Forty years later, this song’s as hot as ever.
Three Dog Night is still singing it (even with only Two Dogs on board). Justin Timberlake is singing it. It was played as a promo for the new TV show Eli Stone. And you could spend an hour on YouTube finding other versions of various entertainment value, ranging from the Yale Whiffenpoofs to some German school band to a choreographed version by Chantilly (Virginia) High School to an even classier high school song-and-dance rendition. Who would have imagined that Laura’s composition would become part of the standard high school repertoire?
As always with covers of Laura’s songs, I don’t think any version can match the original, with its ominous, propulsive drive. What a mixed message Laura sends: Doesn’t it seem that, while she may be running away from Eli, she actually wants to get caught? Any thoughts?
What makes Laura the greatest, why I’ll always love her wholeheartedly is her strength to be guileless. She never attempted to hide the wiles of a woman.