Watch Sam Smith Cover Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Time After Time’ at Abbey Road Studios

Sam Smith has shared a cover of Cyndi Lauper’s classic, “Time After Time,” from their new live album, Love Goes: Live at Abbey Road Studios, which arrived March 19th.

Smith turns in a faithful rendition of Lauper’s 1983 classic as the backing band captures the original’s slick but tender instrumentation. Smith, meanwhile, keeps their vocals soft but injects just the right amount of passion and poignancy on the indelible hook: “If you’re lost you can look and you will find me/Time after time.”

Along with the cover of “Time After Time,” Smith shared a 20-minute conversation with Lauper. At the start, the pair discussed “Time After Time,” with Smith saying that while the song has always filled them with melancholy and longing, “It just made me so happy to sing.”

Lauper then offered up some high praise for Smith’s cover, saying, “When I was listening to your string arrangement, there were those wonderful, glorious romps through it, and that makes it almost spiritual.”

Smith’s cover of “Time After Time” and the rest of Love Goes: Live at Abbey Road Studios was taken from their only live performance of 2020, which was recorded at Abbey Road with a full band. The 13-song set primarily features songs from Smith’s 2020 album, Love Goes — including a collaboration with Labrinth on the title-track — although it also boasts reinterpretations of early hits like “Lay Me Down” and “Stay With Me.”