We Hang Side By Side

Lorde “Swingin’ Party”

Lorde’s cover of The Replacements’ “Swingin’ Party” is extremely minimalist – aside from some subtle percussion and a keyboard drone, it’s basically a cappella. And though the sad guitar arpeggios are one of the best and most beautiful things about the original, the silence of Lorde’s version is just as moving: The space where there would be a guitar solo is filled with nothing but vague nervous tension, which is exactly right for the sentiment of the song. Lorde’s voice is gorgeous – technically lovely but effortlessly soulful, investing Paul Westerberg’s neurotic, self-loathing, painfully lonely lyrics with a slightly different feeling. Whereas Westerberg can’t help but sound a little pathetic and wounded, Lorde sounds a bit proud – her songs are usually about feeling like an outsider, and this is just a more sad sack version of what she’d write on her own.

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