Who am I to resist the trappings of a perfect pop song?
In high school, I was an indie kid. I wore thrifted little league tee shirts and skinny jeans and converse. I dyed my hair a different color every week. I listened to Rainer Maria and Neutral Milk Hotel and Owen. I was also kind of a pretentious snob. But even then, I rocked Justin Timberlake's solo cd like you could not beleive. You see, being an indie kid is all about an appreciation for good music, be it written by a team of producers from L.A. or David Bazan and any way you slice it, "Cry Me A River" is a fan-freaking-tastic song.
Seven-ish years later and not much has changed. I've traded out the little league tees and jeans for deep v-necks and high waisted skirts and I don't dye my hair nearly as often but I'm still the same Mangum loving indie kid with an appreciation for a perfect pop song and no one knows how to deliver those these days like Lady Gaga.
There's no need to talk about how perfectly blissful "Bad Romance" is becuase it's been done ad neasuea by everyone from Rolling Stone to Entertainment Weekly to, I assume, Perez Hilton. (I don't read Perez Hilton so I don't know for sure but if I were a gambling woman, I'd say he's a little monster.) What we do need to talk about, however, is how a gal from Rock Island, Illinois (Represent!) took a great song and stripped it down to it's most skeletal form and somehow, made it greater.
Someone once said on twitter that the world is a better place with Lissie's voice in it. I don't remember who said that but I wish that I did because I want to shake their hand for they speak the truth. It's been said before on RFC that Lissie just might be the entire package - Talent! Beauty! And that voice, dear god, that voice!
Lissie - Bad Romance (Lady GaGa Cover)
From the opening "Oh", Lissie let's you know that this isn't Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance". This is the song stripped down to it's most exposed nature and without the sugary gloss Gaga brought to her version, "Bad Romance" stands out lyrically moreso here than it ever has. What it comes down to is that "Bad Romance" is a gorgeous love song about a girl pleading for the object of her affection to give her not what she wants from him, but what she needs. The yearning of "Bad Romance' truly comes across in Lissie's version and songs like this are the exact reason I love cover songs as much as I do.
I also never heard her covers before hand and I am interested on this. Will certainly visit your site more often now.
isey
Posted by: women pheromones | 03/22/2011 at 03:18 AM
Check out her album, you'll find some quite original and very very memorable songs off of that. She's already differentiated, at least in the UK.
I never heard her covers beforehand. They're more a marketing tool to get a name out there to build support to put out such an album Lissie did.
Posted by: John Brunner | 09/10/2010 at 01:00 PM
of course the problem with Lissie, and I noticed this when she played the pre-Lolla Hard Rock party, is that she's in danger of being known as "that chick that does quirky covers." She's going to have to write something original AND memorable AND FAST in order to dodge that.
Posted by: Tankboyprime.blogspot.com | 09/10/2010 at 12:26 PM