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August 21, 2011

Who should lead?

I don't spend a lot of time over at YouTube and am always amazed when I hear YouTube statistics such as the site receives more than 3 billion views per day or that 48 hours of video are uploaded every minute. Yet, even though I don't spend a lot of time there, I admit I watched at least five versions of the song I chose today as the Music Sunday feature at Experience Optimism. YouTube makes it easy to move from one song to the next and for the viewer to hang around to hear just a little bit more.

Thanks to @girlfriendology for leading me to a studio version of "Street Life" with Randy Crawford and Joe Sample. Shown in the first video, the song is interpreted by the piano.



 However, in the second version, a live recording of Street Life, the vocals are leading the way.

 

This is an example of how a story can be modified to appeal to different audiences, or perhaps, how the viewer might interpret the performance given their location.

 I like the second version just a little better (sing it, girlfriend); how about you? Who do you think should lead: Piano or vocals? Lyrics or melody? Man or woman?