A cover of an all-time great song by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds has left fans praising the Australian songwriter.
Fans of the song made famous by The Beatles and frequently performed by Paul McCartney said Cave, 67, “does the song justice” with his incredible cover. The title track of The Beatles’ final album, Let It Be, was praised by listeners as an “insane” cover. Cave and The Bad Seeds have frequently offered incredible covers of songs, including a version of Pulp‘s Disco 2000 and Bob Dylan‘s Death Is Not the End. It appears the veteran performer has tried and succeeded in adapting Let It Be into his demanding style, with the Fab Four song standing up years after its release. The song was recorded as part of a series of covers of The Beatles’ work for the film I Am Sam.
The Sean Penn-starring film bagged a Grammy Award nod for its soundtrack, which featured Stereophonics covering Let It Be and The Black Crowes with a take on Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds. Cave also performed a cover of Here Comes the Sun for the European release of the album. The release also featured Neil Finn of Crowded House and Liam Finn covering Two of Us.
Fans of the song and Cave’s cover have since taken to the comments of a YouTube upload and praised the effort. One comment reads: “This is insane. A cover which does the song justice. THIS song. Nick Cave nails it.”
Another added: “There are no covers of Beatles songs that beat the originals. This almost gets there. Magnificent.” A third shared: “I do think this is the most beautiful version of this song. Nick Cave can deliver emotion on a level not many others can. No show, no unnecessary vocal hooks. Just Cave’s imperfect, emotional singing.”
Other fans were thrilled by the sincerity of the cover and the “beautiful” voice Cave has. One wrote: “Beautiful voice. Such a wonderful rendition.” Another agreed, and said it was an impressive cover version not just because of Cave’s voice, but because of the religious imagery associated with it.
The fan shared: “I’m impressed, I’ve never heard of this cover version before. The religious imagery in the lyrics suits Cave very well!” Though the “Mother Mary” mentioned in Let It Be was confirmed by McCartney to be his mother, many listeners have taken the line to mean the religious figure, Mary, mother of Jesus.
McCartney shared he had no problem with people seeing the “Mary” in the song as the mother of Christ, but did share who the song relates to. He said: “My mother was Mary Patricia Mohin McCartney and was a good Catholic girl from Ireland, came over when she was eleven.
“She died when I was quite young still, and much later when The Beatles were having success, around the time of Let it Be, we’re all getting a little crazy and I’d gone to bed one night and had a dream.
“She’d been in the dream, and it’s always lovely, you know, when people who’ve been long gone come in dreams because you actually meet them again, even if it’s just within the confines of your own head, still lovely. You’re actually chatting to them. Just a big plus.
“Now people kind of use it [Let It Be] almost as a hymn, and I know some people who are very religious, and they love that song. I’m sure they’re taking it as the Virgin Mary, but I say good luck to them, where’s the harm in that.”
