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Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Across the Universe II

So it's been about two weeks, and I'm still mersmerized by the song. Unbelievable. It's just one of those songs you can listen to over and over again, and with each time, you discover one more thing about it that just gets to you...

To begin with, the lyrics contain just some of the most evocative visual imagery committed to song:
Words are flowing out like
endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass
They slip away across the universe...

Thoughts meander like a
restless wind inside a letter box
they tumble blindly as
they make their way across the universe...

Yesterday, John Lennon would have been 67, and if nothing else in the world, the man was a poet. And the entire song just goes on like this- waves upon waves of sumptuous poetry.

My cousin Terri and I had a conversation- ok, it was more of a one-sided outrage on her part- about who has made the better cover of the song. Until the movie, I'd only heard the original, and the one that Rufus Wainwright did for I Am Sam.



I love the gorgeous guitar instrumentation, and it is an absolutely stunning video (although Dakota Fanning does scare me a little). It helps that Rufus' signature drawl is ever alluring, of course... But Terri opened a whole other world when she recommended Fiona Apple's cover, featured on the Pleasantville soundtrack (which explains the video a little):



The video isn't as well-shot as Rufus Wainwright's but what she has done to the song is just beautiful... All lush and shimmery. And her voice has that amazingly mellow, melancholic yearning that's just perfect with the lyrics.

Enjoy, and I hope the song stays with you as it's staying with me... :)

4 comments:

Unknown said...

i vote for the rufus. it seems kinda perfect to play on a rainy day. =)

which was the one you guys were into?

serene said...

hi miss lee! i like both of them, honestly. it's the lyrics of the song that i'm more into, so it doesn't really matter to me how the music is arranged.

i have to agree that the rufus version does seem perfect for a rainy days indoors!...

jude said...

Ms. Lee ... long time no see. How you bee? ;)

Unknown said...

haha. didn't realize my (and a billion others') last name could rhyme like that. =)

not all too bad. keeping busy with the mundane.

i'll give you guys a ring soon!