With ol’ Miley paying so much attention to developing her “aesthetic†it’s pretty easy to forget the fact that behind all the sticky-outy tongue action and attention-gabbing twerking, the girl can sing.
Well, sometimes… I stumbled on a video of her covering Outkast’s “Hey Ya†and decided to dig a little deeper for more covers she’s done as I remember seeing something about her covering Arctic Monkeys recently.
The result was equal parts mesmerising and horrifying. The mesmerising part is how many different tones she can sing in. The horrifying part is how she chooses to use them and the fact that she once tried to cover Nirvana.
So from best to worst, here is Miley Cyrus being simultaneously amazing and godawful.
Her best is definitely the cover she did of Lana Del Ray’s “Summertime Sadnessâ€.
Check it:
Very powerful cover. She plays it 80% Lana, 20% Miley and does both parts exceptionally well. Notice how insane her delivery is? It’s pretty much spot on throughout.
Then there’s this cover she did awhile back when it looked like she was toying with the idea of going the hipster-folky route instead of the half-shaved head weirdo route she ended up opting for.
A pity. I kinda liked this look in a homely go-make-me-a-sammich kinda way.
Again, her vocal delivery is perfect. If you closed your eyes (and didn’t know it was her) it would be damn near impossible to guess who sings this song.
Dolly would be proud. Billy Ray too.
Then there’s this cover of Arctic Monkeys’ “Why’d you only call me when you’re high?†in which she reminded me why I stopped headbashing when I was 22.
Meh. A little on the average side. I’m willing to forgive it because of the way she belts out the last chorous, girls got a pair of lungs on her, that’s for sure.
So far so good.
Then there’s this…
Christ. You feel that?
Kurt Cobain turning in his grave.
-ST
