Eternal Flame BOTB showdown

Can you feel the love? I hope y’all had a beautiful Valentine’s Day with someone special. Ballads are excellent ways to express ones affections and I have a song stuck in my head. It has been for weeks now!

Let’s flashback to the 80s to learn about the inspiration behind today’s feature song.

The song was inspired by two eternal flames: one at the grave site of Elvis Presley that the Bangles saw when the band visited Graceland, and one at a local synagogue in Palm Springs which Steinberg attended as a child. Steinberg recalled to Songfacts: Susanna was talking about the Bangles having visited Graceland, and she said there was some type of shrine to Elvis that included some kind of eternal flame. As soon as those words were mentioned, I immediately thought of the synagogue in the town of Palm Springs, California where I grew up. I remember during our Sunday school class they would walk us through the sanctuary. There was one little red light and they told us it was called the eternal flame.~Wikipedia source

Billy Steinberg, Tom Kelly and Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles wrote Eternal Flame and it topped the charts in nine countries in the late 80s.

The history of the lyrics don’t suggest a love song, but it’s  interpreted by the listener as such. For your enjoyment and not part of the contest here are The Bangles. 

 After hearing Carolina Forbes a character from The Vampire Diaries sing this song is why it got stuck in my head.  Her rendition is very close to the original. What I like about her cover is how breathy she sings. I just love that soft sound! Please listen to Candice Accola. 

 If you want to go straight to the song, jump to about the 1:15 mark.

What did you think of contender #1? Nice, right? Next on the grind is contender #2, a band who did the same cover on the same episode (season 2 episode 16), as Candice of the show. I don’t remember it, but that’s what the info says on YouTube. Anywho, here is Human Nature!

This cover is good. I enjoyed hearing male vocals covering it, but not well enough to give them my vote. I’m going with Candice Accola.

How about you, which artist did  you favor, Candice Accola or Human Nature? Please leave your answer in comments; if you have time and want to share what makes your pick the “best” of the two, then I’d love to read your reasons.

Don’t forget, the polls close at midnight on the 21st and the results will post the following day, so mark your calendar and stop by to see if your pick gets named!

The fun continues with more epic battles underway. I invite you to visit, Stephen, who manages the ever-growing list of BoTB players. Thanks for doing a fine job, my friend, and a special thank you to the brain child of this cool meme, Fae.

Thanks for visiting today. The fun isn’t over quite yet. I’m dancing with the amazing 4M crew and hope you’ll come to the party with me. This is Curious as a Cathy signing off with have a bandtastic day!

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41 comments

  2. HiYa, CATHY, my friend!

    Never heard this song before.
    Starting with that first one – Hoo-Wee! Bad acting is hard on me, and that scene was painful. The performance of the song not much better, either.

    HUMAN NATURE was a godzillion times better.

    Now I’m gonna read all the comments above mine and see if my viewpoint is in the majority or the minority. (I’d bet a large chunk o’ dough that others feel as I do, but we shall see here in a minute.)

    ~ D-FensDogG
    ‘Loyal American Underground’

    1. Stephen, this battle is pretty evenly matched. If you read the comments then you know which artist takes the lead by a small margin. There are a few BoTBers who have yet to vote, but I suspect they may not get around to it. I’m sure life is dictating their attention elsewhere. I have you down for Human Nature. I’ll share the results on Monday. Have a good weekend, my friend.

    1. Hiya Dixie! Thanks for popping in to vote in this round of BoTB. It’s a tight race and unless things turn around then one artist is only going to only barely cross the finish line with a small lead. I love it when count is this close!

  4. As someone who watches TVD, I have a fondness for Candice Accola and her version of this song. That said, I think Human Nature did an excellent job with their cover. Maybe if Candice recorded it in the studio without the distraction of the other character’s talking (and did the entire song) it would be different for me. As it is, I have to vote for Human Nature (but I still love you Caroline!).

    1. Robin, Yeah I agree if Candice had recorded this song in a studio it would be far better than the TVD clip, but I still love her version. Carolina Forbes is one of my favorite characters on the show. She plays it perfectly! Sometimes I wonder why they made Elena’s character so boring. I guess they had to with Nina Dobrev playing dual roles, but even when she plays the evil Katherine Pierce that role isn’t as fun or exciting as Carolina Forbes. I have your vote down for Human Nature. Have a good weekend.

    1. Angel, Thank you for popping up (lol)…I mean over to vote in my latest BoTB. I have you down for Candice. I’ll share the outcome on Monday, so I hope you’ll check back to see if Ms. Accola wins!

  6. Both versions sit about the same to me. I slightly preferred the vocals of Human Nature (only slightly), but I much prefer the more rock sound of Candace/Caroline’s “backing” band. So give my vote to Candice!

  7. Oh my. A blast from my past. This song holds so many memories for me. Of course, if I could vote for the Bangles, I would 🙂

    That being said. I thought both contenders were good, but I felt a little more passion behind Candice’s version. My vote goes to her.

    ~Mary Burris
    jingle Jangle Jungle

  9. Oh yeah, you go girlfriend! You got some heavy tunes here for sure. Thanks for rockin’ out with us today! I’m gettin’ better slowly, but I sure need my immune system boosted.

  10. They are both very good.
    But I prefer the original.

    I’ve not seen this show, but I’ve seen it advertise.

    Thanks for the battle Cathy.

    Hope you are doing well. *HUGS* Thanks for your prayers.

    1. Collette, That’s why I didn’t feature The Bangles. I knew everyone would vote for them. Featuring two cover artists makes the battle a bit more interesting. Thanks for dancing with me this week!

  11. oooooh, that is a hard one. I love that show and that song! I have to go with the Bangles because its the 80’s I know and I love, but she rocked it too!

    1. Kisma, *BOOOONK* your vote gets thrown out! Sorry, my friend. The Bangles aren’t qualifying contenders (Candice Accola VS Human Nature) in this battle. If I had gone with The Bangles then EVERYONE would vote for them and where’s the fun in that? 😀 Oh well, I do appreciate you stopping in to dance and play along. Now to boogie myself over to your place! 😉

        2. lol, you are awesome, thank you! I have to say Candice then and that’s only because I have heard her sing other tunes and really like her voice.

  12. I love a good 80’s song, especially the Bangles, probably my favourite all girl band. I was so in love with Hoffs in High School. LOL
    Of the two selections, I prefer Candice Accola, despite the limited play time. I’m sure if she were to cut a full version of the song, it would be done very well. I didn’t think she started off very well, but that could have been done on purpose. When she was in the thick of the song, she was fantastic.

    1. Jeffrey, I think you’re right about why Candice’s beginning wasn’t good. I never thought much about it until you mentioned. I sorta felt it was done this way per the script. Thanks for dropping by to participate. I have you down for Miss Accola!

  13. I’m going with Human Nature’s version. I thought it might just be because the scene from the show was a little too Hallmark Channel for me, but I listened a second time, and Candice’s version just doesn’t compare.

    1. John, you gotta close your eyes and not be swayed by the video. lol I think the Hallmark flavor, as you put it, is actually appealing to me. It makes the song more tender with her breathy vocals. Thanks for voting for Human Nature. This is looking like an interesting battle so far!

  14. I’ve always loved Eternal Flame – Bangles were one of my favorites in the 80’s. 😉 What a tough choice, though – it was interesting hearing the male vocals cover the song, but even though I’m not sold on Candice’s version (because she was singing the words, not connecting emotionally with the song in my opinion) but my vote goes for Candice. 🙂 Have a great week, Cathy! 🙂

    My Church may be Upside Down & Inside Out but i’m gonna Hold On to my History

    1. Joyce, Am I take it that you’re voting for Human Nature? That’s who I’m putting you down for unless I hear differently. Thanks for stopping by!

  16. Nice battle! I enjoyed this song immensely. Never heard it before. It’s nice. My vote is for Human Nature. I felt their version was stronger, which, to me, is fitting for the song. Eternal flame suggests strength to me and therefore I liked the stronger version. But Candice did a nice job with it too…just not enough to win my vote.
    Thanks for introducing me to this song!

    Michele at Angels Bark

    1. Michele, Gee I’m glad I went back over the comment thread for this post. I could’ve sworn I responded to every when I discovered I hadn’t. This is gonna be a close battle. I have your vote recorded. Stop in on Monday to see, if your artist is named. Have a good weekend, dearie!

  17. I am going with Candice because she sounds unique…more unique than the 2nd one that just sounds like a drippy boy band to me.

    1. Birgit, after hearing Candice sing on TVDs I discovered she’s also a recording artist. Unfortunately none of her songs are as good as this one. Thanks for voting!

  19. Hi, dear Cathy!

    “Eternal Flame” is a beautiful song and its meaning is wide open to interpretation. I enjoyed listening to all three versions presented. I am currently going through a female vocalist phase and almost always pick a female in these band battles. Candice did a fine job with the song, but the Australian group Human Nature won me over. That surprised me because I usually don’t like male vocalists singing in a higher register, but the quality of that studio recording touched me a little more than the live performance by Candice. Therefore, I am giving my vote to Human Nature.

    Thank you, dear friend Cathy, and have a great week!

    1. Tom, I’m just the opposite usually when it comes to any vocals. A man’s voice is usually more pleasing to my ear because typically a woman’s voice is too shrill, but when a woman sings soft or breathy as with Candice’s cover then it captivates me. I definitely don’t like it when male vocals are in that higher register. That’s one reason why Human Nature lost my vote. They did okay, but if I can’t see myself owning the song done as is then I’m likely to cast them aside. I have your pick logged. The good thing is there is never a wrong vote. Thanks for playing along, my friend!

  20. I’ve never heard this song before, but then again I never kept up with the Bangles much. Both cover versions are pretty nice. My first reaction was to vote for the Human Nature version with its ramped up production values and nice vocals. But then upon another listen I think I prefer the spare backing band sound.

    I too am going to vote for the version featuring Candice Accola–but mainly because of the band arrangement.

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host
    Tossing It Out

    1. Lee, I liked The Bangles when they were on top of their game in the 80s, but after that I don’t know what became of them. Maybe it was just me. After I left work in 1988 to be a SAHM I lost touch with POP music. Human Nature’s version is a better production, but I by far preferred Candice’s soft vocals over the male competition in this battle. I have you down for Candice even if you’re giving her the vote because of the band arrangement. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Now to hop over to your place!

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