Monday, October 08, 2007

Cover versions that shouldn't work

Take overstated ladies man Tom Jones. Add the understated cool of the Cardigans. Hand them the drum-driven Talking Heads classic Burning Down the House.

"Gee, Beau," you say. "I bet that sucks."

You bet wrong. Enjoy.

1 comment:

Neel Mehta said...

Thanks for the introduction.

I wouldn't have considered it, but "Burning Down the House" is one of the few songs that Tom Jones can get away with singing. It would not have worked were it just Nina Persson singing. At the same time, the dual vocals are probably better than all Tom.

This is also a rare cover that doesn't seem to detract from the original or diminish it in any way. (Unlike Tom Jones' version of Prince's "Kiss," which borders on parody.) Very strange.

Don't love the video, though. Hard to beat David Byrne's projected face and the band members fighting their younger or older selves.