"She could pull the sunlight through me, oh, coming down into Miami, Miami." ~counting crows

Sorry, I know I already posted once tonight (scroll down), but I'm on a roll. I really want to share this, because it's one of the reasons I love Counting Crows. They can take a song (whether it be one that they wrote or a cover) and make it sound like a completely different song. And they do it all the time. I posted an acoustic video of "Miami" in my last post. So now I'm going to illustrate how different that song can sound depending on the night. They can play the original electric version from Hard Candy. And I absolutely love it. Here's an example; it's from Pinkpop 2003. I think it's amazing. My favorite part of this version is "The summer's gone, and so are we...", when they really kick it up a notch. There's so much energy.

Now here's another acoustic version of it, from AbsoluteRadio. It has such a different tone to it; it's so much more melancholy.

AD wrote the song while Counting Crows were touring with Live, after waiting at the Miami Airport for his girlfriend to arrive from Japan (where she had been working). He was excited to see her, but at the same time he knew he would end up screwing it up and leaving her. They mostly play the acoustic version in concert now (not always, but mostly). I think the tone demonstrates maturity on his part; it seems more reflective. I've heard both live and I can't decide which I prefer. I love them both. And I'm sure I'll listen to tons of different live recordings of the song while I am in Miami.