“Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam” was originally written by The Vaselines as an answer song to the early 20th century children’s Christian hymn “I’ll Be a Sunbeam.” But everyone knows it as “Jesus Doesn’t Want Me for a Sunbeam,” the name Nirvana gave it when they included it in their MTV Unplugged show. That concert turned into an album that became the most successful album from that series. And so the world knows the song by an incorrect name.
It’s been 30 years since MTV Unplugged in New York was released, and so it’s tribute time. Casino Hearts are an LA-based dream pop trio that used to be a Reno-based indie rock duo, who have been releasing music for over a decade. They recorded their new cover of Nirvana’s cover for the new Tribute To Nirvana, The Songs of MTV Unplugged in New York.
One reason Nirvana’s version is notable for their usual lineup: bassist Krist Novoselic plays accordion while drummer Dave Grohl plays bass (and hi-hat at the same time!), and they are accompanied by a cellist. Casino Hearts’ version starts out with guitar that roughly approximates Kurt Cobain’s part, and lead singer Forest Holter starts out singing a similar vocal line. But sounds swirl in the background before they drop out for the chorus.
But for the second verse a “funky drummer”-esque beat comes in, and at the second chorus more ethereal noises join the mix. The beat briefly drops out before coming back in as a slightly different rhythmic combination and then drops out for the end of the song. The rest of the arrangement is very “dream pop” with what I assume are looped guitars making various noises in the background but never revealing themselves as guitars.
It’s far from the (mostly) acoustic performance of the most famous version of this song but it still manages to sound similar enough to it to be recognizable.
