Number 2’s music is too tinny

also released as a single. It sounds better and did much better on the charts.

The La's music was sometimes called jangle rock, but the 1988 single just wasn't mixed very well.

Sixpence are Christian alternative rock.

on the charts when it was issued. It's slightly longer and also sounds better IMO. The remix was done by Steve Lillywhite - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Lillywhite - and reached #13 on the UK charts. The earlier, Bob Andrews-produced version you have there peaked at #59.

The better, later mix:

8 out of 15 people answered they like The Las version & I did, too. A ninth person liked Sixpence better, but figured I liked the other one. That makes 60% who nailed my taste. And, 73% liked the same version that I do.
Someone mentioned that this version is "tinny". That's a cogent comment because the reason I prefer the original is that it's about using heroin & I think the remake is too pretty for the subject matter.
Yeah, he sings it kind of nasally, but for me it fits better.
Thanks to all who participated in another otherwise pointless exercise. Appreciate you indulging me.

as far as I can tell, it wasn't. The song didn't chart here until the 1990 remix was released, both as a single and on the album.

I'd checked for different versions because the 1988 one didn't sound right to me, didn't sound quite like what I remembered. I hadn't heard it for years - not a favorite of mine - but I'd thought it sounded better, and the 1990 version is the one that sounds familiar to me.

Though I see your point about the subject matter.

Re songs about using heroin - I don't think any ever topped the Black Crowes' "She Talks To Angels":

It sounds a little thinner than what I remember too, but I might be imagining it.

I can see your point about preferring the sound of the 1988 single given the subject of the lyrics. Even if it wasn't the version we heard first.