As much as I try to be an open-minded music lover, there are some songs I just can’t stand.
And I don’t mean songs that nobody’s ever heard of. I mean big songs, classic songs, songs that come on in a bar and suddenly everyone links arms and cries a bit and starts singing along. I feel a bit ashamed, but it’s probably healthy to admit it.
So if you really love “Brown-Eyed Girl” or “American Pie” or “Video Killed The Radio Star” or “Laid” or “Home For A Rest,” please accept my sincerest apologies. There is nothing objectively wrong with those songs. I just hate them.
And then there’s this one. The Proclaimers’ biggest hit, their famous ode to loyalty and excessive hiking, is on my list of supremely good songs that I find supremely annoying. Is it the uninspired late-80s production? Is it the “da-da-dat-da” nonsense of the chorus? Is it the way people hear it and start singing along with a poorly-executed Scottish accent?
I don’t know. I recognize that it’s not a bad song. I just don’t like it.
Or at least I didn’t, until I heard this version, by Sleeping At Last.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. It draws out the emotion inherent in the lyrics. It makes the promise to walk 1000 miles seem like a genuine declaration of love, rather than a drunken frat boy accepting a bet.
2. It changes the main chord progression from the happy-go-lucky 1-4-5 of the original to the more emotionally charged, major-to-minor 1-6-3. (A progression also found in this song.)
3. It does away with that frustrating “da-da-dat-da” part, but hints at it with some quiet background vocals at 2:44.
Recommended listening activity:
Taking a second try at a food you didn’t like as a kid.