The best-selling single in the UK in 2006, and a regular on Greatest Songs of All Time lists, Gnarls Barkley‘s “Crazy” is not just their most iconic song, it’s one of the biggest songs of the aughts. (It’s so popular compared to all their other songs it has something like fifty times as many streams as their next most popular song.) But so much of what makes the song iconic is tied up in CeeLo Green’s vocal performance and Danger Mouse’s production. What happens when all that goes away?
American singer-songwriter Grace Potter has recorded a solo acoustic cover of “Crazy” as part of her performance for Salt Lick Sessions’ 250th celebration, “Songs of U.S.” And unlike the famous Violent Femmes cover – recorded in part because Gnarls Barkley covered their “Gone Daddy Gone” – this one is just a voice and guitar.
Potter sings the melody line like the original and provides minimal and sometimes muted accompaniment to her voice on guitar. There’s no room to hide. She sings the lyrics with a passion and dexterity worthy of the original, retaining the soul but adding her own touch. Check out the end in particular. And whereas other acoustic covers have chosen to flesh out the arrangement, Potter merely plucks a few strings to start and then hammers out chords for the rest of it, keeping her voice front and center.
Check it out:
