So starts the poetic refrain to Boy Meets Girl’s 1988 song “Waiting For A Star To Fall” that’s been revived twice early this year, by Sunset Strippers and by Cabin Crew. These are my Song(s) of the Week™ now.

Interestingly, both revivals were released within weeks of each other, sound extremely similar at first, and were given approval by Boy Meets Girl (though in different ways).

Sunset Stripper’s “Falling Stars (Waiting For A Star To Fall)” can technically be called a remix. They got the rights to the original song from Boy Meets Girl’s label. The BPM of the 80’s hit was ramped up several notches and a four-to-the-floor dance drumline was added. Only the refrain and the chorus were sampled from the original and was looped to good use in the remix. I think it is quite a faithful re-interpretation of the original.

Cabin Crew wanted to sample the original song, too, but Sunset Strippers beat them to it. So they were forced to re-record the vocals. Weirdly, they got Boy Meets Girl themselves to do it for them resulting in “Star To Fall.” It is arguably a cover instead of a remix since none of the original track was used; but can it be considered a cover if the original artist had a hand in it?

Both songs sound really similar in tone and feel. So at first hearing, you won’t be able to distinguish the two. The major difference that I can hear is that “Falling Stars” mostly loops the whole chorus and the first two lines of the refrain while “Star To Fall” loops only the first line of both the refrain and the chorus, before proceeding to reveal the rest of the chorus.

Another difference is that Cabin Crew’s version adds a high-pitched synth line during the chorus loops that jumps all over the scales, while Sunset Stripper’s remix minimizes such embellishments, being more faithful to the original.

Which of these two revivals do I like better? I would say I like Cabin Crew’s “Star To Fall” more (but not by much) since it is more dance-oriented. The synths provide an added texture making the song more uplifting that it already is. It helps to provide that natural high when listening to the song.