Review: Garth Brooks & Huey Lewis, “Workin’ For a Livin'”

“Workin’ For a Livin’”
Garth Brooks & Huey Lewis
Songwriters: Chris Hayes & Huey Lewis

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It’s not a good sign when you’re listening to a cover song and wondering, “What’s the point?”  Garth Brooks revisiting a Huey Lewis & The News classic, trading off verses with Lewis himself.    That doesn’t even sound interesting on paper, and it isn’t any better on record.

Paint-by-numbers covers don’t do much for me in the first place, and when you’re trying to make an eighties soft rock hit country, it’s even less effective to play it straight.   My hope that Garth’s semi-retirement had rejuvenated him creatively is quickly fading.  He might want to ask his wife for advice on how to keep making interesting music in the second decade of a career.

Grade: C

7 Comments

  1. Wow, this is even worse than hearing Jo Dee Messina singing “Hip to be Square” in concert. Garth can and should do way better than cover this mediocre song that Sesame Street turned into a kids song once.

  2. This, to me, is normal for Garth Brooks, to release a song I hate. I’m not trying to discredit Garth Brooks, I just don’t like him at all. More Than A Memory was actually shocking, because I liked it! But this does nothing for me.

    Is it just me, or have all the songs about working been terrible lately?

  3. I like the music in this song, but his voice sounds funny. It has a dry quality to it that is not usual for him. He kind of has that voice in his “Magic of Christmas” CD too.

  4. I’m a huge fan of both Huey & Garth, but this remake fails to recapture the excitement & energy of the original. I hope it is successful because who the artists are, but if you’re looking for a great country version of “Workin For A Livin” that turned out perfectly, try Phil Vassar’s take on it.

  5. Huey Lewis gives Stevie Wonder a run for his money on the harmonica, but that is the only real highlight here. Phil Vassar’s version with Huey is better.

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