I know being crazy hot tends to give a girl a distorted sense of self, but thinking you can sing and thinking you can pull off a Jeff Buckley cover are two wildly different things. Stereogum’s got a stream of Scarlett Johansson’s poor attempt at Jeff Buckley’s “Last Goodbye”, and it’s, well…oh, it’s beyond awful. I will admit the accompanying picture in Stereogum’s post almost fooled me into thinking it could, maybe, possibly, if you squint, sort of be good, so you may have to close your eyes to experience the true awfulness. I could stomach her Tom Waits covers record because the production was crazy and, let’s be honest, she didn’t have to come close to singing like Jeff Buckley. Look, Johansson has a semi-decent voice. It’s not great, but it’s passable, especially when drowning in a swirl of gauzy effects. But this song is unlistenable, particularly if you have even an ounce of reverence for the late Jeff Buckley. And to poor salt in an open wound, the cover is featured on the soundtrack to the much-delayed Jennifer Aniston vehicle, He’s Just Not That Into You. Horribleness abounds.
5 responses so far ↓
1 K // Jan 27, 2009 at 5:34 pm
You’re so gay for Buckley. I’d let her sing Last Goodbye and eat crackers.
2 Trey // Jan 28, 2009 at 10:41 am
Eric – I’ve long considered getting to see Buckley at CMJ a highlight of a lifetime of seeing live music. Of course at the time, I hadn’t heard the album and assumed the son of a famous dead musician signed to a major label for his debut album was sure to be an evening of ear fucking and was probably looking more forward to seeing Geraldine Fibbers. Watching you pretend to be a smoker to hang out with Love & Rockets was a nice touch also.
I would stab a pencil in my ear before listening to this song by the way.
3 Eric Greenwood // Jan 28, 2009 at 10:58 am
hahahaha. trey, i still have the butt of the cigarette that daniel ash gave me. we also saw pulp fiction’s CMJ premiere that night. a glorious night indeed.
4 Trey // Jan 28, 2009 at 11:18 am
I had totally forgotten that was the same night. We also ate at the Harley Davidson cafe – not sure that ranks up there with the other two.
I’d have to say seeing PJ Harvey at Tipitina’s is up there as with Buckley as two of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Do you remember seeing her at the record store that afternoon?
5 Eric Greenwood // Jan 28, 2009 at 11:44 am
i don’t recall the harley davidson cafe at all, but that is hilarious and sounds about right.
i would never have remembered the name of the venue where we saw pj harvey, but, yeah, it ranks way up there for me too. i remember we all shat our pants when we saw her walking down the street and proceeded to follow her stalker-style to that record store. good times.