Song of the Day 3/16: Bill Parsons, “She Blinded Me With Science”

Maybe Thomas Dolby is the reason Republicans distrust science — they’re afraid it will make them go blind.

I like covers that show a different side of a familiar song, and this one stands out in that regard. Bill Parsons was on the folk-club circuit 20 years ago promoting his only LP, “Special Delivery,” which is when I first heard this acoustic take on what Dolby treated like a novelty song, though judging by the comments below the video a lot of people heard it via a PBS show.

Until I heard Parsons sing it, I had never really picked up more than a stray line or two of the lyrics. Dolby’s 1982 version, between its synth-heavy production and the jokey, MTV-friendly video (the “doctor” is played by Magnus Pyke, a nutritional scientist familiar to British TV audiences of the day), does its best to disguise the quality of the quirky tune beneath. This might be because the song wasn’t Dolby’s main concern – he wrote that last. According to his autobiography, he first conceived and storyboarded the video, then came up with the title and wrote the song. He finished up by directing the video.