Year in Rock 2011 Nominee: Karen O, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
Immigrant Song
From: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (soundtrack)
Released: December 27
Cover songs can be a dicey proposition at the best of times. Artists who take them on are faced with the daunting task of paying tribute to not only a song, but also every piece of legend that comes along with that song and the people who originally brought it into the world. The risks are usually high; for every song, for every band, there's someone who holds them at such esteem that to attempt a recreation of any kind is nothing short of blasphemy. To cover a song is to accept the fact that you cannot hope to improve on the subject of your tribute, and certainly never make it your own; it's not your emotion to convey, not your words to speak. Very few are those who have wrestled a song from all association to its creator, and the vast majority who try are destined to fail miserably.
Perhaps no one knows this so clearly as Trent Reznor. After all, it was his song that was sung so morosely, with such vulnerability and with such fatefully grave timing, that it was forever lost from his grasp. Hurt, a song Reznor wrote as a frightening ode to heroin and its devastating effects on the mind and body, was transformed into Johnny Cash's deathbed adieu in 2004, and it will never be Reznor's again.
So when he was approached to do not just any cover, but a Led Zeppelin one at that, Reznor was understandably hesitant. However, upon longtime friend and Dragon Tattoo director David Fincher's urging, he agreed. Recruiting Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O to wail over his noisy and propulsive take on Immigrant Song, Trent Reznor has given us a potent take on Zeppelin's original. Rather than try feebly to blow an already epic song into ludicrous proportions (such as Diddy did when he used Kashmir as a backing track on a clunky and embarrassing head-scratcher for 1998's Godzilla soundtrack), Reznor merely added his trademark tension to an otherwise faithful rendition, more of a modern take on a classic tale than a gaudy and unnecessary overhaul.
Given a few good listens, it's utterly stupid for anyone to insinuate that Led Zeppelin has lost a song here. As sonically pleasing as Reznor's soundscape is, and as spirited as Karen O's vocal performance is, Immigrant Song is still quite safely in the hands of its rightful owners alongside every other song they've ever written. However, it's not a cheap shot at anyone's legacy; it's tribute done right, a nod of respect to rock's rich and storied past and a testament to just how far-reaching a band like Led Zeppelin's influence can be felt.
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