Song #76 on the Popdose Top 100 Covers list is “Always On My Mind”, originally by Brenda Lee and covered by the Pet Shop Boys. Here’s the original:
I didn’t realize this was the original. I like this version, but it’s not the one I think of when I think of this song. I’ll get to that in a minute. Here’s the Pet Shop Boys:
That one I’d heard before, and if you hadn’t ever heard it you’d know as soon as the vocals kicked in who it was. The Pet Shop Boys, along with Depeche Mode and Madonna and a whole hot of other 80s pop acts, are a group I couldn’t stand back in the day but like now. I just didn’t care for the sound and the style back then. Nostalgia and advancing age work wonders, don’t they?
Now I don’t know about you, but to me this song will always be sung by Willie Nelson:
He didn’t write that song, and he recorded his version ten years after Lee released hers, but is there any doubt that Willie owns this one? There are some artists and some songs where you just know they lived every word they’re singing. That’s what we have here. God bless you, Willie.
I’m with you. That’s Willie’s song, or one of them. “On the Road Again” is another.
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