One of my favorites of all time ("How Deep Is Your Love?" by the Bee Gees) has been covered in very recent years by some musicians who truly get the beauty and underlying sorrow of the song.
The bird and the bee featured "How Deep is Your Love?" on their Please Clap Your Hands EP back in 2007. It is one of the few bird and the bee songs that sounds so vulnerable, heartfelt and honest. It's not that their other material isn't beautiful or that it's full of falsehoods...just that this song is completely free of their (almost) trademark teasing sound (where you're not quite sure if Inara George is mocking you or not.)
The Bad Plus (featuring the amazing voice of Wendy Lewis!!) is completely unconventional, meshing contemporary wayward jazz sounds with the vocalist's lovely, lovely voice. When their cover opens everything is a bit jarring, but soon the song settles into its odd rhythm and gets to the heart of the matter.
Though I will always love the original version the most, both covers got me to listen to the lyrics, not just hear them (Barry Gibb is amazing and I adore him, but he's not the easiest singer to understand.) Taking in the covers slowly I thought for the first time that this song applies to any couple who has ever faced outside pressures...especially from people (i.e. society) who don't think they belong together.
We belong to you and me (a line from "How Deep") pretty much sums up all that matters when two people are in love with each other...nothing else matters, no one else has the right to judge them.
(Of course, this is my just two cents, but it's how I feel...)
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