Motian in Motion celebrates the ECM artist as he drums his way through the Village Vanguard, Birdland, the Blue Note, and beyond. Halfway through Motian in Motion, a […]
Miles Davis plays Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” in Tokyo (1985)

The great Miles Davis delivers a heartbreaking performance of Cyndi Lauper’s pop classic.
In 1985, the “king of cool” Miles Davis released You’re Under Arrest, a collection of covers and original material dealing with politics, racism, pollution and war. The album, the closet thing to a pop record he’d ever made, came with a provocative cover featuring the jazz trumpeter holding a nightstick alongside an altered, but likely more accurate, version of the Miranda Warning: “You’re under arrest you have the right to make one phone call, or remain silent so you better shut up.” Sadly, but perhaps unsurprisingly, the message is startlingly relevant almost 40 years later.

In a Spin interview that same year, Miles spoke out on his ongoing confrontations with the police:
“Being black and living in a beachfront house in Malibu, the police have already stopped me three times. This happens all the time. They’re always saying they thought I was drunk, that I was weaving all over the place. This happens especially at night on the Pacific Coast Highway.”
It’s just racist. But we black folks know about that. It happens every day to a black person. It happens here just like it happens in South Africa.
“The police make me mad, and I never say the things they want to hear. I don’t be saying, ‘Yessuh, boss,’ or ‘I’m takin’ the car to be washed and cleaned.’ Shit like that. Man, ’cause the shit I be wearin’ should tell any fool that I belong in the car! They ask me who I work for.”
Keep all this in mind as you watch the following video… One of our favorites, Miles delivers a heartbreaking performance of his You’re Under Arrest cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” in front of a roaring, sweating, and crying audience “Live Under the Sky” in Tokyo.