i love maxwell but i really hate how he butchered that song by kate bush and peter gabriel " this woman's work". i know a lot of people who like this cover even thought its relatively old now but i just can't stomach it. maybe cause i heard the orig first. i tried to listen but i just don't see the beauty in it. i like almost everything he made except this song.

heybaby said:

Well, you do have a right to your opinion evethough disagree with you. think that he really sang his but off with this song. I have been a longtime fan of Kate Bush. However, I must say that his version sounded better.

Hotlegs said:

His version of Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" is superb - way better than the original. Shame he didn't sing the full lyric though.

Hotlegs said:

you know i really did try. its funny how the exact same music and song can sound entirely different to someone else.

Shapeshifter said:

i'll take a listen. NIN, thats gotta be interesting.

Shapeshifter said:

Ditto.

I loved it....

heybaby said:

Peter Gabriel had nothing to do with This Woman's Work.

I thought that both of their versions are just as beautiful. H did not butcher it as much as compared 2 Ginuwines "When Doves Cry" or Mariah's "Beautiful Ones" GOD the HORROR!

Cloudbuster said:

i am soo huge on kate...and he did a good job with that song.....

The unplugged version was definitely better than the studio version...

psykosoul said:

Oh my god did u hear "Whenever Wherever Whatever" unplugged

I cried the first time i heard that.

paisleypark4 said:

Me too. The man took the song and pretty much made it his own with that rendition. I was kinda pissed to learn that he was gonna put a studio version on 'Now'. I knew it wouldn't compare.

psykosoul said:

I actually didnt hear kate Bush's version until 2 months ago the video came on and i finally heard it....absolutley brilliant, and I thought Maxwell's version lived up 2 it.

That studio version is ok, but the unplugged...

paisleypark4 said:

i didn't know he had a unplugged version. maybe that one sounds better.

Cloudbuster said:

yes he did. i know he sang on it, the version i heard. their was even a video that he and kate made for the song. i remember this cause i was a video freak back in the day and i always watched this video cause i liked the song.

heybaby said:

your thinking of "dont give up"..

they are holding each other with different visuals surrounding them, right?


thats another wonderful song....but This Woman's Work is not a duet..think of the lyrics, it doesnt work.....neither does a man singing the song but somehow Maxwell's liberties are excusable thanks to his compassionate vocal execution..

sosgemini said:

your right. i see i'm confusing myself. didn't gabriel do something on woman's work? i just can't get into maxwell's version. everybody likes but....i guess i'm a oddball.

Rhondab said:

sorry i just can't get into it. it's just one of those songs i have to skip over.

BlaqueKnight said:

Hotlegs said:

and i love maxwell's version of 'this woman's work'. it makes me all weepy and shit.

Where is Maxwell? It's past time for another album!

Joshy said:

lol i agree, except for woman's work. it just sounds sappy and wimpy to me.

i love his version of "this woman's work" but the live version, not the studio version that was slapped on the last album he did. I think his whole unplugged album was great, as a matter of fact, "urban hang suite" and the mtv unplugged album are his two best by far. I have have been a bit disappointed in his last effort for an album, it bored me. The only thing i listened to was "lifetime", and even that wanted to make me cry instead of finding a guy to freak.

yeah, the version i'm talkin' about is on the cd with lifetime on it. i haven't heard this unplugged version tho. everyone keeps bringin' this one up. i really gotta hear this one. maybe it'll change my opinion.

paisleypark4 said:

Amen, Amen, Amen to both statements!!
The Unplugged version of This Woman's Work is far superior to the studio version released on 2001's Now. However, Whenever Wherever Whatever on the Unplugged EP is arguably the best vocal performance of Maxwell's singing career and it's arguably the best song on the CD.
[Edited 9/13/04 10:07am]

both versions are great. It was crazy to hear Maxwell singing This Woman's Work. A good cover does honor to a song by making it your own without trying to horribly duplicate the original. A good cover can also spin a song to look like it means a different thing. If you see the movie that Kate Bush's song was in, and compare it to the Maxwell video, you get a similar vibe but 2 different meanings.

Shapeshifter said:

Let's not get carried away.



I don't think the bluntness of the original would work for Maxwell. He's much smoother than that. In order for him to pull it off successfully, the lyric change was necessary. Plus his album would have gotten one of those annoying parental advisory stickers if the lyrics weren't changed. Then all those Wal-Mart shoppers wouldn't have been able to find the CD.