Evolution of Forever Young

 I am completely oblivious to many things, but I guess that's why I have a husband that is so observant and a brain that can store the most insignificant fact, only to recall it some months later and tie in some current event. I don't know how he manages that but can't remember that I just told him minutes ago that  we were out of milk when he pours a bowl of cereal to discover there's no milk.

While watching The Office a few nights ago Brandon makes the comment that the song Andy and his Dad are singing together is the same song that is on the Parenthood opening. I of course dispute this, they don't sound anything alike. So this launched into this huge thing that took about 45 minutes for us to track down all the variations and compare them. Apparently "Forever Young" has quite a rich history in variations. And just so you don't have to do all the tracking down, here's the history for you.

Bob Dylan - 1974 "Forever Young" - The Original

Alphaville - 1984 - "Forever Young" - New song sharing title and similar idea in different words.

Rod Stewart - 1988 - "Forever Young" - New song with similarities, he actually shared royalties with Dylan because of the songs were so close. Rod Stewart was my favorite artist for a long long long time. Love that raspy voice.

Jay Z /Mr Hudson - 2009 - "Forever Young" - Mostly a remix of the Alphaville song. Actually I'd say it's more of a mash up than a remix. I'm not much of an R&B/Rap kind of person but I can appreciate this version.

John Doe & Lucy Schwartz - 2010 - "Forever Young" - Here we come full circle, this is just a cover of the original Bob Dylan song. Though this video is from the original soundtrack for parenthood, it's not the way it is sung in the opening of the show so I included that one too, it's so nasally and annoying, what a way to butcher a good song.

Here's the office Andy Bernard's Brother and Dad version (skip to 1:50)


Andy Bernard and Dad duet


There you have it folks, May God bless and keep you always and do you really want to live forever? Forever Young! For the record, the Rod Stewart version will always be my favorite.