Weeks: 2
vs.
Date: June 6, 1987
Weeks: 1
The Supremes have 12 No. 1 hits, of which this is not one of the better-known. Kim Wilde has just this one, and it's not nearly as well-known as her song "Kids in America." So which is the better version?
The lyrics are about the singer lamenting that this guy she used to date no longer wants to be with her, but is still around her, and she now realizes she can't get over him while he's still around. "Get out my life, why don't you babe? 'Cause you don't really love me, you just keep me hangin' on." "But how can we still be friends when seeing you only breaks my heart again?" He's keeping her at arm's length, neither getting back together with her nor leaving her alone, and she's declaring her intention to stay away from him and get on with her life.
The Supremes' version makes this meaning very clear. Much of the Supremes' body of work is about a women declaring her independence and self-dependence and her right to make decisions about her own love life, and their song perfectly fits that theme. That performance is mostly in their strong voices, but the driving drum line, tambourine beats, and bass line help convey the complicated emotions. I even like the constantly-strumming rhythm guitar that opens the song and continues throughout. It drives the song and helps communicate the emotion of being persistently tense in this situation.
Kim Wilde's version is a bit muddier. Her voice is not nearly as strong, and her performance gets overwhelmed by the strong electric guitars more often. The chords are a bit more minor-sounding through the chorus, which makes Kim Wilde's version sound more dramatic. The effect is to make her sound more helpless and powerless to do anything about the situation. But that goes directly against the original intent of the lyrics, which have the woman declaring that she has the power to resolve the situation to her satisfaction.
On top of not communicating the intent nearly as well, Wilde's version contains some of the more obnoxious tropes of the 80s, including the keyboards, powerful electric guitars, and poundy drums. Wilde's version does attempt to redefine the sound of the chorus and make it her own, and I think that has to be respected. Unfortunately, that redesign of the sound didn't extend to the verses, where the song sounds like a fairly straight cover of the Supremes' song.
My verdict: The Supremes version is the better version, and it earns a Like it. Kim Wilde's version takes a good song and applies some of the worst excesses of the 80s to it, and I have to say I Don't like it.
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