What starts out as a fairly faithful cover, turns a corner and reveals some elements of a dance club bop. It doesn’t matter if it’s good enough for someone else. Prince Fox – The Middle (Jimmy Eat World cover) The music swells again for another pass through the chorus with its lyrical reassurances. Then everything drops out, and we’re just left with our own thoughts for a brief moment. Then Audrey Assad kicks it up a notch, with more assertive percussion and some extra synth partway through. This version starts out simple, with another light touch on vocals and piano. Now we’re moving into dream pop territory. You know you’re doing better on your own, so don’t buy in. Audrey Assad – The Middle (Jimmy Eat World cover) She used to close out her concerts with this cover, leaving her audience with this feel-good message. Here’s Caroline Spence’s version of “The Middle” for the latter. It’s peaceful, almost a lullaby, starting with an acoustic guitar, and then yielding to a piano before they join together for the rest of the song.
There are rock-out days, and there are brooding days. Just try your best, try everything you can, and don’t you worry what they tell themselves when you’re away. (Maybe that last one is just me.) And no offense to Morris, but I just want my anthem of the downtrodden please! I can guarantee the covers that follow are of just that.Ĭaroline Spence – The Middle (Jimmy Eat World cover) And we’ve crossed our fingers every time we spot a cover artist with a track called “The Middle,” hoping for this gem and not the Maren Morris song by the same name. We’ve belted it out in front of strangers at a karaoke bar. We’ve blasted it through our headphones when drowning out the world’s nonsense. (For example, just ask any 2003 NHL video game player and they’ll likely reminisce how “Sweetness” provided the perfect soundtrack to their virtual victories.)įor twenty years, “The Middle” has been by our side, coaching us through life’s ups and downs. Yes, you can jump right to track three, but I recommend the following self-care routine: start at the beginning, rock out your angst to the title track (head banging optional) and then get in the introspective mood with “A Praise Chorus” (cover-esque in its borrowing of other songs’ lines to make up the chorus) before hearing the blood-pressure reducing opening lines of “The Middle.” After that, continue on for more balms to the soul. After all… It’s only in your head, you feel left out or looked down on. For every hater of the album, there is a love letter written in defense. If you can believe it, Jimmy Eat World’s Bleed American, renamed Jimmy Eat World after the September 11th attacks made the album title a little too real, turns twenty this month. Do I sometimes worry that I’ll dim the song’s magic by overplaying it? Yes, but hey, when you need it, you need it. Hey! Don’t write yourself off yet. “The Middle” is a collection of affirmations that everyone needs to hear at some point in their life. But then, as if to snap you out of your downward spiral…. One too many people have hurt you, let you down, robbed you of your earnestness (it’s an important trait, after all).