Florence & The Machine - 'You Got The Love'
You've got to hand it to Florence, she's not easily intimidated.
Some people - and by 'people' I mean 'singers who are not participating in the X Factor' - would've found the idea of covering what is already a pretty damn perfect song to be a scary prospect. Some would've deliberately toned down some of the better bits - the melody, those monolithic piano chords - in order to prevent snarky comparisons between the better-known, much-loved version and this new attempt.
Others would've gone as quiet and acoustic as humanly possible, maybe making a big deal out of how the recording is 'live', and therefore bound to be subject to human error - but really catching a vibe off the original which is actually totally true to the spirit of what people really love about it in the first plaZZZzzzzzz
Hell, some people would've changed so much they'd have been justified in claiming it as an entirely new song, something I am sure goes on a lot. Why, only the other day I found myself blasting out some awesome tasty riffs on my axe - riffs which are only slightly similar to those of Nirvana - and coming up with an entirely original new song, the like of which has NEVER been heard before. A song which I am probably going to call 'Sells Like Tea Spit'.
(. I've heard of a , but this is ridiculous.)
My point being, Florence throws herself as wholeheartedly into this song as she does into the dressing-up box, and this is what being a good pop star is all about. A sparkling brass neck to go with those shiny sequins.
And the end result is very nearly brilliant. It has everything the original has - namely a heart as big as Chippenham, a sense of wounded pride, but also optimism, gritted teeth and a great big sack of devotion. Florence's elvish foghorn perhaps lacks some of the subtlety of Candi Staton's passionate wail, but that's OK.
It's just a question of emphasis. Candi sings as if she's been to hell and back, but knows she can rely on the Lord above, even if everything else in her life crashes down around her. With Florence it feels less spiritual and more earthbound, like she's singing to an actual man - or woodnymph - rather than God.
The down side is that she occasionally comes across more as vexed because she's left her purse in the park, which makes her MAAAD. But also HAAAPPPEEEE that her fella will bring it home on his way back from magic club.
Anyway, enough about Florence. Who wants to come and help me sing my brilliant - and entirely original - new song? Good, I thought so. It's all about a scary chef who loses his sense of smell, and can no longer cook soup. The chorus goes like this, join in when you feel confident:
"With his whites on, he's outrageous,
Eerie Arnold gets his wages
Evil stew pit, but courageous
Eerie Arnold's taking ages
Adenoidal
Adenoidal
Adenoidal (repeat until end)"
Oh. Just me then.
Download: Out now
CD Released: November 16th
Â鶹Éç Music page
(Fraser McAlpine)
Comment number 1.
At 11th Nov 2009, BloggingLiam wrote:This song is amazing. A fantastic finish to what is a fantastic album (assuming this is the last single).
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Comment number 2.
At 12th Nov 2009, lmj_786 wrote:I love this girl. She sings this song well, makes it her own. She's got her own style and she's refreshing.
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Comment number 3.
At 13th Nov 2009, harrythedog10 wrote:Great cover, Florence hasn't done anything I haven't liked so far. Hope it's not the last single though.
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Comment number 4.
At 14th Nov 2009, ryan wrote:Please could everyone listen to this;
and then tell me that the Florence and the machine version is better.
The FaTM version is terrible IMHO.
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Comment number 5.
At 14th Nov 2009, RandomEnigma wrote:I'm not overly gone on this song myself. 3 stars at most! For me, this sounds very like the original song but with added harps and more mythical sounding vocals. I think this is the most commercial song on LUNGS and will hence get her a high ranking hit!
I just want her to hurry up and release COSMIC LOVE. It is by far the most amazing song on the album and I'm surprised critics haven't picked up on it!
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