A thought occurred to me as I was listening to OneRepublic’s latest version of “Apologize”

The instrumentation includes a gong-like beat that introduces the chorus and much more depth in the strings than the original. I approve very much of this version.

If we look back on all of the versions that OneRepublic has done on this song, there are a lot of different arrangements to the song.

There’s the original, with a steady clapping beat and prominent piano.

There’s the one with Timbaland, with a more polished, digital sound and Timbaland’s “presence” (in the form of random “eh”s)

There’s one they did for Sirius that morphed into “We Found Love”, with the hook played by the guitar and counterhook/riff in the cello.

There’s one with a kickass piano introduction. The chords in the intro move perfectly into the song.

They even did one outside. Note the pizzicato (second verse) and general awesomeness in the cello, which was OneRepublic’s defining feature for a while

And many many more.

Many artists do this, I just happen to listen to these versions quite a bit during study season.

I’m almost as excited to hear new “covers” they do of their own song than the new material they release. Not that I don’t like they’re new stuff, but I always found new arrangements and instrumentations of existing songs to be very facinating. It brings a sense of uniqueness to a familiar idea which makes for a very fresh experience. It’s kind of feeling that a new song can’t provide because so much is being thrown at you at once. Changing the instrumentation can alter the tone of a song while still maintaining the parts that make it memorable.

I used to tell a friend that I listened to music for its music and not its lyrics and that in a perfect world there would be no lyrics and just music. I’ve backed off of that claim now. I know that a good piece combines both the lyric and music in synchronicity. But it’s nice to be reminded how awesome instrumentation can be.