It's a Deep Voice battle between deli_ and Doctor Zeus!


Here's The Doors with 'Riders on the Storm'.



A psychedelic & gothic masterpiece, Riders on the storm is I believe where Jim Morrison's voice is at its most menacingly pervasive, and, the final song he recorded.




Here's Paul Robeson with 'Ol' Man River'.



Ol’ Man River by Mr. Paul Robeson, an unsung hero of the early 1900s who was effectively erased from the history books because of his political views. He had unparalleled talents and success as an African American in a time when textbooks still taught that melanated people were a lesser species. The multi-talented singer, actor, lawyer, and football star, Mr. Robeson, could be found giving impromptu performances to coal miners and construction workers in solidarity with their exploited position, and a more charming personality would be hard to find. His interviews are engaging and enlightening, and his character is immensely heroic. All this before you even mention his unique vocal talent and astounding deep baritone voice.

This song was first heard in Showboat in 1936 and I have submitted that version of the song, it is beautiful but much more passive than an altered version that came out years later which I encourage you to look up. The performance and lyrics changed overtime as Paul Robeson reclaimed the song and empowered the sentiments of the working class, with the lyrical change of “get a little drunk and you lands in jail” to “show a little grit and you lands in jail”. I hope you enjoy this songs emotionality and take a moment to learn about this remarkable historical figure.

Here is the later version: https://youtu.be/iEQEeNhtosg

This category was made for Mr Robeson. Easy choice.

A tough one. I do find myself humming both songs occasionally. While Jim is singing at the low end of his register, he doesn't have the profundity of Robeson. On the other hand Riders is a slightly better song. Not sure which I enjoy more.

This is the song that inspired the idea for the category.

Easy one for me

I liked both songs but went for the deeper voice...

A student showed me People Are People by Depeche Mode two years ago and it is constantly popping into my head at random times.

Gosh this is a destruction

I'm probably supposed to like Old Man River better, but I picked the Doors tune.

I'm not a huge Doors fan, but this is one of their better ones.

There is no ‘supposed to’ The Doors song is great, and both songs are very different which makes comparing them difficult. I am a Doors fan and had a big Doors phase in college. The End is a special favorite for me.

Paul Roberson is awesome but musically it's not really close

Feels like this would have been a nice choice for this category:

ooof tough one, Riders has been one of my jams for years but wasn't expecting to hear it in the deep voice catergory

I didn't know Paul Robeson but really enjoyed the write-up and had the deep booming sound I was expecting,

really close as I like the 1st song a lot more(and listen to it all the time), but the 2nd fits the category better so giving this round to Mr Robeson

It’s Robeson, without the r, I’m pretty sure, but people commonly drop the r in there on accident.

I agree, there are a few things about the Showboat tune that work against it. One, it is not modern and is not part of the popular collection of modern music. It is classic in a sense, but it is unlikely you would find it popping up on any radio stations or in any curated playlists of good, classic songs.

It was also written in the context of a story about life on the Mississippi that is divorced from the lifestyle of probably any person here. I would guess you would also never find it in the soundtrack of a movie, whereas the Doors are great and their music can be applied widely in movies and radio playlists, covered by other artists.

I’m not sure I agree that musically Ol Man River falls too far behind, NPR has a nice article that articulates why better than I possibly could. While Paul Robeson did not write the piece, it was actually written with him in mind. The rhythm of the song feels like the “pulse of the river” and American playwright and lyricist Murray Horowitz beautifully says this of the song:

https://www.npr.org/2003/05/31/12799...an-masterpiece

When I first heard this song it was on a whim during a read aloud to my students, Mr. Robeson was mentioned by a character in the historical fiction novel we were studying. The song moved me and stuck with me, a sentiment I think many listeners of the song have experienced. As one student said, “this song feels different, and I like how this part ‘I’m tired of living, but I’m scared of dying’ fits with the music and I didn’t expect it.” The song compelled a whole lesson on Paul Robeson filled with versions of this song, interviews, and inquiry into what the kids could find out about him by researching on their own. Musically, I’m biased toward the song because of these fond memories and the impact it had on me to first listen to it, but here also is a quote from The Jazz Standard to support Birdman’s claim a bit more as well:

https://www.jazzstandards.com/compos...olmanriver.htm

I’m rubbish at posting links on mobile, so I hope those work.

Reading more about it, there is an error in the write up. The song was first heard over a decade earlier than written there, as the musical first opened in 1927.

Deli is unstoppable! Will anyone else ever sit on the throne?