Songwriters re-arranged 11 year old song for The Voice

NBC The Voice contestant Kyla Jade is claiming Garth Brooks’ “Leave A Light On” as her own after the songwriters rearranged the tune for her. The singer performed the song as “The Last Tear” during part one of the show’s two part season finale on Monday night (May 21st).

“When people hear my original song ‘The Last Tear,’ I would like them to go on a journey to feel whatever emotion the song evokes for them personally — to actually be present and experience it with me,” the Team Blake soul singer from Nashville says in a pre-taped video package before performing the song on The Voice stage. “‘The Last Tear’ is like a prize at the end of the journey because this whole thing has been singing covers, singing other people’s songs — still putting our own flair — but the single isn’t Kyla Jade singing someone else’s song, it’s actually something that I can attach to who I am. This song is a perfect conclusion for my Voice journey.”

To compare, the tracks are roughly the same length with the melodies being identical. The lyrics pretty closely match each other with a few exceptions, most notably Jade changing many conjunctions and substituting “I” for “Love” in the opening verse. Jade’s version also includes a choir at the end, like Brooks’ original recording from 11 years ago.

Randy Goodrum and Tommy Sims wrote “Leave A Light On” which Brooks included as a bonus track on his Diamond-certified The Ultimate Hits in 2007. Simms co-produced Jade’s track in Los Angeles over the weekend, specifically for the show, but many die hard Garth fans say that changing the title and some lyrics is deceptive and shouldn’t be considered original.

Since Brooks isn’t on YouTube (yet), we can’t share a recording of “Leave A Light On.” However, Amazon Music members can stream his version while everyone can watch Jade’s below.

Update: May 23, 2018; 7:34 ET

TMU has received exclusive comment from James Waddell, producer of “The Last Tear” for Kyla Jade. Waddell, who owns a studio in Nashville, said that he is “Just finding out today” that the song was previously recorded by Brooks. He said that Jade was similarly in the dark about the song’s history. When asked directly if songwriters Goodrum and Sims disclosed the original recording of “Leave a Light On” before The Voice session, Waddell simply responded, “No.”

As of press time, Randy Goodrum has not responded to a request for comment. We will continue to report on this story as it develops.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reC4WcWXfKU