In the almost-fifty years since it was a crossover R&B-pop hit for the wonderful Ray Charles, the song "Hit The Road, Jack" has been covered by many, many other musicians all over our very super planet. I have a special fondness for the foreign interpretation of Western music, because it often gives us some insight into the musicality of ears used to different tone scales and instrumentation. It also can be quite amusing. Today, I bring you a few "Hit The Road, Jack" videos from around the world that are smile-inducing.
The original by Mr. Charles, for your reference point.
An orchestra from Ukraine takes an ambitious arrangement and...performs it.
Canadian songstress Helen Reddy takes the song and makes it sound exactly like the rest of her songs, which is like the theme song to any 70's Quinn Martin TV production.
Japanese pop dude Miyavi gives us an "Engrish" lesson in "Hit The Load, Jack."
An unusual combination from the Russian KINOMANIA band of hip hop, accordion, flute, b-boys, and...and...well, I just don't know.
Doesn't this make Switzerland seem like lots of fun?
And to hit the road with, my Jacks and Jills, my utter favorite and the inspiration for the whole thing, this version from the Thailand band, CAT, contained on the compilation album "Thai Beat A-Go-Go, Vol.2." I could not love this more.
© Copyright 2008- Marianne Spellman