Earl is missed by Darrell and his circle of friends. As mournful as it is, strangely, I find Earl to be among the most pleasant of versions as well. Given the deeply personal and sentimental nature of Darrell’s interpretation, the sadness of Earl’s passing is definitely felt throughout the vocals, and yet the song itself doesn’t really come across as all that depressing. In fact, if anything, I find the vocals rather relaxing in tone and rhythm, as if the whole point of the song is not to necessarily lament Earl’s absence, but to simply and quietly celebrate his life, with a bunch of friends who knew him well...
As Darrell explained it to me, his friend Earl passed away last September. Very generous and selfless-sounding, he makes for a pretty interesting central character in Darrell’s story. He certainly sounds like a guy everyone would have been privileged to have as a friend. With a lot of critical accents and words in his lyrics stretched out and sustained vocally in the song, especially in the nicely harmonized choruses, you can definitely feel how strongly
EARL Lyrics By Darrell Snyder Gave me a dwelling, a place to be. And he wasn’t selling, he wasn’t selling a thing. Earl held court... and when he did it was anywhere, a coffee house, a living room, he didn’t care. Earl, Earl the Pearl. Earlfriend. Everyone welcome, and everyone was anyone. Earl the Pearl, wouldn’t turn you away... never. Wasn’t his style, no it wasn’t his way. Earl, Earl the Pearl. Earlfriend. All those gatherings, again and again. Couldn’t tell you what for. Oh Earlfriend. But I remember we were all together. Part of something. I felt part of something. We were part of something. Earl, Earl the Pearl. Earlfriend. Earl, Earl the Pearl. Earlfriend.
 
Earl
Music Copyright Akitomo Hu Music 2009 Lyrics Copyright Darrell Snyder 2010
created with it lyrically and vocally. But Darrell pulled it off very well. A hobbyist singer from Chicago, Darrell will soon be volunteering at hospitals and nursing homes, performing for people in need as part of the charitable organization, Practice With a Purpose. One of the cool things about this project is hearing all these interpretations for the first time and going, “wow, I never would have thought to do it that way!” Although every submission has been like that for me in some way or another, Darrell’s somehow manages to change the character and emotional significance of the music itself. http://livepage.apple.com/shapeimage_11_link_0

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Of course, it’s exactly the same as in every other version, but given the subject of Darrell’s lyrics and the manner in which he sang them, the music itself feels a lot slower and more subdued in Earl than it does in say, Jan Monet Fauntleroy’s Burn Me which feels like it grooves along more with with her equally reflective but much more active set of vocals. http://www.projectongaku.com/Blog/Project_Ongaku/Entries/2010/8/4_New_York_Restless.htmlshapeimage_13_link_0
Darrell Snyder - Chicago
Earl Welther
All in all, a great interpretation... Next up: Cindy ??? of Shanghai Kirkland - August 5, 2010... Practice With a Purpose Darrell’s Myspace Pagehttp://livepage.apple.com/http://www.myspace.com/gownlife68shapeimage_16_link_0shapeimage_16_link_1