you’re so cray cray or nakakaloka ka lang talaga.

this cover of beyonce’s crazy in love popped in my feed from the xx (which really does say a lot about following bands you love, they will give you the bestest recommendations!) and i’ve been looping it for the past 12 hours. 

there is much to be said about the androgyny of lead singer, Antony Hegarty. That even if there is a confirmed pronoun use, I refuse to identify Antony as such. What do you call a person with electric static walang ligo hair in a white flowing um tunic? 

and that voice that just goes in every which wail. then of course, there is the song itself. 

pushing the dance anthem into a ballad (with a full orchestra no less!) makes it more plaintive as a key change and the change of pace will always do. there is more begging, more down-on-my-knees-save-me-please—or really, a revelation of just how horrific codependent love can be. (i am wont to say that vulnerability and the loss of the self is my kind of love talaga naman, but various pagiging mulat influences have made me *pretend* to want an equitable relationship marked by companionship and good conversation.) and of course, it really goes full monty on the cray cray part—this is not delicious delirium, this is full blown certifiable insanity. it doesn’t help that antony’s choice of clothing looks quite institutional and i won’t be surprised if the back is fastened with buckles and belts. 

but this really is just praise for the cover. because apart from the paltry ‘they-made-the-song-their-own,’ commendation, the cover threw open the bubble gum facade of pop music and revealed its insidious and not-so-pretty underbelly, messy hair and all. i like this cover most of all from the many versions (when a song’s got a hook—it’s got a hook!) of to name a few, Switchfoot, Snow Patrol and Tracy Bonham because it just resonated with the obsessive undertones of the song.

imagine glenn close. now play that hook. see?

i do love beyonce and much of her diva ouevre, with all its glittery, hair-whipping earnestness not to mention her glorious thighs. there are mad props for jay-z who co-wrote the song with beyonce and producer rich harrison, and most definitely for building on  that incredible cray-z horn and cowbell-esque rhythm.

visually, also it is a trip all on its own. like bizarro versions of each other. 

but this cover really does take the cake and from me, that’s such high praise. 

Other covers i heart in varying degrees:

Adele covers The Cure’s Love Song

Linkin Park covers Adele’s Rolling in the Deep

Jeff Buckley covers leonard cohen’s Hallelujah

Johnny Cash covers Nine Inch Nails’ Hurt (grabe ‘to!)