I looked all over YouTube for a punked out, gritty version of "Unchained Melody". I searched through pages of links and listened to scores of versions .I realized that for many bands, this song has some sort of sacredness. U2 was the only band with the balls to rough it up. I love U2. I was hoping for Tina Turner , or maybe even Janis Joplin. I could have related.
One of my favorite songs of all time is Tina and Ike's version of Proud Mary. But it's not just for the song or the sound of it. Watching "What's Love Got To Do With It" in the 90's made me realize that sometimes you take a pretty song or sentiment and "do it nice and rough, instead of nice and easy". Not because you want to be different, but because you want to DO something different, but because life's circumstances have MADE you a little different. Sometimes soft and pretty just does not fit. That's why I wanted a rough version and I'm not happy that U2 was still not rough enough.
Sometimes you know nothing but rough. It makes you develop a skin so thick that you can't trust or even relate to the nice and easy. Soft and easy bores you because it feels artificial and saccharine. It's terrifying. You can't trust it. You are not equipped to handle it. But sometimes it would be nice. If you can afford it.
Love, especially long distance is never soft. You long. You hunger. You stay busy at all costs. You make really great friends with both lonliness and aloneness. Anyone who has been there knows the difference. To hear such a beautiful song that expresses all the vulnerability of long distance can be too much to bear.
I didn't know U2 did a version of Unchained Melody. Cool. I'll definitely give it a whirl. Sometimes life makes us tough...depending on where we've been and where we're going. It took a lot to shave off some callouses from my leather skin...maybe not huge ones...but they were there just the same...and they like to grow back in twice as thick when things start getting rough again.
ReplyDeleteExcellent write :)
Very true Jenn. I included the yourube video at the top of my post. enjoy.
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