Joshua Radin’s “Three Little Birds” may be the most touching cover of Bob Marley’s classic. The original is excellent and technically doesn’t need a cover. That hasn’t stopped anyone though. Most aren’t worth mentioning and I won’t. But my second favorite cover features Baaba Maal and several others (including previous Hangover Cafe featured guest, Keb’ Mo’). What I like about that version is the sense of community. We’re all in this together. However, Radin’s version hits differently.
Rise up this mornin’
—Bob Marley
Smile at the risin’ sun
Three little birds
On my doorstep
Singin’ sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true
This is my message to you
Back before we received Lara’s cancer diagnosis, she stayed a weekend in the hospital while her medical team tried to find the source of her pain and discomfort. I stayed with her that weekend in a reclining chair graciously provided by the staff. For some reason, I woke up one morning and I had this song stuck in my head. I didn’t know then the significance that that song had for her and her two best friends and neither did I know how much the song would come to mean to me. By the time we got her official diagnosis—and could no longer deny what we already knew—she had taken to singing the song to me.
For a time, I preferred the “Playing for Change” version I mentioned above. That version has several voices and instruments from around the world contributing to it. I loved the notion of a group effort. It’s a perfect group effort. Additionally, the exotic quality of those voices (thick accents) and unfamiliar instruments make it feel global. It’s still great and I will always love it.
But at some point, I found Joshua Radin’s “Three Little Birds” and it floored me. His is the version that resounds the most when everything around me is dark and lonely. It’s somber and it’s melancholy, yet it holds the promise that everything is honestly going to be okay even when there is no one around to remind you. It’s a lonely voice serenading you from the deepest parts of your own heart. And for me, that voice was put there by the repeated confirmations from those we cherished the most. That voice gives us strength when ours is waning. That voice carries the strength of our loved ones when theirs is long gone.
Take care of yourselves and those you love.
