This is one of the better songs in recent years -- catchy, though in a more mellow and soulful way, coming down from the frenetic highs of the burst of bouncy music from 2012-'13. The emotional tone is that of someone who is staying in a relationship despite knowing their partner is being unfaithful.
Naturally it should be sung by a girl, but they gave it to different infidelity-prone group instead -- homosexual Sam Smith. His tone is too whiny, making for a jarring mismatch between the juvenile emotional tone and the mature lyrics and sound. It sounds like a bratty little kid playing dress-up as an adult, typical of homosexual relationships.
Looking through YouTube covers of the song by female singers, you find too many that are juvenile in a different way -- from typical Millennials who have never had real emotional contact with other people, let alone in an intimate way. The result is artificial -- overly articulated enunciation, deadpan emotional tone, and just not being able to get in the right mood.
But there are a few decent clingy covers, all of them oddly enough from girls of Mediterranean background -- it must not be an unfamiliar mood for them to get into, of someone who gets cheated on and clings to their partner anyway. You couldn't hear a good cover coming from sexually non-dimorphic Scandinavia. The original version was written and performed by people of Celtic background, so it would be nice to hear a cover by another blue-eyed soul Celt like Adele.
Beginning with the best rendition I could find, here's Dua Lipa, of eastern Med background (Albanian):
Next is Mia Rose of western Med background (Portuguese):
A trip to the central Med (Italian) with Caterina Cropelli:
And finally an honorable mention to Luciana Zogbi (Lebanese Catholic), which is a little too rehearsed (child recital-like), rather than from the soul, but still not as obsessed with emo-diva melisma as the typical cover of the song is:
As the big music studios continue to give womanly songs to the homosexuals to sing, and use women themselves for more masculine roles, you have to rely on cover singers from YouTube to find girls singing girly songs.
Agnostic loves his Med babes!
ReplyDeleteBtw, every time I watch this INXS video, I hear your running commentary about Celtic mischievousness and sexiness...and then remember that you prefer the more seriousness of the Mediterranean and Southern Euro/Mideast girls, Lol.
Great, great one for the ladies:
https://youtu.be/PrZZfaDp02o
Med babes dig Celtic dudes, though, as long as they've got dark hair. We're not ugly like the Anglo-Saxons, we're fun-loving, and enjoy music and dance. And as long as we're not Irish, we can stand up during the day. I include the French (Gauls) in there too.
ReplyDeleteIn the US, lots of Italian girls married Irish guys, and not because of Catholicism -- there were tons of German Catholic immigrants, too, but the more fiery-blooded pastoralist groups found each other strangely familiar, despite coming from different sides of the butter / olive oil divide.
You'd be shocked at how much the Iberians love their "British" (Celtic) rock music. The Cure, the Corrs, they're among the biggest bands there (at least 10-15 years ago when I was living there).
Of course the Celts settled into Iberia for awhile, but don't think they left much of a long-term genetic trace outside of Galicia.
My favs are still the Spanish. Western Meds are more open, vulnerable, and expressive, whereas eastern Meds are more closed, tough, and poker-faced. Same thing at northern latitudes also -- Celts vs. Slavs. Catholic vs. Orthodox.
Only thing I like more about Celts than Meds is they have a more voluptuous shape, Meds being more svelte. But no group is perfect.
"Only thing I like more about Celts than Meds is they have a more voluptuous shape, Meds being more svelte. But no group is perfect."
ReplyDeleteFat-bottomed girls make the rockin' world go round ;)
Thanks, Ag.