Al B. Sure! on it. So by the time you guys hear this episode it will be updated with Al's information. Also I found out that the Roberta Flack version...
Christina: Mm-hmm
Miguel: Is also a cover.
Christina: Hmm.
Miguel: I did not know that.
Christina: Me either.
Miguel: It was originally done by Lori Lieberman. She's 19 years old in 1971. She was part of this songwriting slash production team with two older guys who went on to become rich and famous and… all right, here's some story time for you. So she's 19. One of the guys is 44 years old. She ends up in a relationship with him. He's married with children. And they had another partner who was also with them. She went to a concert, a Don McLean concert, the guy who did "American Pie." [sings] "Bye bye Miss American Pie." He was performing a song called "Empty Chairs." So the "killing me softly with his song," the song is "Empty Chairs" by Don McLean.
Christina: Oh.
Miguel: She started taking notes on a napkin after the concert go calls her lover and was like, I have this great idea. Let's do this. And he's listening to her and he's like, well, we started a song called "Killing Us Softly With the Blues." They go on to write the song together. He calls up the other dude was like, hey, put some music to this shit. We got something good going here. It's gonna be a jam. Years pass by. They break up. He doesn't wanna give her any credit for writing the song. 20 years go by.
Christina: 20 years?
Miguel: 20 years go by and they're basically saying she had nothing to do with it. Even though there are magazine articles.
Christina: Mmhmm.
Miguel: TV shows they were on together where they're talking about how the three of them wrote the song and it was inspired by this Don McLean song. They're like, nah, she had nothing to do with it. Even tried to sue Don McLean, 'cause he had on his website, y'all know that song is about me, right? So they tried to sue him.
Christina: What is the point of all this?
Miguel: And have them take it off of his website.
Christina: Wow.
Miguel: And then he replied with a screenshot that he took of a newspaper from 1973, where they're talking about him being the inspiration of the song.
Christina: He got the receipts.
Miguel: He did. So with that said, we're gonna listen to "Killing Me Softly" by Roberta Flack.
Christina: Wait. So they never recorded it?
Miguel: Oh no, they recorded it.
Christina: Oh, okay.
Miguel: I guess I should finish the story with what happened.
Christina: I was gonna say, I wanna hear that version now.
Miguel: We are gonna listen to it.
Christina: Okay.
Miguel: She recorded it. It did nothing. Roberta's on a flight, listening to the in-flight music system and whatnot. Hears the song and was like I wanna do this song.
Christina: Okay.
Miguel: Soon as the flight lands, she gets in touch with Quincy Jones who gets in touch with these guys. She records it, wins a Grammy. It's on Rolling Stone's top 500 songs of all time list. It's in the Grammy Hall of Fame. And this other woman's being pushed to the side.
Christina: Womp womp.
Miguel: Yes.
Christina: Happy International Women's Day.
Miguel: Exactly.
Christina: As we're recording this.
Miguel: So we're gonna listen to her version, Roberta Flack, The Fugees and Al B. Sure!
Christina: Okay. That's a lot of versions.
Miguel: It is.
Christina: All right.
[music break]
Miguel: So that was Lori Lieberman's version of "Killing Me Softly" that I had never heard until today.
Christina: The original version.
Miguel: The original version. But you can see how Roberta Flack is gonna build on her version and kinda make it her own. Can you imagine releasing that song, and then a year later this shit comes out and wins all the awards?
Christina: Yes.
Miguel: And you're sitting at home like, what the fuck?
Christina: I would be so mad.
Miguel: It's in the Grammy Hall of Fame. And she can't even get these two dudes who admit that she helped write it.
Christina: Those two guys got all the songwriting credit then?
Miguel: Yes. But every article you see about it says she ain't in the credits, but we know did it.
Christina: Right.
Miguel: Right. So that was Roberta Flack's version of "Killing Me Softly." Any thoughts?
Christina: Um...
Miguel: Between the two?
Christina: I think I actually like the original version better.
Miguel: Okay.
Christina: I like the different inflections in her voice.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: Um...yeah, that's really all I have to say. I just like the way she, I don't know music words, but I just like the different tones in her voice that she did a little bit more than Roberta Flack did.
Miguel: Okay. And now we're gonna listen to Al B. Sure!'s version.
Christina: I…think I've looked this up before, but I don't know this version very well.
[music break]
Christina: Yeah. I'm not feeling this. I'll stick with "Nite and Day." This version sounds very dated, even more so than the ones that are actually older than this.
Miguel: So thoughts?
Christina: I don't need to hear that again.
Miguel: Aww, come on.
Christina: There's a couple Al B. Sure! songs I like but that one can... when did it come out?
Miguel: '86-87, somewhere in there.
Christina: Yeah that can stay in '86.
Miguel: That's harsh. I'm not gonna say I like it because it's a good song. I like it for comedy. 'Cause it's so bad, that it's good, if that makes sense.
Christina: Well, now that we're talking about Al B. Sure! I have to mention the time I was at a Starbucks in our old neighborhood, and I saw this middle-aged white man walk by, with a custom-made, Toronto Blue Jays jersey, but it said Al B. Sure! in the back.
Miguel: It sure did. And we have the photos to prove it.
Christina: Just out walking with his two little girls. And I don't usually like to plaster strangers on social media, but I just got the back of him. But I did initially—
Miguel: We don't have the kids faces.
Christina: Nope, I did to have to post that on my Instagram cause I'm like, this man has a custom Blue Jays jersey with Al B. Sure written in the back. Just picture it.
Miguel: You don't have to picture it 'cause we can post it.
Christina: That's true.
Miguel: We will let you see it. All right. So the last one obviously is Fugees' version "Killing Me Softly."
Christina: Okay.
[music break]
Miguel: So, thoughts?
Christina: Well, this is my favorite version.
Miguel: Me too.
Christina: I knew it was a cover, but I thought Robert Flack was the original one, but—
Miguel: So did I.
Christina: And probably most people? So I knew it was a cover, but this was the first one–version I heard. I have a complicated relationship with Lauryn Hill, so I actually haven't—
Miguel: Most people do.
Christina: I haven't heard this in a really long time. But I've always liked how her singing voice sounds and her rapping voice actually. But I think I just haven't listened to it in such a long time because of Lauryn's erratic behavior, shall we say, over the past decade or so?
Miguel: I'll allow it.
Christina: Unfortunately, that included Fugees but hearing it again it's like, oh yeah, I really liked the song, but I probably still won't be listening to it again anytime soon.
Miguel: I will because I like this album, it's one of my favorite albums of all time. And I still wanna do an episode about this album but—
Christina: We can.
Miguel: I just need to convince you to come to this side. But—
Christina: No, I agree with you about this album. It's just one of those things that I just don't really listen to anymore. But I don't not like it. The thing I do like about it is it really captured kind of a moment in time.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: Like, there's definitely nostalgia attached to this song and it doesn't sound too dated. Like, it sounds like that time, but you can still listen to it. Unlike the Al B. Sure! version.
Christina: Come on, man. Give Al some love. He was trying really hard.
Christina: I'll give I'll give him some love on other songs. Just not that one.
Miguel: He was singing his heart out on this record. He was trying to give us everything he had. That was his Magnum Opus.
Christina: Was it?
Miguel: Probably not.
Christina: No.
Miguel: This is also my favorite version as well. And like you were saying, I didn't know that the Roberta Flack version was a cover until today.
Christina: Mm-hmm.
Miguel: So I'm gonna have to go back and listen to Lori Lieberman's version again, to see if I actually like it. I can't say just yet.
Christina: Her version is not my style.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: But I can appreciate how it sounds. Whereas this version is my style.
Miguel: Yeah, this is right up my alley.
Christina: So, yeah.
Miguel: All right. So the next song we are going to do is "Lately" by Stevie Wonder.
Christina: Okay.
Miguel: And Jodeci. All right. So let's listen to the Jodeci version.
Christina: Okay.
Miguel: And we're gonna listen to the one from MTV Unplugged, not the one that they did in the studio.
Christina: Yes. Which is the better version.
Miguel: It is.
[music break]
Miguel: All right. That was "Lately" by Jodeci and Stevie Wonder, not together.
Christina: Although somebody's probably done a mashup.
Miguel: They actually performed it with him once. I forgot to watch the video, but I remember seeing it on The Arsenio Hall Show[5].
Christina: I feel like I've seen that.
Miguel: So what are your thoughts?
Christina: Well, you obviously know who I'm gonna pick.
Miguel: I do. I know who you're gonna pick, but...
Christina: Yeah. It's not like, I mean, Stevie's version is Stevie's version.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: You can't really have anything bad to say about that, but I grew up listening to Jodeci, not Stevie Wonder. So, and I think also the thing with Jodeci's version is you have the contrast between K-Ci and JoJo's voice.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: That's one of the main things that I love about Jodeci is that their voices are so different, but they work so well together.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: And Stevie being one person, despite doing background vocals, he can't do that.
Miguel: True.
Christina: So obviously Jodeci, but that's more of a… generational opinion? I don't know.
Miguel: I think so. I like the Jodeci version better, which is surprising because I typically don't like covers.
Christina: You don't.
Miguel: But the reason I choose this one is they're just singing. Whereas Stevie is just sad. Like you feel bad for him as he's singing this shit. Like, come on, man, it's gonna be right. Whereas with them, they're just out there singing. You don't get that same attachment. Like damn Stevie, he going through it.
Christina: I can see that, especially because this song is not the kind of song Jodeci usually sings.
Miguel: Right. And I was surprised that they did it.
Christina: I think it's more of one of those things because it was the Unplugged performance that I think a lot of artists tend to pull out, you know, something old, something that they're inspired by.
Miguel: Yeah, I remember watching it and it was like, oh, they're they're doing this? I did not see that coming. Because up to this point, they had given us nothing like that. And ironically, after Jodeci breaks up, this is all K-Ci and JoJo did, was this kind of stuff.
Christina: True. So are you saying DeVanté and Dalvin were the, the problematic ones?
Miguel: I'm not gonna say that, but I think that once this hit.
Christina: Mm-hmm.
Miguel: It gave them another lane to go into. Because this is their biggest hit on the Billboard charts.
Christina: Was "Lately"?
Miguel: Yep.
Christina: You know what? I'm not surprised actually, because I mean, first of all, it's a Stevie Wonder song.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: Who's also a huge artist. But I can see how this song and K-Ci and JoJo's duo career has more crossover appeal.
Miguel: Yeah. So this one made it to number four on the Billboard 200.
Christina: Yeah. I think Lately we'll have more crossover appeal than "every freaking night and every freaking day."
Miguel: Yeah "Freek'n You" has a narrow audience.
Christina: Although...
Miguel: It's not gonna hit as wide as something like this.
Christina: I was gonna save this for eventually when we do a Jodeci episode. I don't know when that'll be, but I was telling you how I stumbled upon a bunch of comments when I was just looking at that video on YouTube that this Japanese anime had used "Freek'n' You."
Miguel: Yes.
Christina: As just their end of show credits just completely—
Miguel: That's so weird.
Christina: Out of context.
Miguel: That is so funny.
Christina: Yeah so there's a new audience for at least that song now.
Miguel: Yeah. All right. So the next one we're gonna do is another heavy hitter. Well, actually two heavy hitters.
Christina: Okay.
Miguel: "The Beautiful Ones" by Prince and Mariah Carey featuring Dru Hill. And we're gonna listen to Prince first.
[music break]
Miguel: All right. That was some real aggression by Prince Rogers Nelson.
Christina: He started off slow and steady. But I think around the time where he's like, "do you want him, or do you want me?" is when he dialed it all the way up.
Miguel: You had to. He's sitting there looking at his woman, sitting with Morris Day. Like, no, I need to let you know that you fucking up. Even though he was the one that was fucking up.
Christina: Details.
Miguel: So we're gonna listen to Mariah and Dru Hill now.
[music break]
Miguel: I saw something on like a fan site where Mariah did an interview about this song and she was just talking about how this was from her childhood and she had a crush on some kid and he didn't like her back or something. So this really means something to her.
Christina: Mm-hmm.
Miguel: And she mentioned something about DeVanté producing the track, and then it was like, editor's note, Cory Rooney says "DeVanté programmed the drums, but I produced it." He's like, no don't, don't be giving my credit away.
Miguel: All right.
Christina: Oh, you don't wanna hear, Sisqó, "Do you want him?! Do you want me?!" You should hear that part.
Miguel: I can fast forward to it.
Christina: "Hah!" You know they're serious when they start doing "Hah! Hah!"
Miguel: Like a Baptist preacher.
Christina: Yep.
Miguel: "Hah!" All right. So we listened to both Prince and Mariah Carey's versions. Any comments. Any thoughts?
Christina: I think this will be just like "Lately" where it's a generational choice.
Miguel: Okay.
Christina: So I pick Mariah Carey and Dru Hill's version because that's the version I know best. And I like Prince's because he is so theatrical.
Miguel: That's true.
Christina: But to me, his version sounds more dated.
Miguel: I can see that.
Christina: And, in the last, or one of our previous episodes, I was saying how I don't like Dru Hill, even though in theory I should. But I just don't like their music. But this song is where I can appreciate Dru Hill, well, mostly Sisqó. Sisqó's voice in a song that I like.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: And Mariah Carey is Mariah Carey, so.
Miguel: I'm going with the Prince version because I don't like the fact that there are background vocals on Mariah's version.
Christina: Mmm...I like that though.
Miguel: Like adding that, kind takes away from it for me.
Christina: Well, it's not necessarily that I like the background vocals. I do like that they turned it into a duet though.
Miguel: That I'm okay with.
Christina: Because at that part where he's like," do you want him, or do you want me?" And then she says, "I want you."
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: And so having that as a duet, the other person can respond.
Miguel: Right. But just adding "the beautiful ones, the beautiful ones..." it just doesn't work for me.
Christina: Didn't bother me.
Miguel: I don't like it. I don't like that shit.
Christina: Well, I like Mariah.
Miguel: I know. I'm aware you are part of the "lambily."
Christina: Am I?
Miguel: Yeah. You are.
Christina: I'm one of the lambs?
Miguel: You are.
Christina: I was fluttering my fingers?
Miguel: You certainly were. I should have been recording you.
Okay So the next one that we are going to talk about is… where is it? "Vapors" by Biz Markie. And covered by Snoop Doggy Dogg. We're gonna listen to Biz first.
[music break]
Miguel: All right. That was Big Daddy Kane–I mean Biz Markie with "Vapors." I think this was the first song I can recall, that was dedicated to the haters. "You caught the vapors!"
Christina: I have never heard the song.
Miguel: Really?
Christina: Or at least not in full, I don't think?
Miguel: I can't confirm.
Christina: I mean, it sounds...familiar.
Miguel: Well that's because of the sample.
Christina: I know who Biz Markie is. I think I just know that "you got the vapors." But I can't say I ever really listened to the song.
Miguel: All right. Well, let's see if you know Snoop's version then.
Christina: Okay. What album was this on?
Miguel: Tha Doggfather.
Christina: Yeah, I didn't really listen to that album.
[music break]
Miguel: All right. That was Snoop Doggy Dogg, "Vapors."
Christina: I don't–I'm pretty sure I've never heard this song. Sometimes songs just sound similar 'cause maybe I recognize a sample or it just sounds similar to other songs that I know. So it doesn't sound like "What? I've never heard this before!"
Miguel: Right.
Christina: But I'm pretty sure I haven't. So I'm not familiar with either song, but if I gotta pick one, I'm gonna go with Snoop.
Miguel: I'm going with Biz. Even though I appreciate Snoop doing stuff like this, because he's one of like, the earlier people to like pay homage to those who came before him. And he's always putting older singers on his records. Even back then when he did this album, 'cause was the second one. He's always showing love to other people and people just weren't doing hip hop covers at that time. And still really don't. He was like the first to start that. So I like that portion of it. But I'm still going with Biz, just because I like it.
Christina: Okay.
Miguel: All right. So this one is gonna be random as shit.
Christina: Okay.
Miguel: And when I heard the cover for the first time, I wasn't really paying attention. I think you might have been playing it.
Christina: Mm-hmm.
Miguel: And then I could hear what he was singing. I'm like, wait a minute. Is that Nine Inch Nails?
Christina: Oh.
Miguel: That he's singing. So we're gonna listen to "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails and then the cover by Maxwell, of all people.
Christina: Also on the Unplugged album.
Miguel: Yes.
Christina: So. Maybe there's a, a pattern here.
Miguel: Hey, I don't know why he decided to do it, but I'm glad he did.
[music break]
Miguel: All right. That was Nine Inch Nails and "Closer."
Christina: Mm-hmm.
Miguel: So imagine my surprise when I hear you listening to Maxwell, and hearing some of the words.
Christina: Quote unquote, "neo-soul Maxwell."
Miguel: And I'm like, oh okay. That's what we're doing? So we're gonna get into that right now. "Gotta Get Closer."
Christina: Off of the Unplugged.
Miguel: MTV Unplugged by Maxwell.
[music break]
Christina: I wonder how many people in the audience made the connection?
Miguel: I'm sure at the beginning they didn't.
Christina: Yeah.
Miguel: And then kinda like me, they're like—
Christina: I think I know this song.
Miguel: I've heard this somewhere.
Christina: "Gotta get closer!"
Miguel: Oh man. Yeah, I was not expecting that.
Christina: Yeah. Usually when they do an Unplugged album, they'll just do live versions of their songs.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: And I was like this song is not on any of his albums. So I'm not surprised it was a cover, but I just never thought to look it up.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: And I definitely didn't expect it to be a Nine Inch Nails song. Cause his is all funky and jazzy and stuff[6].
Miguel: Yeah, and it sounds nothing like the original.
Christina: And I've only passively listened to the lyrics. Because the Nine Inch Nails version sounds–it's so much more aggressive.
Miguel: It is.
Christina: Like when he's like, "I wanna feel you from the inside." You're like, ughh. Like it feels like, um...what was that movie with Brad Pitt? "What's in the box?"
Miguel: Oh Seven?
Christina: Yeah I can't remember, I think… did they use a Nine Inch Nails song[7] in that?
Miguel: I don't remember.
Christina: If they didn't, that song has that, the aura of the movie Seven.
Miguel: Which is why it was so shocking when I started making the connection. And I'm just sitting there thinking like, is this "Closer?"
Christina: Because the Nine—the Nine Inch Nails version is, is a bit, feels a bit disturbing. 'Cause he's like, "let me desecrate you." And you're like, ugh.
Miguel: Well, he's singing the same thing.
Christina: I know, but then Maxwell's version, he says like [singing] "let me desecrate you." And you just, you don't really, I didn't really pay attention to the lyrics as like, did he just say what? Whereas the Nine Inch Nails version, you can't not hear that.
Miguel: Yeah, you can't miss it. Yeah, so I remember hearing it and then having to listen to it again, just to make sure that he was doing a Nine Inch Nails cover. And I just thought that was random as shit.
Christina: Mm-hmm.
Miguel: So for that reason, I'm choosing Maxwell as the version that I like better because it's so outta place. And I assume that's the one you're going with too.
Christina: No. I actually, 'cause I never really liked that song that much.
Miguel: That's funny.
Christina: It was just like, oh, he's doing some remake or something. I guess, because it was also different from the music that he had been putting out on his album too. So it was just like, oh, this song's out of place or different from "Ascensions" or "Don't Ever Wonder."
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: So it was a song that I would just sort of let play. Like I didn't not like it, but I wouldn't go outta my way to listen to it.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: It's like, if I'm listening to the album, it's gonna play. But there is something very haunting about the Nine Inch Nails version. I'm not gonna listen to it again either, but if I have to compare the two, I actually like that better.
Miguel: I assume that you've never seen the video[8] for Nine Inch Nails.
Christina: I have not. Is it creepy?
Miguel: We're gonna watch it when we're done.
Christina: Okay.
Miguel: And just so you can put a visual to what we listened to.
Christina: Okay, because it is very creepy. And when we were just listening to it now, I was like, ewww. I do like the way it sounds better though. I think Maxwell's is just too, it's too light. it's too upbeat. Um...
Miguel: Yeah. He turned that into like a, party jam.
Christina: Yeah.
Miguel: Which is weird.
Christina: It was a little too upbeat whereas even though it felt a little disturbing, I do like the dark undertones of how it sounds. Even though it may be, feel a little creeped out at the same time.
Miguel: Like I said, I'm still going with Maxwell just because it was so unexpected.
Christina: Yeah.
Miguel: All right. So next up, we're gonna go with another Stevie Wonder one, because I have it here on the list.
Christina: Okay.
Miguel: "As." So we're gonna do Stevie's version and then the George Michael and Mary J. Blige.
All right. That was Stevie Wonder's version. And now we're gonna go into Mary and George.
Christina: Okay.
[music break]
Christina: It's pretty interesting that a lot of the covers we listened to today had been turned into duets.
Miguel: And two of them were Stevie songs.
Christina: Ahh, yes.
Miguel: So does that mean that it takes two people to be Stevie Wonder?
Christina: Maybe.
Miguel: It takes two people to be a one Stevie.
Christina: And two people to be one Prince.
Miguel: And Prince too.
Christina: Maybe.
Miguel: I didn't even think about that.
Christina: Well I don't know if you wanna pull this up now that I'm gonna mention it, but TLC also covered "If I Was Your Girlfriend." So you need multiple people to, to do Prince and Stevie, I guess?
Miguel: Apparently so. So which version are you going with as your selection?
Christina: I actually didn't know ahead of time, which version I was gonna pick. It was hard to choose because obviously, you know, Mary's my favorite singer and I really like post-Wham! George Michael. But I think I like Stevie's version better because George Michael and Mary, it sounds like a cover. If that makes any sense.
Miguel: It does.
Christina: Like you hear it and you're like, I know this is not the original.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: There's something about it that sounds like, and I don't mean this in a bad way, but it sounds like a karaoke version. Like I know these two are singing somebody else's song.
Miguel: I wouldn't say it's a karaoke version because the way I looked at it is Stevie's version is, it's like very aspirational. It's what you don't like. It's a positive uplifting song.
Christina: Actually I was gonna say, I liked Stevie's better because it sounds happier.
Miguel: Yeah. So his sounds positive.
Christina: Yeah.
Miguel: Whereas their version sounds like, we doing it for the grown and sexy. Like, this is something you gonna hear playing at a lounge, not a club.
Christina: Mm-hmm.
Miguel: It's playing at a lounge, at happy hour, on a Friday[9].
Christina: Yeah.
Miguel: This is the one that's gonna be playing.
Christina: I'm gonna go back a little bit. It's not that I don't like aspirational songs. I don't like corny aspirational songs.
Miguel: I get it.
Christina: I don't like the ones who are like, "we're gonna make an aspirational song."
Miguel: I'm telling you it's all about Sounds of Blackness.
Christina: "What would you do?"
Miguel: Definitely don't want that one.
Christina: Like that. "Live and Learn" that kind of stuff. Mm-hmm. You sit down and trying to inspire other people is, it's just corny to me. But Stevie is inspirational because he is Stevie.
Miguel: Exactly.
Christina: He don't have to try.
Miguel: He doesn't.
Christina: He could sit down and sing the alphabet and I'll probably be like "wooooow."
Miguel: That's true. All right. So we have some more on the list, but I will let you choose.
Christina: I say we do Prince and TLC just 'cause I mentioned it.
Miguel: Okay. And we're gonna do Prince first.
[music break]
Christina: You wouldn't pick my clothes out.
Miguel: I wouldn't. But I'm not Prince either.
Christina: Although you do help me decide sometimes though.
Miguel: I do, but I don't pick it out.
Christina: No.
Miguel: All right, so—
Christina: You can always count on Prince for the theatrics.
Miguel: That was Prince's version "If I Was Your Girlfriend." And here is the TLC version of "If I Was Your Girlfriend."
[music break]
Miguel: All right. That was TLC's version "If I Was Your Girlfriend."
Christina: Mm-hmm.
Miguel: I don't know which way you're gonna go with this one.
Christina: I'm still mulling it over.
Miguel: Okay.
Christina: I think initially...instinctively, I wanna say TLC because I heard their version before I heard his.
Miguel: Okay.
Christina: Their version prompted me to look up his. So I think Prince's sounds better. Well, it's his song.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: And I think the TLC version, I think I would've liked to hear Chilli sing it, or at least both Chilli and T-Boz.
Miguel: Okay.
Christina: Prince's vocal range is, he can go high. He can go lower.
Miguel: Right?
Christina: He doesn't go de– actually he can go.
Miguel: He does that too.
Christina: Yeah. So I think Chilli and T-Boz voice could have covered the range instead of T-Boz just staying where she does. Although you could hear Chilli in the background vocals.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: So I think that could have made it better. So it's hard to say because overall, I think Prince's sounds better, but I would probably listen to TLC's version more often because it's just more of the type of music I listen to.
Miguel: Right. I get it.
Christina: Yeah.
Miguel: But what we're gonna do as homework assignment.
Christina: Okay.
Miguel: Is we're gonna listen to Sign O' the Times from beginning to end.
Christina: Haven't we done that?
Miguel: We have, and we're gonna do it again. Because it's one of the greatest albums of any genre has ever been made. So that tells you what my choice is gonna be.
Christina: Yes.
Miguel: It's gonna be Prince's version "If I Was Your Girlfriend."
Christina: Yeah. See, I'm not mad at that. I do think his version is better, but I think I would just listen to TLC more often.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: If that makes any sense.
Miguel: It does. All right. So on that note, we're gonna wrap everything up here. Thank you again for listening to They Reminisce Over You. We do this every two weeks. So if you haven't listened to us before welcome. If you've listened to us before, welcome back. We also have a website troypodcast.com where you can go back and listen to previous episodes. You can look at transcripts...
Christina: Footnotes.
Miguel: Footnotes and videos that we add. Sometimes we talk about things that come up, music videos on YouTube and you can't see it. So we link to it so you can go back and watch that kind of stuff.
Christina: Or interviews and...
Miguel: Interviews.
Christina: Things that we find while we're doing some research.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: Not so much for the covers. Actually, I mean, eh...
Miguel: We might throw some videos in there.
Christina: Actually, while I was trying to look up whether Joe's background vocals were still on "Missing You," I found, a mashup[10] that somebody did with the two of them. So we can link to that.
Miguel: So we can put stuff like that up. Do you have anything else you would like to add? Other than follow us on social media and rate and review us. Give us five stars, if you haven't already.
Christina: That's pretty much all I got to say is...let's get this out there.
Miguel: Yeah. I've got nothing else for this week.
Christina: Leave a review. Only if it's good though.
Miguel: Yeah. Only good reviews.
Christina: Don't be a hater.
Miguel: Yeah, 'cause hating is not good for you.
Christina: "You got the Vapors!" Don't leave a review if you got the vapors.
Miguel: Yes, exactly. If you're hating, that's gonna give you a foot fungus or something, so don't do it. On that note we are outta here. See you again in two weeks. Bye.
Christina: Bye.