Monday, October 4, 2010

YouTube Variations: "Under Pressure"

We'll start with the cream of the crop, the one you actually need to watch:


Just wait till he gets out of the chair. The fact that this is apparently his response to homelessness gives the whole video a sort of terrifying power, salience, beauty. Also I like this song. Also I really, really like puppets.


The natural instinct when it comes to covering this song seems to be to smooth it out. YouTube has ukulele covers, and so does "Under Pressure."


I can't resist even a decent ukulele cover, but I think this girl works too hard to smooth over the rough edges of the song. The genius of the guy with the Kermit frogs is that he takes a soothing childhood figure and lets the wildness of the song inhabit them.


This guy gets a little closer and I appreciate his rendition of the hook, but I'm distracted by the fact that he was apparently feeling too much pressure to bother with a shirt.

I've got no idea who "Jedward" are, but somebody had to do this:


On the other hand, I don't think it probably had to suck so bad.

The London Symphony Orchestra's version is weirdly stately, majestic. Not sure how else I would have had them do it but it feels wrong, especially in the quieter moments:


I can't begin to figure out the decisions this guy made, musically speaking or otherwise:


A cappella version: 


An actual Comment: "I love Queen, but I must say that this version is slightly better than the original!" Only slightly?

And, of course, the Xiu Xiu version, which makes the song crazier, if anything. Tracy hates it. I do not:

1 comment:

  1. LSO version sounds like Muzak, actually. Poorly executed!

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