I'd make wine from your tears

I can't say I was ever a huge fan of INXS' Never Tear Us Apart when it originally dropped. At the time, thought it was too melodramatic, too bombastic and, worst of all, overplayed. I hear the original every now and then and it's really a decent song. I think my dislike for it stemmed from the fact that it was just a product of its time coupled with my distaste for chart music. That said, I really dig this cover by Beck's Record Club. The Record Club appears to be a rotating cast of whomever he can gather to come hang out in his studio to cover random albums. They've already done Skip Spence, The Velvet Underground and Nico, and Leonard Cohen. Right now, they're in the middle of INXS. You can check out the rest of the Record Club entries by clicking here.

Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion

For some reason, this just popped in my head today. The theatrical release of Donnie Darko opened up with Echo & The Bunnymen's "The Killing Moon". The director's cut of the film opens with INXS's "Never Tear Us Apart". So if the theatrical release is essentially the studio telling the director, "We don't like your vision of the film", did they also make him change the opening song? "The Killing Moon" seems more appropriate to the tone of the film, to me. The INXS song isn't bad, but, to me, it doesn't really fit. Or does it? Maybe I just watched the theatrical release too many times before seeing the director's release.

The Bunnymen track has more of a (I hate to use this word) gothic feel to it, with an underlying sense of dread or even impending doom. The INXS track sounds good and big, but ultimately ends up coming across as another over-produced, self-important love song. But how do they fit in the context of the movie? Could it be a love story disguised as a sci-fi flick? If so, then maybe the INXS track really is the better fit. I don't know, I wish (director) Richard Kelly were here so I could ask him. I think I will check out the commentaries on each DVD (yeah, I have them both) and report back. It's been a long while since I've watched either of them. In the meantime, check out the tracks in question.

Echo & The Bunnymen > The Killing Moon


INXS > Never Tear Us Apart