Blogocentric Formulations

Lean On Me

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Song: "Lean on Me"
Original: Bill Withers
Cover: Club Nouveau


You might not think it's possible to improve on a Bill Withers song that Rolling Stone lists as the 205th greatest song ever, but the cool thing about this particular song is that it has so much potential to be interpreted by different musical tastes and styles. Over the years it's been covered by an incredibly diverse set of artists including Mary J. Blige, DC Talk, Paul Abdul and The Muppets, Al Jarreau, Michael Bolton, Bonnie Tyler, Anne Murray, and Garth Brooks. Heck, it was even the subject of a couple crossovers including Avril Lavigne and Heart performing it together at a charity event, and an episode of The Colbert Report where the unlikely trio of Stephen Colbert, Brian Eno, and Michael Stipe covered the song.

The cover of this song I really love though is from the former group Club Nouveau, a Sacramento-based pop/new jack swing group that added a little bit of funk and harmonization to the already catchy instrumentation and lyrics of the song. This version of the song actually won Club Nouveau a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song in 1987.