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Originally Posted by David
Eva Cassidy sounds (or sounded) like a hundred other singers. In all that "purity" & "beauty," you'd be hard-pressed to locate anything that stamps Eva as an indivual style, one you could pick out at fifty paces. Furthermore, what's operating here is what I would call sonic redundancy: Why surround a syrupy, overtly "beautiful" singer with a syrupy, overtly "beautiful" arrangement & production? It's too conventional. It turned Christine's "little prayer" into a mawkish spectacle.
Christine, on the other hand (or foot), sings & phrases so individually as to be recognizable even in two-second snippets from unnamed sources. Chris developed one of the most singular, individual vocal styles of that era. It's like a Billie Holiday situation. Nobody sounds like Christine. Nobody sings just the way she does.
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Originally Posted by SortaSavageLike
You know why so many people prefer Eva Cassidy's version more? Because she's a martyr. Yes - much like test pilots, the best career move a singer or musician can ever make is to die.  |
All true. Songbird is not a song I love, but Christine's version is not going to be bettered by anyone else who just picks it up and sings the words. Eva Cassidy is / was "OK". Really nothing special. Anyone who thinks her bland, syrupy version of this song beats the spot-on, heartfelt Rumours version needs their ears washed out.