Critical Response #6: Wonderful Life- Hurts

This is the original one sung by Hurts.

The song Wonderful life is sung by a British duo formed in 2009, consisting of singer Theo Hutchcraft and synthesizer Adam Anderson. It was released as their debut single in Denmark on 3 May 2010, and was released as their second single in the United Kingdom on 22 August 2010. The song peaked at number two in Germany, and reached top ten positions in Denmark, Switzerland and Austria. It also charted in Belgium. The first time I listened to this song, it immediately caught my heart. Differ than any other pop songs, the prelude to the song is using a very unique device. The prelude is like a clock sound which I think is quite suitable for the lyrics because it is about a guy who feels disappointed about his life and intends to suicide. And the clock sounds are like the countdown of his life. Speaking of lyrics, amongst all the recently released music, this one is definitely the most meaningful one. It's basically based on two extremes: the first being a man who wants to kill himself and the second being love at first sight. He's standing on the bridge about to jump and he's stopped by a woman. They see each other and fall in love. She basically says, 'Come with me, it's all going to be fine'. The song only offers a snippet of someone's life, so we don't know what happens at the end of it. The use of instruments is based on technology which is mostly synthesized sounds.

Wonderful Life- Hurts


On a bridge across the Severn on a Saturday night,
Susie meets the man of her dreams.
He says that he got in trouble and if she doesn't mind
He doesn't want the company
But there's something in the air
They share a look in silence and everything is understood
Susie grabs her man and puts a grip on his hand as the rain puts a tear in his eye.

SHE SAYS:

Don't let go
Never give up, it's such a wonderful life
Don't let go
Never give up, it's such a wonderful life

Driving through the city to the Temple Station,
Cries into the leather seat
And Susie knows her baby was a family man,
But the world has got him down on his knees

So she throws him at the wall and kisses burn like fire,
And suddenly he starts to believe
He takes her in his arms and he doesn't know why,
But he thinks that he begins to see

SHE SAYS:

Don't let go
Never give up, it's such a wonderful life
Don't let go
Never give up, it's such a wonderful life
Don't let go
Never give up, it's such a wonderful life
Don't let go
Never give up, it's such a wonderful life

SHE SAYS:

Don't let go
Never give up
Don't let go
Never give up, it's such a wonderful life

wonderful life, wonderful life, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful life
wonderful life, wonderful life, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful life

Don't let go
Don't let go

Cover by Jharda.

This is the cover by Jharda who is using a harp instead of synthesized sounds for instrumentation. The timber of the song is husky and jazzy. I really like the way that Jharda preforms this song because unlike the original version, this old school style strangely fits the atmosphere of the song. This cover in my opinion is very pleasant and beautiful. Using the harp as the instrument I think is very creative. It is unusual that harps are used as the main instruments. The song is played at a moderate speed with a metre of 2/4.


By contrasting the use of instrumentation, I personally like the original one better because the original one is more colourful and the cover seems to be a little bit plain and dull. In the original one, the opening of the song (the clock sounds) is very critical because it greatly realtes to the storyline. Without the opening, it's like eating pasta without tabaco, ordinary and tasteless. By comparing the two songs, they are both husky and lazy, but they are also slightly different. The original one is more like a pop song style and the cover is classical. However in general I think they are both melodious and elegant.