Who Did It Better? State Of Independence

Who Did It Better?

State Of Independence

For today's edition of Who Did It Better? we have a song with a long and interesting history. It seems to be a song which artist's can't help but revisit more than once. For, not only does the first version get a second life when it's re-released as part of a Best Of collection, it is also re-recorded ten years later by the same vocalist backed by an orchestra. And that's not even the most popular version. 

The most popular version would also be given second life fourteen years after that vocalist originally recorded it, in the form of a remixed version which manages to eclipse the chart success of that vocalist's original recording. But wait... 

We then have yet another group who, with a guest vocalist, take the song on and release it not only on the group's album, but also as part of the OST of a very popular movie. In addition, it then appears six years later on the guest vocalist's regular group's greatest hits package. 

Confused?

Well, let's breakdown all this word salad for you, my dears, and take a look at the history of this rather remarkable song.

State of Independence is a song written by Jon Anderson, frequent lead singer for the prog-rock band Yes, and Vangelis, of Chariots Of Fire fame.

As Anderson recalls...

"I walked into the studio in Paris and he [Vangelis] was just putting that sequence down on 24 track. And most of the music we did was first take from the backing track point of view and the shape of things and I just told him to put the microphone on and he said, 'Cool.' And he was recording and he went to the piano and I started singing. And we recorded that track totally as it was and he would follow my emotion vocally and vice versa, if he went to a minor chord I'd come back down and sing in a different mode. That's why you have the highs and lows in working with Vangelis, because it is a very spontaneous combustion idea. That we're working as a team, not knowing where we're going. A couple of days later I started doing the lyrics and I went in and sang it and by then he'd done all the arranging and it was finished after two or three sessions. It was done, there it was."

"The concept of the song is the state of independence that we are growing into. And Oroladian was the sort of mythical person that opened the remembering gate. It's a poem by a famous English poet, The Remembering Gate. We start to remember our truth, we start to remember our reality. So each line is very, very positive. It's a worldwide collection of each line. It was the idea that it's easier to discern truth and life as a game. It's not as complicated as we make it in the West."

"The Caribbean sense of freedom derives from the meditative state. Meditation, something to do with the Caribbean, is African, very Ethiopian, essentially. The music from Ethiopia created reggae, calypso, all these kind of rhythms. Ska. It all comes from Ethiopia. I was really aware in my head about all that, so I was trying to do this worldwide oneness again, and that's what the song is about. State of Independence is all about how the truth will come."

The song first appeared on the 1981 Jon And Vangelis album The Friends of Mr Cairo, and was released as a single but failed to chart. Their version was re-released in 1984 as part of a Best Of album and then that version peaked at #67 in the UK.

Donna Summer, under the guidance of Quincy Jones, covered State of Independence for her 1982 self-titled album. As I mentioned in a previous post, this proved to be a difficult album for Summer. First, her record company, Geffen, rejected a completed album, I'm A Rainbow, which contained a number of self-penned songs. The powers that be felt it was uncommercial and encouraged her to work with Jones, instead. (I'm A Rainbow wouldn't see the light of day for another sixteen years.) Secondly, she was very, very pregnant at the time, making it difficult to sing her best. And to top things off, Summer found Jones to be boisterous, oppressive and demanding. Shortly after the album's release she told the Los Angeles Times: "Sometimes I feel it's a Quincy Jones album that I sang on."

Her version was released as the album's second single. For it, Quincy Jones had assembled an all-star choir, including Lionel Richie, Dionne Warwick, Michael Jackson, Brenda Russell, Christopher Cross, Dyan Cannon, James Ingram, Kenny Loggins, Peggy Lipton, Patti Austin, Michael McDonald and Stevie Wonder. (Jones later claimed that this song laid the foundation for the group effort We Are The World, which was written by Jackson and Richie, and produced by Jones.)

Summer's original version just missed the Top 40 in the US, peaking at #41. It did much better in Europe, where it peaked at #14 in the UK and enjoyed a one-week stay at #1 in the Netherlands. The single was reissued in Europe in 1990 following the release of a compilation album, The Best of Donna Summer. 

But that would not be the last time Summer's version would see the charts.

Following the dance chart success of the 1995 remix of  Summer's I Feel Love, PolyGram, who now owned all of Summer's recordings, issued a remixed version of State of Independence. In 1996, it peaked at #13. in the UK. Plus, it proved, once again, to be a huge hit in the Netherlands, where it remained #1 for eight weeks in a row.

In 1992, the duo Moodswings included a version of the song on their album Moodfood. Retitled Spiritual High (State Of Independence) Pt. II, their version featured vocals by the Pretenders' lead singer, Chrissie Hynde. It would also contain samples from Martin Luther King's 1963 speech, I Have A Dream. The single peaked at #47 in the UK and was played during the closing credits on the soundtrack of the 1992 film, Single White Female. It was also included on the Pretenders' Greatest Hits collection released in 2000.

In 1994, Change We Must was the seventh solo album by Yes lead singer Jon Anderson. It contained new material and orchestral arrangements of songs from Anderson's past. He recorded a new version of State Of Independence which was released as a double A-side single with the album's title song in October of 1994. 

And that's the whole story.

Now? On to the competition!

The Song: State Of Independence

The Competitors: Jon And Vangelis vs. Summer vs. Moodswings Feat. Chrissie Hynde vs. Anderson

State Of Independence - Jon And Vangelis

State Of Independence - Donna Summer

Spiritual Hight (State Of Independence) Pt. II - Moodswings 

feat. Chrissie Hynde

State Of Independence - Jon Anderson

Jon And Vangelis

Messy jazz intro yields to thin-sounding synth loop yields to vaguely reggae keyboard.

Lots going on with that those treble keys - it's all off-balance, or is it? The vocal cadence just messes with things even more, and boy, are those vocals pitched high.

Fun little horn accents and electronic blurps and a psuedo-flutelike afterthought. This is fun stuff. Complicated. If broken down instrument line by instrument line, it probably does make sense and is rather simplistic, but piled on top of one another my ear gets pulled in so many directions it's like walking down the hallway in a funky haunted house with various things jumping out at you as you pass by.

Sadly, due to the pitch of the vocals, I'm getting only the vaguest sense of what he's about.

The whole song seems to sweep by. I admire the technological achievement, but not the musicality. I think its the vocals. No depth. No warmth. As shrill as that bleating sax. 

The 'beep-beep' instrumental section is rather fun. And anytime that rhythmic, pulsing synth loop looms up I reengage. 

Vocals are much better on that mellower C-section.

And the chorus of auto horns are super fun. This is a song that's been constructed, not written. Rather adore that languid urban stretch. 

Still have no idea what he's singing about. Maybe its more about a feeling or creating a sound mood than the actual lyrical content.

By the time we peak with the song's title, things seem rather glommed together. I appreciate the artistry. It feels vaguely experimental and raw. I bet Bjork wet herself when she first heard this. It's very noisy. 

Like the chug of the rhythm track as we move to the close at the 3:40 mark. Thing is, the song is sonically a bit like an active seismic fault line, continuing to shift unpredictably and unexpectently.  It's also constantly revealing itself, opening like a multi-layered flower. 

It takes me all the way until the 3:48 mark before I start to really feel the deepness of the groove. I can tell, because that's when the head nodding starts. Love those automobiles racing by. 

And then... and odd ending with that overly-pointed sax.

Fascinating song. 

Donna Summer

Love that faked-out synth bass and Giorgio Moroder loop. The hand claps. This is already more accessible. Warmer. 

Summer sounds even better than I remember. Very centered. Nice depth. And yes, they're wisely keeping the arrangement much more focused, creating a pop song rather than a soundscape. That also helps with the momentum of the piece. I feel it being propelled forward. 

That choir is awesome. Again, great depth. 

And yet, we get all those weird, rhythmic elements floating in and out. It's simply so much cleaner. 

I'm starting to think these lyrics are really silly.

Interesting use of the choir with the sax. Oh, that's the what I call the 'beep beep' section. No, I don't know what they're singing. Is it 'deet'?

The vibraphone with those lovely synth strings... nice passage. 

Huh. I think Summer is doing a wonderful job on the C-section, but the bass and what-not are competing with her too much, rather than supporting. Those vocals need a bed to lie on, not a percolator.  But then, immediately after, with 'the temple of your heart', Summer fixes everything. She sounds amazing. Those notes are in her honey range. Money in the bank. 

And she just keeps bringing the love until that choir takes over. And then she's back in focus until those giant swaths of synth washes move across the soundscape like clouds across the bluest sky. And the chaos that descends is fascinating. Such a war of sound. Slow fade into a spoken word bit, which escapes me. 

Another marvelous experiment. 

Moodswings Feat. Chrissie Hynde

Spacey intro and it takes a bit before Hynde's vocals come into focus. Hynde singing languidly like this is what I imagine being on heroin feels like. 

A bit pitchy with those 'oh's. And the trapset up in the mix sort of starts to bring things even more into focus. Those vocals are super saturated, but nicely treated. And this arrangement reveals the era which it is from starting at the 1:28 mark. That weird organ grind underneath. 

Oh, Hynde pops things up an octave and actually lands it. She sounds good up there - treated as all get out, but spacey fun. Then the hard attack with the song's title... unexpected. 

Where did they get that choir? Did they sample? Hmm. 

And Hynde, again, surprises, going full-throated and flexing out on that C-section. It's weird, I've never considered her a soulful singer... but, here she is, pulling it off. 

I do love how the arrangement never competes. It only supports and creates atmosphere. The focus is totally on Hynde and her vocals. 

Love the little acoustic piano accent. 

At the 3:26 mark that choir takes over... meh. I keep waiting for Hynde to pop back in. Weird howling wind sound - spooky. 

I can't remember what that rhythm was called. It was everywhere... Soul II Soul perfected it. It has a shake and a shuffle to it that I adore. Was it part of the New Jack Swing sound? 

Okay, they sort of lose focus once that choir takes over. Hynde does reappear, but as a ghost. And it just fades.  A little disappointing. 

Jon Anderson

This is Anderson with a full orchestra.

Love the intro, though I feel I am about to watch a news panel show on PBS.  In fact... is that the case? Do they use this for the intro to something?

Oh, I don't know if I have the patience for this. It feels a bit overheated, like a piece of musical theatre. 

I think Anderson's vocals are an acquired taste. I always liked him when he sang with Yes. Their stuff, at times, just as pompous as this. 

Oh, dear. A children's choir. And that string arrangement is all over the place. Talk about trying to fill space. All the vamps make me feel like I'm trapped in a theatre about to be forced to sit through a musical.

I suppose there is an audience for this. It's not me. This is for those who appreciate what became of Manheim Steamroller or that hacky Siberian Orchestra. Yes, sonically, very accomplished and grand, but... a steady diet of such? A form of musical obesity. 

And what a ham-fisted ending. 

Well. That was dramatic, huh?

The Verdict

Going with Summer's version. 

Loved all the experimental constructivism of the Vangelis version. What a magnificent soundscape. A marvelous experiment. But, Anderson's vocals are a tad shrill and annoying and I have no idea what he's going on about. It makes me want Bjork to take this on and destroy it.

Summer brings the warmth and depth. And though I'm not a big fan of Quincy Jones' approach to the piece - Summer does indeed come across as more of a featured vocalist than the star of the show - he keeps things simple enough that the average listener can digest his arrangement while finding the groove. It's really Summer's vocals, though, that keep the ship on course. And that all-star choir? Well. That's an amazing feat. And it pays off, for the most part. A bit of showboating, on Jones' part, but... well, that's what the man does.

Moodswing had so much right. The beginning is terribly unfocused, but once we get beyond it and Hynde takes center stage, then things click right along. Some interesting vocal arranging, lots of atmospherics, lovely support... but then the choir takes over and zzzzzz. Which is too bad, because Hynde really delivers throughout, constantly surprising. 

Anderson with that orchestra? Well. That's a paycheck earned and cased, now isn't it. Pompous, overwrought, and, well... dull. I just kept backing up the aisle hoping the doors weren't locked. 

So, it's Summer for me, which is how I sort of expected it to go. Time and again, I'm amazed by how warm and rich her vocals remain. There's a good reason why we've always loved her.

Oh... and did you know? Moodswings has a version with Hynde and snippets of Martin Luther King doing his I Have A Dream Speech that stretches out to over 15 minutes! Yes. Something else I'll never have the patience to sit through. But interesting, huh?  

--- ---

And that's enough of me.

Okay, your turn. You know what to do... leave your choice and thoughts in the comments section. I do enjoy hearing a differing opinion. 

And that's all for now.

Until next time...

Thanks for reading... and listening!

State Of Independence - Donna Summer

Spiritual Hight (State Of Independence) Pt. II - Moodswings 

feat. Chrissie Hynde

State Of Independence - Donna Summer

(Murk Club Mix)