It's almost an impossible task to cover a Beatles song successfully--not only are the songs so iconic that the songs' compositions and their original performances are inextricably linked, but the Beatles' original renditions of their songs are just too unbelievably good. As a result, a successful cover of the Beatles requires something so different, so special that it makes you almost forget the original version--a pretty tall order. I guess some would say Joe Cocker's Woodstock performance of "A Little Help from my Friends" would qualify, and that might be right. I am also partial to Rickie Lee Jones's cover of "For No One." But the top prize goes to the relatively obscure cover of "Across the Universe" by Fiona Apple, oddly buried on the soundtrack to the movie Pleasantville (which is apparently about people from the '50s experimenting with acid, or perhaps the invention of cones or rods in the human eye or something). Setting aside the merits of Fiona's performance compared to Joe Cocker's or Rickie Lee Jones's, the simple fact is that "Universe" is a better song than "Friends" or "For No One." Behold the song and its (pretty good) video:
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1 comment:
I like the video!
Gwen
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