This song is covered fairly often and some of the artists do it very well. But last year was the first time I ever came into contact with the O.G.
To me, though they are great and super-easy to sing a long with, the lyrics are clearly not the star of this song, or this performance.
It’s the VOICE and the MUSIC that make this such a moving, soulful performance IMO.
Lee’s voice is the equivalent of lighting a match on your stubble. It’s that rough and full of funk…just like that bass guitar line throughout.
With songs like this, I like to tune in and find a new instrument to focus on for a few listens in a row. Like listen once tuning into that bass. Then again with the trumpets. It sometimes makes the next listen for me a little richer I think. Like appreciating the parts more allows you to appreciate the whole more. There’s a life lesson in there I think. 🙂
That’s what I like about going through these discoveries from 2023 and writing about what I like and what they mean to me. We all are going through our own personal journey and we get to choose the soundtrack to it in a couple ways.
The music we listen to, and the people we populate it with. Their voices are also a part of this arrangement! If one of those instruments is out of tune, we have to choose to give it the attention it needs, or put it down for the final time.
Food for thought. Go make some sort of music in your life today. Thanks for reading!
everything, etc. 
Interestingly, the O-est and G-est first recording of this song is by a dude named Barry McGuire. It quickly evolved into the hit Mama’s and Papa’s song we all know. But the vocals on Barry’s version are… pretty bad. He sounds like a sneering drunk at a karaoke bar looking for a fight. Which is pretty weird on such a wistful, dreamy song.
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Interesting!
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