I always ever only as a rule per my self-proclaimed identification to be a musical purist (read: arrogant snob-prick) loved original versions of songs. Case in point: I spun into retrograde when Sinéad O’Connor covered “Nothing Compares 2 U” and only listened to The Family’s 1985 version from their self-titled album. (Apparently the kitsch factor was never a problem….)

In an effort to change (or releasement from changing)—because looking back I sense many unlikable qualities I displayed, particularly when I look at the kind of people (unkind) I attracted into my life back then—I sometimes “force” myself to listen to various covers (including badly rendered pop versions) of some of my favorite songs, developing a more nuanced palate (or ear).

Earlier this morning I watched the trailer for Anton Corbijn’s Control, the biopic of Ian Curtis, which sent me in search of covers of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart.”

Here are some of the more listenable and less objectionable covers I found on YouTube:

If the above cover from Norway’s Susanna and the Magical Orchestra didn’t do it for you, then try the even more bare-bones version by California-based Timothy Gregory:

For those who just can’t stomach new visions of old favorites (or how something so personal can escape the gravity of its own origin and be re-visioned and apropriated by others), here is the original. Now who’s the snob?

I always ever only as a rule per my self-proclaimed identification to be a musical purist (read: arrogant snob-prick) loved original versions of songs. Case in point: I spun into retrograde when Sinéad O’Connor covered “Nothing Compares 2 U” and only listened to The Family’s 1985 version from their self-titled album. (Apparently the kitsch factor was never a problem….)

In an effort to change (or releasement from changing)—because looking back I sense many unlikable qualities I displayed, particularly when I look at the kind of people (unkind) I attracted into my life back then—I sometimes “force” myself to listen to various covers (including badly rendered pop versions) of some of my favorite songs, developing a more nuanced palate (or ear).

Earlier this morning I watched the trailer for Anton Corbijn’s Control, the biopic of Ian Curtis, which sent me in search of covers of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart.”

Here are some of the more listenable and less objectionable covers I found on YouTube:

If the above cover from Norway’s Susanna and the Magical Orchestra didn’t do it for you, then try the even more bare-bones version by California-based Timothy Gregory:

For those who just can’t stomach new visions of old favorites (or how something so personal can escape the gravity of its own origin and be re-visioned and apropriated by others), here is the original. Now who’s the snob?