Album: Sky’s The Limit
Year: 1971
. . .
On the short list of Prettiest Songs Ever Recorded, Post-Psychedelic Soul Division, “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)” is proof positive of a brand-new theory I just came up with. You may well ask what it is, this theory of mine.
My theory, which is mine, is that there is a virtuous circle of appreciation that happens between a great cover of a great song, where each time you listen to version, you appreciate the other version even more, so at the end, both versions of the song are basically not just your favorite version of the song, but perhaps the greatest song anybody has ever done ever. For example: “Eight Miles High” and “Eight Miles High, or “Tears of A Clown” and “Tears of a Clown” or “The Train From Kansas City” and “The Train From Kansas City” and “The Train From Kansas City.” That is the theory that I have and which is mine and what it is, too.