Why Play a Song Your Own Way? Our Day will Come
- Diana Mascari
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
Why Play a Song Your Own Way?
I performed a solo piano rendition of Our Day Will Come at our community's monthly Musicale in September 2024.
As I prepared to upload the video of my performance to share it here, I found myself reflecting on a question that has followed me throughout my musical life:
Why play a song your own way at all?
Our Day Will Come was written by Mort Garson with lyrics by Bob Hilliard and recorded by Ruby and the Romantics in 1963.
Two other notable recordings of the song were done by Frankie Valli in 1975 and Amy Winehouse in 2003.
While there are differences between Frankie Valli's version and Amy Winehouse's recording, they both reflect the original flavor of the hit by Ruby and the Romantics. I would consider these renditions what's called a "cover" of the original. When you listen to them, you automatically relate what you are hearing to the original version.
If Amy Winehouse, Frankie Valli, and a host of other artists have played covers of Our Day will Come, why would any musician want to do anything different?
There’s an important distinction between performing a "COVER"
and creating an ARRANGEMENT.
A cover aims to replicate the original—to sound as close to the record as possible. On the other hand, an arrangement can take a variety of directions as long as it's tasteful and in keeping with the original song. This often means paying attention to the sheet music which was created by the composer and lyricist.
Playing in Top 40 Bands Where the Goal Was to Sound Like the Record i.e. COVER Early in my career, when I was playing Top 40 music, there was an expectation. Audiences wanted to hear what they already knew, and bands were supposed to sound like the record. That meant playing covers all night. Even then, that was easier said than done. We were often a trio trying to recreate music originally recorded with far more layers, instrumentation, and production. We did our best, but it was never even close to an exact match.
Experimenting with Our Day will Come Following the Sheet Music at the Piano
Our Day Will Come was in one of my songbooks, and I often experimented with it when practicing by myself. It never occurred to me to try to imitate Ruby and the Romantics. The cover requirements of playing in a Top 40 band were the direct opposite of my musical philosophy, but all the bands I played with including my own, put a concerted effort, no matter how weak it was in terms of sounding like the record.
My Jazz Quartet Plays Our Day Will Come with Vocalist Lori Zuroff
Before the pandemic hit, I was leading a jazz quartet that did a couple of special gigs with vocalist Lori Zuroff. She and I always rehearsed her songs a few times before each performance. During one rehearsal, Lori played me a recording of Our Day Will Come by a fairly contemporary group. It sounded so much like Ruby and the Romantics that I initially thought it was them.
That moment stayed with me, because it highlighted just how closely some performances aim to replicate a style or era. These renditions are called "covers" as I mentioned above.
Although Lori felt inspired by the "cover" recording which was actually terrific, I began thinking about how to arrange Our Day Will Come my own way.
Since our quartet wasn’t at all like a soul group, the goal was to provide the right accompaniment to inspire Lori's singing and keep the audience interested at the same time. After all, we were jazz musicians bringing our own language, sensibilities, and improvisational instincts to the music. What emerged for the performance was an arrangement, shaped by who we were, how we listened, and what the music invited from us. And it worked!
My Solo Piano Performance of Our Day Will Come
This solo piano version takes the arrangement of Our Day Will Come one step further away form the "cover" style of performance. Alone at the piano, without a rhythm section or vocalist, the question becomes even more personal: what does this song sound like through my hands, my experience, and my musical voice—right now? The point is no longer to sound like the original recording, or even like a previous performance, but to let the song live again in a new form.
For me, arranging is an act of listening and translation. It’s about honoring the essence of a song while allowing it to speak in a different voice. That’s why playing a song “your own way” still matters. It keeps the music alive—not frozen in time, but evolving with each performer, each setting, and each moment.
I hope you enjoy this solo piano performance as one chapter in that ongoing conversation.
Diana Mascari, Solo Jazz Pianist, Plays Our Day Will Come
I invite you to listen to this solo piano performance and hear how this song lives for me now, in this moment. Whether you know the original recording or are hearing it for the first time, I hope you’ll experience it as an exploration—one musician’s conversation with a familiar melody, shaped by time, context, and personal voice. Thank you for listening.
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