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13 years ago
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Elvis Covered: Fiona Apple, "I Want You"
Covers like this are the reason why I love cover songs. The original track off of Blood and Chocolate is a favorite of mine (and probably every EC fan's - let's be honest), but this performance from 2006's largely-forgettable Decades Live: Elvis Costello and Friends concert is maybe the most perfect version of the song I've heard.
Fiona Apple's voice is so goddamn emotive, and she plays the thrill ride change in tone over the course of the song - from devoted and plaintive to jealous to raging - for every bit of chilling pathos it's worth. The original is much more even-toned, which is atmospheric in its own way, but this is just one of those 'reach-into-your-chest-and-tear-your-heart-out'.
Elvis's guitar is as big a factor in the shape of the song. Check out that opening snarl at 1:06, a full-stop punctuation on the sugary intro, and the frenzied screech of the guitar solo in comparison to the original, laid-back break. This is a song about love being twisted into possessiveness, yeah, but this track also has murder on its mind.
This is, far and away, my favorite EC cover, ranking even higher than Weird Al's perennial, impromptu runs through "Radio, Radio." What's yours, and why?
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4 comments:
That's very nice, I'd never seen that before.
My favorite is Shipbuilding, covered by Suede (on the Help comp.). Brett Butler's voice is just so damn plaintive on that song, and the lyrics are just amazing. It's pretty darn faithful to the original otherwise.
I also like Mudhoney's version of Pump It Up, just because it's a lot of fun.
My fave is still Roy Orbison covering "The Comedians" It almost sounds like it was written for him...
This is an awesome cover; I love it. Fiona is the perfect person to do it justice. IMHO, though, Elvis mugs it up too much, given the serious nature of the song. I miss the 1000-yard stare of his earlier days...
I've watched this cover at least a couple of dozen times, just to attempt to appreciate all of the elements of what I can only describe as a perfect performance.
* Fiona: Beautiful and obsessive and very real scary as hell in-the-moment character -the growl in "I want you" 3:30 into the set, right before Elvis gives the demented solo. True art as complimentary musicians.
* Elvis: Brilliant guitar work, along with being an apparent amazed onlooker to Fiona (hard to rehearse that type of emotional depth).
* The ending, as if Fiona has become that character and just realizes there's an audience in front of her. You want to hold her, but she probably has a steak knife.
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