Over the course of her nearly twenty-year career, Mississippi songstress Garrison Starr has taken up a number of side bands and projects on top of her prolific output as a solo artist. As a token of appreciation to her fans she recently released a free EP entitled Not for Nothing that includes this beautifully tender acoustic treatment of The Killers’ 2006 single “When You Were Young,” which is the lead track from the band’s fantastic sophomore effort Sam’s Town; younger audiences may also recognize it from Guitar Hero III.
Starr’s cover peels back the layers of reverb, guitar bombast and keyboard drone, cutting to the melodic heart of the song with nothing but her southern-tinged voice and acoustic guitar. This simple treatment alleviates much of the original song’s sense of cynicism, replacing it with youthful wonder. The lyrics might be the same, but the musical re-contextualization and presentation style seems to change the meaning completely. Listen to the track below, and download the EP by signing up for Starr’s mailing list here.
MP3: Garrison Starr – When You Were Young (The Killers cover)
[audio: News0112/31WhenYouWereYoung.mp3]
Check out more from Garrison Starr on her website.
