ARTIST: Kris Allen
TITLE: “Live Like We’re Dying”
WEB DEBUT: Sept. 21, 2009
ONE-LISTEN VERDICT: Adorable season-eight American Idol winner Kris Allen’s first single* is a cover of a b-side by the Irish rock band The Script, a little bit of inspirational strumminess that certainly won’t offset any Jason Mraz comparisons he garnered earlier this year. What’s striking isn’t the song itself, but the way that Allen utilized the Idol playbook for this take on the song; put it side-by-side with the original and you’ll realize that he’s doing a straight-up Rock Band-worthy impersonation of it, complete with his adoption of the bulk of Danny O’Donoghue’s vocal tics. Wonder what this means for Allen’s forthcoming album, and the influence he’ll sop up from the likes of Chris Daughtry and that dude from the Fray? Hmm.
WHERE TO HEAR IT: There’s a stream here, but for instant-gratification purposes here’s a soon-to-be-yanked YouTube embed:
And the original:
Kris Allen - Live Like We’re Dying [Z100]
* I’ll be nice and not count “No Boundaries.”
I’m just glad it’s not a cover of the Tim McGraw song, which is what I thought initially.
I like both artists but think it is LAME how much Kris copies The Script’s style on this track. I heard it and thought - this is The Script - before learning it was a cover.