Song covers can be tricky. Do too little to change the original and the whole exercise might feel pointless. Do too much and it’s bound to polarize opinion. TRF’s 90s hit Boy Meets Girl has already been covered dozens of times, partly because it’s an Avex standard alongside other oft-covered classics like Get Wild and Wow War Tonight. Boy Meets Girl also happens to be one of my favorite J-pop songs of the 90s. I first wrote about it here and now I get a chance to revisit it through the lens of SM’s NCT Wish.
Covering a personal favorite song is also tricky. I love this Boy Meets Girl because I love the original Boy Meets Girl. The melodies remain timeless and the production in this cover isn’t all that different from the surging euphoria of TRF’s version. So, the question becomes: was this necessary? Do Wish bring anything new to the recipe? I suppose male vocals bring a different flavor and there are ad libs here and there that are new. The instrumental has a modern crispness that’s nice to hear and I very much appreciate how the producers didn’t fiddle too much with the song’s natural momentum.
This version of Boy Meets Girl largely distinguishes itself through a short but snappy outro that adds a bit of extra anthemic fuel to the track. It’s also over a minute shorter than the original, so if instant bang-for-your-buck gratification is your aim, this will work. I can’t say it’s more interesting than any of the other covers of this song that have come before it and I’ll always go back to the original, but if you’ve never heard Boy Meets Girl before I imagine this will be something of a revelation. I can’t justify giving it a “10” the way I would the original, but I also can’t picture a world where any iteration of this song is lower than a “9.”
Hooks
9
Production
9
Longevity
9
Bias
9
RATING
9