I had heard, once, long ago, that Nami Tamaki had performed a CORE OF SOUL song for her initial audition. I Googled this and found nothing, so I let it drop for a while.
This was, of course, before YouTube got as big as it is now.
Mesdames et messieurs, je vous présente:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRnn1zqAFCQ
Sarah, tell me that it’s okay for me to keep wincing during this thing. Tell me I’m not doing it just because I’m a horribly loyal COS fan (still). Tell me it’s not just because I don’t like Nami Tamaki very much! (Okay, so I know I can’t do better, but still…)
As you might be able to tell, I think the original is much, much better. I think part of it is the piano–some songs just aren’t piano-driven, and sound awful when transposed there. I think the unplugged version of “FULL MOON PRAYER” on One Day, One Love, One Life! is still guitar-driven. I think it’s guitar, anyway. It could be banjo, for all I know. Except I bought the CD, and have the liner notes. Okay, no, it is guitar. There’s a hint of piano in the background but it is a guitar song.
Actually, now that I think about it, the thing I’m most reminded of is Hikaru Utada’s cover of “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, another piano-accompanied cover. ACTUALLY, I think the opening chords are the same.
(Sarah, I’m starting to see your point about pop songs all having the same chords.)