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We've Got You Covered

The Postal Service covers the delightful Phil Collins.

In his post-Genesis days and before the gang in South Park held a sled race down a hill that bore his name, Phil Collins recorded a song for the soundtrack of the movie Against All Odds. The film itself isn’t notable aside from the fact that it stars Jeff Bridges and James Woods. However, the song featuring the film’s name went on to reach the top spot on multiple charts, and the music video was the #1 video on MTV for multiple weeks in 1984. The music video was one of the first to the approach of a hybrid in

which clips from a movie and original music video scenes were cut together for the final product.

Following the theme of the movie, the song is about the constant yearning for love that’s been lost. Throughout the song, one line is consistently repeated, “Take a look at me now,” begs the subject of the singer’s desire to give things a second chance. Anyone who has ever had a significant other leave them or has gone through a break up will agree that the lyrics echo the feeling of such a situation perfectly…assuming that you don’t want to murder your ex instead of missing them. Even if the latter is the case for you, the song could be interpreted as angry if you spin things the right way.

As far as the actual music goes, the Postal Service version keeps things pretty similar. Phil Collins’ recording has a very distinctive 80’s sound to it, but that should be expected since it was recorded in 1984. As is the case with any really good cover, the updated version keeps some of the flavor of the original while using the style of a new band or artist. The Postal Service exchange almost every conventional instrument on the original recording for an electronic version for the new rendition. Drums go out the window in favor of electronic beat samples and the bass and piano are replaced by their computerized counterparts. During the first minute of the song, the vocal track is passed through a filter that gives it a nice lo-fidelity sound. It was a good choice to ditch the filter after the first chorus, because too much use would definitely become taxing to listen to.

This is probably one of my favorite Postal Service recordings. It has all of the elements that make them great, electronic beats, great vocals and stellar production. It can be found on the soundtrack for Wicker Park.

Posted by Cory Roop on May 06, 2008 @ 12:00 am