"In My Life"

According to music experts, covering a song, meaning to do a remake or a new version of an already published original composition, has only two simple secrets: Make it sound better than the original, or make it truly unique for it to stand out as seemingly new and all your own.

 I don't know how to squeeze the cover version by actor Sean Connery of the Beatles song "In My Life" into any of the above-mentioned formulas for success. After all, I am just a music lover, especially of Sixties and Seventies music, not a music expert or critic.

 My difficulty stems from the fact that Connery, in that inimitable "food-chewing" style of speaking of his, did not do a sung rendition of "In My Life." He spoke it, as if reading from a poem, which, come to think of it, the song really is.

 "In My Life" is one of the most beautiful Beatles songs. My generational bias makes me a great fan of the Beatles and I love most of their songs. But there are a few that I would truly consider as among my favorites. "In My Life" is one of them.

 "In My Life" is beautiful to me for three reasons: The music is hauntingly sweet, and the lyrics even more so. Then, it was sung by John Lennon, my personal favorite from among the Fab Four. To me he was the better composer, and the spirit around which the other three revolved.

 Anyway, I am now talking about "In My Life" and its cover version by Sean Connery because it has resurfaced after many many years, this time as a television commercial for SC Global with Connery providing the voice to the music.

 To me, the Connery version is better than the original in a way, maybe because background video images make the music and lyrics even more meaningful, something that the Beatles did not get to enjoy when the song was first composed in the mid-Sixties.

 But I say that with a certain degree of ambivalence because, hearing the Connery version, and then turning the tv off and playing the original track from the Beatles Rubber Soul CD album, I still find the original sounding as great as ever.

 My conclusion is that the song "In My Life" is simply great. It endures regardless of whether it is in its original form by the Beatles, or sung by other artists in their own cover versions. And as I have found out, it is superb even when just spoken.

 I guess the beauty of the song lies in its applicability to all persons. The song touches a chord in our basic humanity. As wanderers on this earth, we have all been to places, the experiences of which we carry with us forever in our lives.

 It is no wonder that SC Global, a property developer for people with projects worldwide, has chosen "In My Life" as the signature song for its commercial. The song is about people and places, and profound experiences.

 There are of course a treasure trove of beautiful songs out there. But I will not attempt to name even a few because, like all pieces of great art, they are all subject to the appraisal and appreciation of other people.

 Songs can be beautiful or not depending on the person listening to them. I just singled out "In My Life" for this article because, being one of my favorites, and then getting chosen as a global commercial for a great global company, validates my appreciation of the song.

 To those who may not have seen the SC Global commercial, it is being aired from time to time either on Discovery Channel or National Geographic. Or you can search for the video on the Internet. I hope you love the song, as the millions who made it endure, did.