MusicWarship

It can’t be easy covering a Nick Cave track, so distinctively odd are his vocals, and so haunting his usual production.

If anyone is up to the task, it’s a great man named Johnny Cash, who in 2000 covered the frenetic, engorged death row classic The Mercy Seat, pared down in typical Rick Rubin style, sounding less Ghosts Of The Civil Dead barbaric murder, and more resigned, quiet horror:

MP3: Johnny Cash - “The Mercy Seat” (from American III: Solitary Man, 2000).

MP3: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - “The Mercy Seat” (from Tender Prey, 1988).

When Nick isn’t writing death, he’s usually writing love. And so it is with this beautifully restrained version of Are You The One I’ve Been Waiting For by Australia’s Jimmy Little, owner of one of the sweetest, smoothest, most sincere voices in the world:

MP3: Jimmy Little - “Are You The One I’ve Been Waiting For?” (from Messenger, 1999).

MP3: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - “Are You The One I’ve Been Waiting For?” (from The Boatman’s Call, 1997).

This entry was posted on Monday, February 4th, 2008 at 12:30 pm and is filed under Australia, Blues And Soul, Compare & Contrast. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.