Having undertaken a few long and arduous projects of my own, I’ve got a real appreciation for people who set themselves some difficult or challenging goals and then achieve them.

A friend of mine recently came across the website of Janice Whaley – a woman and mother who decided to go through the entire Smiths catalog and rearrange and record every one of their songs in an acapella arrangement (you can click on the album art to hear the songs from that album).

Naturally, like any Smiths fan, I immediately wanted to hear what she did with “How Soon is Now?” It’s included in the player below, and I have to say I was surprised and impressed.

When he first told me about this project, I couldn’t help but think it was going to be underwhelming, because I didn’t see how one could do justice to both Morrissey’s voice AND Johnny Marr’s guitar playing.

But she removed herself so much from the original recordings that she was able to create something entirely new out of their old material.

As I keep listening to more of these selections, I can’t help but think I’m getting continually closer to purchasing the set.

Congratulations, and nice work, Janice. I know how it feels to complete such a labor of love.

– My name is Jon Friesch, and I’m looking forward to the next inspiring challenge.