What comes is better than what came before
I (finally) saw Juno last night, and there’s a scene towards the end where Cat Power’s earthy, smoky voice fills the theater with her sublimely saddened version of “Sea of Love,” off her Covers Record.
As I walked out of the movies into the crisp and cold night, I found myself quietly singing another selection from that album, her elegiac version of the Velvet Underground’s “I Found A Reason.” It’s less than two minutes long, and like most of her covers it’s more of a reinvention than a faithful retelling. The lyrics morph; the only ones consistent between the two versions go:
Oh I do believe
you’re all what you perceive (Velvet) /
in all the things you say (Cat)
What comes is better than what came before
. . . and you’d better
come come come come
to me
Better come
come come to me . . .
I Found A Reason – Cat Power
I Found A Reason – The Velvet Underground
I Found A Reason (demo version) – The Velvet Underground
Name: Heather Browne
