Artist: Duran Duran
Original Artist: Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel (linked below)
Title: Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)
Lyrics:
There ain't no more, you've taken everything
From my belief in Mother Earth
Can you ignore my faith in everything
'Cause I know what faith is and what it's worth
Can you ignore my faith in everything
'Cause I know what faith is and what it's worth
Why?: The first time I heard this song was when I was 13 years old, and just diving into Duran Duran's extensive back library in 1988. Recorded live at Hammersmith Odeon in 1982 and released as a B-side to The Reflex 12" single I did not quite realise for about ten minutes that this was even a cover... and then I read the label on my newly acquired vinyl.
I had no idea who Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel were at the time. Remember, this was pre-internet so it was quite some time before I found a used tape with the original song on it and I fully admit, I did not like the original version. I was still honing my musical chops and still sweet on 80s synth pop (and still am). So this was the furthest from what I was listening to at the time. It would be many years before I finally began to appreciate the original version, but Duran Duran's cover remains my favourite. I can't answer exactly why Duran Duran's version gave me (still gives me) goosebumps. I think something about how it sounded like a Duran Duran song (to me) but markedly different. It gave me this enormous feeling of nostalgia, even though, at 14, what the heck did I have in life experiences to make me feel that level of nostalgia? But that's what I felt. Simon leBon's voice gave me the kind of shivers and goosebumps when I was a teenager that Mark Hollis' voice does to me now. Having brought up Duran Duran's version of song after many years of not hearing it, I giggled and was awed by it once again. I'm still a Duranie at heart. That's never going to change.
Linked below, the original Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel version and BONUS: Erasure's version (which I also enjoyed) from their cover album Other People's Songs complete with their accompanying weirdly wonderful video.
