Of the performances that I saw on The Voice, a handful particularly stood out: a couple each from Karise Eden and Darren Percival (deserved winner and runner-up - for mine, two of the three best singers in the competition), basically every time that Diana Rouvas was on stage (the third, and technically the most accomplished and spectacular singer on the show, if less distinctive than those other two) - and one of Brittany Cairns', a stunning song I didn't know called "Different Worlds".
So couple of nights ago, I downloaded it from iTunes - both Cairns' version and the original, as recorded by a singer named Jes Hudak - and I've been really stuck on the song since...it's wonderfully effective and affecting, built around a simple yearning, building melody and put together in a way that pulls the listener all the way through to its end. I've even listened to it enough - and been grabbed by it enough - that I've worked out how the structure of the song contributes to its achieving its effect: it starts with a building four line verse, follows that with another four lines that sound more like an extended bridge more than a second verse, seems to return to the verse again for two lines before unexpectedly, gloriously taking off on the line "You'll be like in a movie", then repeats the trick at the third line of the next stanza, soaring upwards on the repeated line "I'll leave the ocean behind", another bridge, and then just one surging final verse, ending leaving the listener wanting more (a lot of these kinds of songs lose some of their effect by spending too long tailing off at the end, but "Different Worlds" is a miniature epic, all over in 3 minutes).
Having worked that out hasn't taken any of the magic out of the song at all; iTunes tells me that in the few days since downloading them, I've listened to Cairns' version a somewhat ridiculous 65 times and Hudak's 19. I do like Cairns' version more; while she kind of belts it out a bit more than Hudak, I prefer the arrangement on her version, the instrumentation both simpler and fuller (also, it must be admitted, glossier and more radio-friendly), and I also like the different choices she makes with it (in particular, choosing to really open her throat on the earlier 'movie' line, while Hudak holds a bit more back until the climactic crest of the 'ocean' lines).
Anyway, I've always been susceptible to this kind of song, so in some ways it's not surprising that I've so latched on to it, but be that as it may, it's a wonderful song; it could have come along at any time, but it's also (as always with these things) the right song at the right time...it feels good to have found it.
So couple of nights ago, I downloaded it from iTunes - both Cairns' version and the original, as recorded by a singer named Jes Hudak - and I've been really stuck on the song since...it's wonderfully effective and affecting, built around a simple yearning, building melody and put together in a way that pulls the listener all the way through to its end. I've even listened to it enough - and been grabbed by it enough - that I've worked out how the structure of the song contributes to its achieving its effect: it starts with a building four line verse, follows that with another four lines that sound more like an extended bridge more than a second verse, seems to return to the verse again for two lines before unexpectedly, gloriously taking off on the line "You'll be like in a movie", then repeats the trick at the third line of the next stanza, soaring upwards on the repeated line "I'll leave the ocean behind", another bridge, and then just one surging final verse, ending leaving the listener wanting more (a lot of these kinds of songs lose some of their effect by spending too long tailing off at the end, but "Different Worlds" is a miniature epic, all over in 3 minutes).
Having worked that out hasn't taken any of the magic out of the song at all; iTunes tells me that in the few days since downloading them, I've listened to Cairns' version a somewhat ridiculous 65 times and Hudak's 19. I do like Cairns' version more; while she kind of belts it out a bit more than Hudak, I prefer the arrangement on her version, the instrumentation both simpler and fuller (also, it must be admitted, glossier and more radio-friendly), and I also like the different choices she makes with it (in particular, choosing to really open her throat on the earlier 'movie' line, while Hudak holds a bit more back until the climactic crest of the 'ocean' lines).
Anyway, I've always been susceptible to this kind of song, so in some ways it's not surprising that I've so latched on to it, but be that as it may, it's a wonderful song; it could have come along at any time, but it's also (as always with these things) the right song at the right time...it feels good to have found it.
