At least to my memory, “Every Morning,” Sugar Ray‘s second Top 3 single (and US Alt #1) feels like one of those halo effect songs, the single equivalent of Chris Molanphy’s AC/DC rule, where the next song after the big hit becomes the bigger hit. “Fly” reached slightly higher on the charts while “Every Morning” achieved Gold status. But this isn’t borne out by streams: “Every Morning” is significantly more popular on streaming than “Fly” even if “Fly” feels, to me, like it was the bigger song and remains more famous.
Interpolating Malo’s “Suavecito,” “Every Morning” is even a bigger departure from Sugar Ray’s original funk rock/nu metal sound than “Fly” was. Like “Fly,” it incorporates scratching and other hip-hop elements. Its lead acoustic guitar part is particularly distinct, sounding like guitarist Rodney Sheppard got lost somewhere partway through it.
Australian singer-songwriter Julia Jacklin just treats it like a regular song, dropping much of what makes it distinctly ’90s. She and her band play it super conventionally. She sings the lyrics of the verse instead of the half-shouting in the original. And though the guitarist plays the riff, it’s on an electric guitar and lacks some of the original effect. There’s some chorus or similar effect on the backing vocals during the chorus to give them some of the shine from Sugar Ray’s version but they still don’t have that gloss.
There is no scratching, of course. And the Greek chorus spoken world backing vocal refrain is instead moved to the bridge where it is sung instead, almost reminiscent of the lullaby the lyrics were likely inspired by.
All in all, the changes are pretty minor, but the song feels totally different in Jacklin’s hands, removed from all the production choices that scream 1990s. Have a listen:
