"Bad Blood"- Ryan Adams/"Do I Wanna Know?" - CHVRCHES

So Ryan Adam's long-awaited (well, like, a month or so) version of Taylor Swift's "1989" is now upon us. Huzzah! I listened to it this morning - it's a pretty strong effort for the most part. At its very worst, it sounds like some forgettable acoustic thing you'd hear in the background of a Starbucks. And at its finest? At its absolute peak finest, he makes Taylor's recent pop masterpiece (I SAID IT, YOU WERE THINKING IT TOO) his very own.

The cover of the Katy Perry-bashfest, "Bad Blood," is receiving the most attention - and rightfully so. He takes this song that was meant to be empowering in some shape, if not totally malicious is another, and revitalizes it into this heartbroken realization. The hurt is real, friends. Have a listen:

 

 

So far, my other favorite part of this sweet little love letter to Taylor Swift is how he reinvents "Style," littering it with '90s alt-rock images. Ha! "Daydream Nation" forevs, Ryan.

 

Moving on.

Was anyone realllllly surprised? I mean, Ryan was the guy who made "Wonderwall" his own, admittedly not an easy feat.

 

 

So I talked to a friend on Facebook, and we entered the subject of artists drastically reinventing other artists' songs. Which reminded me of how much I adored this next cover, CHVRCHES deconstructing Arctic Monkeys' "Do I Wanna Know?"

 

The original has this swagger to it, this sexiness, this boldness (probably all that bass, which I'm not about). It's dark and brooding, but it's certainly not like - evocative, for lack of a better word.

 

CHVRCHES is a fine young electropop band from Scotland, and I don't exactly equate them with lots of emotion, but in this case, they really didn't hold back. Their fragile "Do I Wanna Know?" makes my insides hurt. Plus, the male/female vocals are on point.

 

 

Reinterpretations are interesting things, and when they are accomplished in just that right way, they can be powerful stuff. Feel free to share any of your favorites in the comments.