Cover Song of the Week – Jonatha Brooke "Eye in the Sky"

A lot of people can't stand the Alan Parsons Project. Too overproduced, too pretentious, too much of everything, they say.

But there's no denying that the group has written some beautiful songs.

Nowhere is that more apparent than in this wonderful rendition by Jonatha Brooke of one of the group's best known songs, "Eye in the Sky."

Released on her 2004 album Back in the Circus, Brooke strips away all of the song's accoutrements and turns it into a stark lovesong. Perhaps if it were performed by a man (Hello, Sting?) , it would sound creepy. But Brooke's fragile yet emotion-filled voice manages to convey a different kind of desperation. Perhaps a spurned lover? Perhaps a shy girl who loves from afar?

And it really is even more beautiful than the original.

Brooke, who became best known in the 80s as a member of the duo The Story, included two other covers on the album: "God Only Knows" and "Fire and Rain." She also co-wrote "Less Than Love is Nothing" with Eric Bazilian.

Hands up if you know who Bazilian is.

That's right: he's a founding member of the Hooters, played many of the instruments on Cyndi Lauper's first album (his Hooters bandmate Rob Hyman co-wrote "Time After Time") and wrote Joan Osborne's smash "One of Us."

OK, enough trivia for today.

On to the song.

Play "Eye in the Sky" by Jonatha Brooke

Here's a nice video of Brooke performing "Eye in the Sky" last summer.