We Are The Sopranos: Cyndi Lauper vs. Celine Dion

OK let’s take a pause about me and let’s have a celebrity break for the meantime. We are all aware of what happened to Haiti and just recently, the world has witnessed the re-recording of the 1985 classic song, “We Are The World”. As a child, I was exposed to music…a lot! And I would admit that that was the first time I saw a woman in her red & yellow hair with tons of jewelries covering her body coming out from a limousine and I thought to myself, ‘Wow! Who is this weird woman?’ And she is so unusually cute!!! That was until my elder siblings told me that it was CYNDI LAUPER. From there on, I began admiring & following the creative world of Ms. Lauper. In Philippines, people would mock her name as ‘Cyndi Lupa’ (“lupa” means soil as Lauper almost sounds the same as “lupa”).

Cyndi Lauper circa 80's. Lady Gaga admitted that she grew up listening to songs of Michael Jackson and Cyndi. It's no wonder Lady Gaga is visually inspired by Cyndi...partly. And with that weird, creative yet cute eccentric looks of Cyndi, she was too "ahead" of her time...and that's why we love her because she's the original UNUSUAL GIRL WHO JUST WANTS TO HAVE FUN!!!

Listening to “We Are The World”, I would wait for that bridge of the song where Cyndi’s part was. And I believe many other people also think or felt that way too (so now I’m most people ;-P). I don’t know. It always gives me goosebumps every time I hear her part. So when I hear that after 25 years, Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones are doing the remake of this song for another cause, I kinda feel like “strange” about it. It’s good that they are doing this to help the victims & people of Haiti but gosh, can’t they just create a new one that even Jay-Z himself would not dare to touch this classic song as a respect especially to Michael Jackson.

Cyndi Lauper (left) in 1985 while recording the "We Are The World USA For Africa" and Celine Dion for the "We Are The World 25 for Haiti".

Now going back to the main subject, that climactic soprano bridge part of the song was now sung by CELINE DION. OK, don’t get me wrong. I do like Celine especially during her earlier days (by the way, “If You Asked Me To” and “If I Were You” were my fave songs from her debut album, ‘Celine Dion’) but I think I’m beginning to lose some respect for this talented lady. Why? She’s trying to be Cyndi Lauper…or at least had covered most of Cyndi’s songs already and now, Cyndi’s part from “We Are The World”??? Hmmm. So before I give you the video showcasing Cyndi & Celine’s part, here are the other videos of Celine in which she covered Cyndi Lauper’s songs vs. Cyndi Lauper’s versions of course. . .

Celine Dion’s cover version of Cyndi Lauper’s 1989 hit, “I Drove All Night“

Cyndi Lauper’s original version of “I Drove All Night“

Celine Dion’s live cover version of Cyndi Lauper’s 1984 hit (and anthem too), “Girls Just Want To Have Fun“

Cyndi Lauper’s live original version of “Girls Just Want To Have Fun“

Celine Dion’s live version of “Le Monde Est Stone“

Cyndi Lauper’s live version of “The World Is Stone”

Lastly, here’s the video of Cyndi & Celine for “We Are The World”. . .

We Are The World Cyndi Lauper vs. Celine Dion

In my opinion, some original versions are MEANT TO BE ALONE or AS IT IS. Showing your versatility doesn’t mean that you can replace the original…it’s a matter of finding & putting a soul to fit in to the song you are singing. Cyndi rocks!!!