Like perhaps you, I did not know “Torn” was a cover even though we here at Cover Me wrote about it 8 years ago. Ednaswap, the original artist, actually recorded two versions, one in 1995 and drastically slowed down one in 1997 for a different album on a different label. Between those two versions, there were two pop covers in Scandinavia, the first in Danish and and the second in English (performed by a Norwegian). So it was clear to the Danish and Norwegians before Natalie Imbruglia got her hands on it that this song had pop potential. Imbruglia’s version sticks closer to the Ednaswap’s original version than the second version but is clearly influenced by the poppier covers from Scandinavia as well. It’s sort of a hybrid, with one foot in the original and one foot in the pop covers.
Weakened Friends is a power pop band from Portland, the one in Maine not Oregon. They’ve been putting out music for over 10 years, including two albums and three EPs. Their cover of “Torn” is their first new music in some time but apparently they have been playing it live for years.
I’m not sure if Weakened Friends have ever heard Ednaswap’s second version of their song, but it sure sounds like it. Ednaswap not only slowed down their second version but made it substantially grittier. Their new label was adamant that the sound of their catchiest song should be less obviously catchy. (It was the ’90s, after all.) Though Weakened Friends’ version isn’t quite as aggressively noisy as Ednaswap’s at its noisiest, it’s still in the same vein of alternative rock. Both bands start out with just vocals and guitars but Weakened Friends build up quicker and lean into the grunge sooner.
So if you’re not familiar with Ednaswap, this is a fun, fresh, rockist take on a big pop hit. But if you are familiar with the band’s dueling original versions, this almost feels like an attempt to remind us all that, once upon a time, “Torn” was actually a pretty gritty rock song.
