If I may chime in, I'd suggest it's very important to keep in mind the meaning of the lyrics and the original intent of the song. Nothing worse than taking a simple, plainspoken song and making it into some flowery, overblown artifice. I cringe the same way when I hear Sinatra's recording of "Saturday Night is the Loneliest Night of the Week"--a sad song--done as such a snappy, swingin' pop tune--as if he hasn't given any thought to what he's singing about. But I really like, say, interesting harmonic directions or chord substitutions to get away from the obvious ones.
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