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We've Got You Covered

The Get Up Kids try to cheer up The Cure.

One of the first cover songs we looked at in our weekly feature was the Get Up Kids' version of David Bowie’s “Suffragette City,” off their album Eudora.  The album features a number of cover songs ranging from Motley Crue’s “On With The Show” to the Pixies’ “Alec Eiffel." The album is very good. We’re going back to that album this week with “Close to Me,” originally performed by The Cure.

The Cure are famous for having some of the most bipolar songs in the history of music.  Some of their songs make you wonder how Robert Smith can muster up the ability to get out of bed in the morning when he’s so depressed, while others give visuals of happy cartoon characters frolicking in a field or something.  The band formed in 1976, and since their formation have released twelve studio albums and are currently working on their thirteenth.  They’ve had twelve different band members in their thirty-two year history; the only member to remain with the band from the beginning has been Smith, the original emo kid.

“Close to Me” was released in 1985 and got as high as the thirteenth spot on the UK singles chart.  Two versions of the song were released - one with a brass section and one without.  The original album version from The Head on the Door didn’t have any brass in it.  Later, a remix was released that included brass.  The Get Up Kids have retooled the original recording.

The Cure’s rendition of the song is a bit happier than most of their songs, but that really isn’t saying much.  The bass line and percussion are both pretty upbeat, and the song has a recurring section of either xylophone or keyboards that sounds like something Mark Mothersbaugh did for the soundtrack of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

The quintet from Kansas City keeps things almost exactly the same, right down to clapping that accompanies the drum track.  The bass line and percussion are identical to the original but they sound cleaner, which would make sense since the original recording is over twenty years old.  Where the Cure used a brass section in the remix, the Get Up Kids go with electric guitar, which actually sounds better than horns in my humble opinion.  Vocally, it’s impossible to replace the breathy sound of Robert Smith, but Matthew Pryor does a pretty good job of giving the song the unique touch that makes it one of the best songs on Eudora.

The Get Up Kids - Close To Me

Posted by Cory Roop on May 16, 2008 @ 12:00 am