Showing posts with label Shawn Colvin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shawn Colvin. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

082410

What's It Called?

What's The Story?
Shawn Colvin had a huge critically acclaimed album in the mid-90's, going as far as to win a Grammy for song of the year. Then, her, Christina Applegate, Fiona Apple and Alicia Silverstone all boarded a bus and were never heard from again.
...Until 2007, when she released a folk cover of the smash Gnarls Barkley hit, Crazy.

Who's To Blame?
A website where people trade obscenely overvalued inky pieces of cardboard.

Why ♥ It?
Shawn Colvin delivers this song in a manner that's not unprecedented, but shines regardless. This came out around the time when acoustic guitar Youtube covers of popular songs (see: Umbrella, Hey Ya, etc.) were all the rage and approaching a critical mass of overdoneness.
However, one thing that separates Shawn Colvin from the rest is that she's not a twenty-something who did it to get a laugh out of her friends; her mainstream success didn't come until she was nearing 40 and divorced. So, one thing about her folk style is that it's hardened in the way that many heroic folk/country artists are. She's been everywhere, man. When you listen to this novel pop hit delivered by a fifty year old siren, it has an entirely new context that robs the tune of its camp novelty and morphs the lyrics into a life lesson.
Oh, and the guitar work does bright justice to the original, too.
But mostly the other stuff.