Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/07/02/listen-to-eddie-vedders-melancholic-version-of-the-english-beats-save-it-for-later.html
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Adore The Beat (as they were known outside the USA), especially that first amazing album.
Didn’t know this about “Save it for Later”:
“Pearl Jam” is also a dirty reference I believe, so that aligns I guess.
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Mmmm…nah. “Save it for Later” is one of the best songs of the 80s and Vedder is one of the worst frontmen of the 90s, so. Plus, I really, really hate the “soulful and/or spooky slow cover of an uptempo original for the movie trailer and/or emotional climax” thing. Agree to disagree on this one!
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I definitely perked up my ears when I heard that. Pete Townsend also has a great version on his Deep End Live album (companion to White City, featuring David Gilmour)
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Pete Townshend also has a rather languid cover of it
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I love that song. It always makes me smile.
Pete Townshend famously covers it, and it seems to me that the Eddie Vedder version is closer to that than to the original (Also, I think Pete Townshend makes an appearance in the original Beat video).
However, I think this version beats both of those. I challenge anyone to watch this and not smile!
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I grew up during the 80’s listening to all the wrong music. I guess it’s nice discovering the good stuff now later. I still enjoy the music I loved in the 90’s though it often seems to be only the music made in the 90’s (don’t care much for new out put from many of the artists I discovered then). Reading the lyrics the cover feels like it actually captures the one better. I don’t think I ever gave the lyrics a thought before just thought it was poppy/happy whatever. Still I don’t think in the 80’s I would’ve been able to appreciate the lyrics, so there’s that as well.
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It’s a good story too, about those two being stumped trying to figure it out and having to call up Dave Wakeling to get the proper guitar tuning.
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The live version on Deep End Live is also fantastic - a little more stripped down and raw. I like it better than his studio version. And the backing vocals are superb.
edit: oops, joelfinkle beat me to it.
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So, Eddie Vedder was basically paid a smaller amount to cover Pete Townshend’s version over just licensing it outright?
I guess a melancholic version of Ranking Full Stop from Eddie Vedder was always going to be out of the question.
Ranking Full Stop | The English Beat Official
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I LOVE The English Beat. In college, way back in the Pliocene or as we called em, the early 80s, I had a friend who worked there sneak me into Bogarts for their show, but was found and ejected early. I got to listen to their sound check at the fire exit doors. sigh
S3 Ep1 was nothing but a sort of tone poem to food, Chicago (lived there too) and The Bear’s profile (lots of very short depth of field shots). Lots of great music and food montage. We had just eaten dinner and about half way thru S3Ep1 I turned to Enkwife and said: “I’m hungry!”
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There are worse cover versions to copy. Like that execrable one Harvey Danger did.
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Last year English Beat’s David Wakeling performed as General Public for the first time in nearly 20 years, and went on tour of the US with a bunch of other 80s acts. It was an extremely abbreviated set, but he did perform Save It For Later and sounded great.
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I couldn’t recall the original so I just listened to it, now I know why I had forgotten it.
Agreed, and the original. Smiling now.
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