For the latest edition of the ‘Kellyoke” segment as a part of her daytime talk show, Kelly Clarkson covered one of the early ’00s biggest hits, “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World. While the cover itself is relatively straight forward (as it probably should be, The Kelly Clarkson Show does go out in the middle of the day, we can’t have moms completely losing their minds), Clarkson’s version does highlight the lyricism of the original song.
Jimmy Eat World frontman Jim Adkins’ vocal in the original rides the rocky sound, with the verses and chorus rushed through and the only real intelligible words being the famous refrain “ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT.” As Clarkson’s voice is much clearer, you can actually hear all of the lyrics in this track, which highlights how good the lyrics are. It turns the track from being a shout-out-along-able anthem to a song of consolation and encouragement.
Check out the cover below.
What are you talking about, the lyrics in the Jimmy Eat World version are just as discernible and it’s one of the biggest sing-along songs of the genre.