Good Coverage: Where is My Mind

There are those that oppose them, but I have always appreciated sincere cover versions of songs I like.  Sometimes it is a real testimonial to the strength of the song itself that it can survive or even thrive being interpreted by another artist, often in another genre.

Sometimes this homage can be playful, like Finnish metal band Turisas covering Boney M's "Rasputin", sometimes it can add soul to an already good song, such as Earth, Wind & Fire performing "Got to Get You Into My Life" (my favourite Beatles cover). Sometimes they are whimsical and yet still respectful, like Paul Anka's brilliant cover collection, Rock Swings.  I'm certain the slow, piano-based cover of Tears for Fears "Mad World" by Gary Jules and Michael Andrews helped sell a few copies of Gears of War, too, thanks to its use in that commercial.

One of my favourite Pixies songs (and not a cover) is "Where is My Mind", which is the musical backdrop for a milk commercial currently playing on television, and can also be heard playing at the very end of David Fincher's awesome film Fight Club.

Cleaning up in the kitchen this morning, I had an urge to hear the tune, but the only Pixies album I had on my iPad was Doolittle.  No worries, I thought, I'll play it on YouTube instead.

The song finished before my chores did, so I dried my hands and prepared to make another selection.  One of the suggestions on the YouTube page was a piano cover of "Where is my Mind", by French composer and musician Maxence Cyrin.  The video is set to scenes from the Greta Garbo film The Mysterious Lady, and suits it wonderfully, especially at this slower tempo.


It turns out Monsieur Cyrin's most recent album, Novo Piano, has covers of Daft Punk, MGMT and Nirvana, in addition to this Pixies cover, so I am hoping to find this album at some point.  The video for The Arcade Fire's "No Cars Go" is also a great little short film in its own right.