Grievous Angel's 10/14/07 post about Paul Anka's swinging Sinatra-style version of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" convinced me to stop dithering and share this recording I've been wanting to share for quite a while, Anne Murray singing a Paul Anka song "Everything's Been Changed" from her 1972 album _Annie_. It doesn't deviate too much from Anka's respectable original, but I prefer her vocal.
Posted on 12/17/2007
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I'm impressed. So this was written by Paul Anka? I was thinking it sounded like a Jimmy Webb song. Best thing I can remember hearing out of Anne Murray.
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I concur with dermahrk about the quality of the song - I would say a little more Bacharach than Webb, but both are present and accounted for. What's also interesting to me is the way Murray's patented lack of affect strengthens the song, It's as if her repressed emotions, which she's not capable of voicing, are bleeding out through the dramatic chords, jagged rhythm and sweeping arrangement. This is when "overproduction" is exactly what is called for.
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I had to go and check to see if this was one of those songs that Anka wrote with Bacharach for the movie "Together" in the '70s, sung by Jackie DeShannon. I'm no fan of Anka as a songwriter, and the melody on this one is so good (and Bacharachian) that I doubted it was his. Any Anka song that can make me draw comparisons to Bacharach & DeShannon deserves a begrudging nod of the head.
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dermahrk, ivylander and emscee, I agree; it surprised me too. ivylander, your analysis nailed it. emscee, now I want to check out _Together_. Anka wrote "It Doesn't Matter Any More" sung by Buddy Holly and "My Way" sung by Sid Vicious, so he wasn't just another Bobby Rydell, but still, it's fun to be surprised like this.
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It is indeed remarkably Bucharachian for an Anka track. Thanks for the surprise and refresh my views on Paul Anka.
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Bartleby, thank _you_, always happy to refresh views, MOG-style.
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Nice song. I think I like this recording a bit better.
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Wow! Haven't heard this in ages! Been a fan of both Anne Murray and Paul Anka. Always thought that it had that Burt Bacharach feel too. Wonder what it would sound like if Jackie DeShannon did indeed record this song. Earlier today was listening to Jackie's take on Margo Guryan's "Think Of Rain" that was originally recorded by Claudine Longet.
Despite all of negative reviews that Anne Murray gets in regards to her music - she has sold a lot of albums. Music fans around the globe adore her. "You Needed Me" still stands today as a poignant ballad.
:=)
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missjunk and The Time Machine, why am I not surprised you've already heard both versions? I know about Paul Anka's only because I was curious about how it sounded compared to Anne Murray's.
I should upload Anka's here so others can compare, should they ever unbury this seemingly spent post. Anka's version was on a single also in 1972, so it probably got airplay.An interesting thing I noticed about the song is that the melody never includes the keynote, at least from what I could hear. (Whenever I put a tune onto my hardrive I note under the iTunes Comments column what key it's in, and this song was harder than most to figure out the key.)
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The Time Machine, I forgot to say, thanks for mentioning "Think of Rain" and "You Needed Me." I'll check them out.
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You are going on a time warp on me. I enjoyed Anne Murray's music and Paul Anka's music too but I cannot even begin to remember what songs I liked by them. Thanks for sharing and bringing back memories of the 1970s for me!
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2Serenity, aren't time warps fun.? Thinking about the past is a lot less scary than thinking about the future.