Sometimes, a song gets inside your brain and just keeps rolling around. Usually, the only way to get it out is to go listen to it. Once, twice, however many times it takes to no longer matter to you.

Ah, but there's a problem when the song has so many different version. Which one are you listening to inside there? Which one is best? If you get rid of one, do the others disappear also?

Tough questions.

So, for the last 2 days, I've been singing "Crazy" to myself over and over again. And it won't go away.

The first time I ever heard "Crazy" it was done by Patsy Cline. She set the standard; she's the one everyone else will be compared to. Invariably, most pretenders fall far short of her performance. Check it out:

Now, before Patsy, country music was mostly cowboys and cry babies. She was instrumental in moving it more into the mainsteam; she was a pop star as well. "Crazy" was one of the crossover songs that propelled her to the top of both the country and pop charts. Written by Willie Nelson (before his own days as an outlaw country star,) Patsy did not like the song, and found it hard to sing. But she did it, and it became the biggest hit of her career. She does it so well; it's her signature hit. Any other artist would be "crazy" to try to sing it with the ghost of Patsy Cline all over it.

Anybody, that is, except maybe the guy who wrote it! Willie Nelson is a singer whose voice and vocal style you either love or hate. Still, his talents as a songwriter, singer and guitarist are phenomenal. He was and is a giant; achieving even greater fame than Patsy Cline. And, he sings "Crazy" like no one else could, even Patsy, and it's clear in this version of it that he owns the song:

So, which is better, and which do you play when you're trying to get it out of your head? 'Cause, they're both in there, and they're both pretty powerful.

Oh, pitiful me. Two is not enough; it never is.

Diana Krall also did her version of "Crazy" and in it she rips up any pretense the song may have as a country jig, and she beats you in the head with what she has turned into one of the most gorgeous old standard love songs of all time:

Here's a live version, with Willie Nelson and Elvis Costello. Not my favorite, mind you, just thought you might like to see them move.

So, there's my problem, in a nutshell. Which is the best, and which do I need to burn out of my head?

It's a trick question. There's no correct answer. I'll just keep singing it until it goes away by itself. And, I'm pretty sure I'll have to learn to play the steel guitar--isn't it awesome!