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Gnarls Barkley is an American soul duo of CeeLo Green and Danger Mouse. They debuted with their studio album “St. Elsewhere” in 2006 that contained the single that I’m using, “Crazy.” Melanie Martinez performed this song on the Voice in 2012. She later released her debut EP “Dollhouse” in 2014. She is most well known for releasing music in the alternative pop genre.

The song “Crazy” is about being isolated from society and being aware of your own emotions. It follows the story of him losing his mind and reminiscing about that time. He encourages others to become aware and to take control of their lives instead of being influenced by others.

The tempo of the songs are different. The original is faster than Melanie’s cover. The instrumentation is also different. For example, I believe there is a violin in the original chorus while the cover features a guitar (0:35 in the original and 0:55 in the cover). The dynamics are pretty similar as in their voice gets louder during the chorus. Their voices have different timbre. CeeLo Green’s voice is raspy throughout the song while Melanie Martinez’s voice is smoother. They are both homophonies. Their voice is the melodic line that has chords accompanying them. They have the same lyrics.

CeeLo Green’s version is very funky and it makes you want to dance and sing along because it has a fast tempo and the instruments that are being used. His voice during the chorus brings out a frantic emotion when he is asking “Does that make me crazy?”. Melanie Martinez’s version, on the other hand, makes the story stand out as it is paced more slowly. The build up is greater because it starts off with little instrumentation and picks up around the second verse. It also sounds like there is a music box playing in her version which makes it feel a bit unsettling.

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