song 6

Before it was the background to primetime TV montages of people looking angsty in elevators, before it was in the 'Sex and the City' movie trailer, before a n y o n e e l s e, i loved this song. i discovered it on a blog post somewhere on the internets, probably 3 years ago? i'm not sure. i was totally smitten because, A. i grew up listening to the Eagles and ganked my dad's Hell Freezes Over album and knew every word by heart while the rest of the kids my age were like 'yeaaaah! Weezer and stuff!!!' and B. i'm kind of a sucker for a good cover. As covers go, this one takes the cake. Oh, and C. this lady is great.

It is India Arie covering Don Henley's classic heartache-redemption muser, 'Heart of the Matter'. She gives it a soul beat and a little more musicality because let's face it, her voice is better. (Don't hate, even The Don told India he likes her version better.) She keeps what works, the background vocals, harmonies, etc, but makes it distinctly her own. These are the criteria for a good cover, students. Learn.

Anyway, i love this song. It's wise, sad, universal, and great to sing along with, whether you prefer the Eagles or India. i'm a little bummed that there's now a whole generation of people who think India Arie wrote this song, but we can only hope to educate. i couldn't find a proper video for it (since the music video is going the way of the do-do it's getting quite difficult) but you can listen to the track HERE or just trust me and go buy it on iTunes.