OK. I'm going to be the bigger person and admit it:

I now love DC's cover of Died In Your Arms Tonight.

There, I said it.

What caused the change, you may ask? To answer, I first point you to the performance at the Belly Up in Aspen, CO, on 6/27/09:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCDBpH7E0P0

What was different? So, so many things. Well actually, 4 major ones:

1- The audio on this video was actually good. Sad but true fact: If I can't hear the song well I probably won't like it as much as if I do hear it without any static or other audio issues.

2- He let the melody carry the emotion, as opposed to the other way around, when he premiered the song, because at that time it sounded almost as if he was spitting out the words. Shouting and snarling may have their place in some songs, but I just wasn't feeling it there, and it detracted from my enjoyment of what was obviously, even then, an otherwise amazingly good performance. This time, he "just" sang the song, with the same emotion, and it really, really worked.

3- Apparently, I just needed time to adjust to such a shockingly different version than my beloved '80's pop tune. And I shouldn't have been so surprised that DC threw me for a loop, 'cause really, he's been doing it since his Happy Together cover (which I still don't know what to make of.... Mental note: get off lazy behind and get audio of song without distracting visuals so I can finally determine how I feel about it beyond "intriguing").

4- I am now convinced that it takes DC & band at least 4 or 5 live performances to perfect some songs. Case in point: Permanent (which I obviously love, and which still floored me in every performance, even the very first ones with the mistakes) took until the Oxford show -- I believe his 4th or 5th live performance of this song -- for him to nail it -- and did he ever. Moral of story: I need to withhold judgement on any songs I'm not crazy about until he's performed them at least 5 times.

So, there you go. I take it back, Dave. And yes, I now have the MP3 from the performance I linked above, and it's on my playlist.