"(They Long To Be) Close to You" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and recorded a few times in the 1960s before the hit version by The Carpenters in 1970. Previous mixes have featured that version as well as versions by Bobby Womack, Carmen McRae, Diana Ross, Isaac Hayes, Yvonne & Lisa, The Dells and the recently departed Jerry Butler with Brenda Lee Eager. This mix draws from the over five hundred other versions to include covers by The Cranberries, Pearl Bailey, Nancy Wilson, The Soul Searchers and Ella Fitzgerald performing live with a snippet of the other Carpenters' standard "We've Only Just Begun".
Two other songs repeat across the mix: the 1982 non-album single "Let's Go To Bed" by The Cure, along with an acoustic version from two decades later and Roky Erikson's 1980 song "I Walked With A Zombie" here with a cover by R.E.M. from a decade later.
"Big Bad Wolf" by The Sham-Ettes is a loose cover of "Lil Red Riding Hood" by Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs.
"Every Bomb You Make" by The Police is an early version of their 1983 hit single "Every Breath You Take" with different lyrics.
The rest: the atmospheric "Scenic" by Ozean, a cover of The Postal Service's "Brand New Colony" by Colin & Kay, the blunt "Illegal Business" by Boogie Down Productions, the RZA-produced "Winter Warz" from Ghostface Killah's 1996 debut album Iron Man, the innocent "NYC" by Lew Kirton, Jay-Z's defiant "Where I'm From", the Neil Diamond-written "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" by The Monkees, a live cover of The Beatles' "Nowhere Man" by The Replacements, a cover of Sam Cooke's "Twistin' The Night Away" by The Faces, a live version of Bob Dylan's passionate "Something There Is About You" with The Band and a live cover of Tom Waits' "Yesterday Is Here" by Bettye Lavette.
