A Not So Beautiful Day

So here's the thing... Lee Dewyze. American Idol. Meh..I didn't watch this season, so I can't really have an opinion on him yet... but I know his first single is a cover of Beautiful Day by U2 which instinctively made me cringe. However, because of my love of all things music and (more importantly) ALL THINGS U2 (!!!!!!!!!!), I had to give it a shot. After all, half of America or something close to, voted for him in the surprise win over expected winner Crystal Bowersox, right? So, off to YouTube I flew, in search of this potential tragedy. My search revealed a few recordings, only two of which I could make it through (actually, I couldn't make it through the whole song in either case). First, his performance of Beautiful Day on the American Idol finale. Tell me the people who voted for him did so before this. Please. *Please*. Otherwise, it is clear that America has a BIG problem. I don't remember how far I got into this version before I started wailing, trying to plug both ears with one hand while frantically pounding the "back" button with the other. Dear crap, are you serious??? (no offense, dude)
Version 2 found me sneering at Meredith Viera as she introduced Dewyze (do you have to pay for a name like that?) on The Today Show, performing the U2 cover live. With every muscle in my body clinched tight, I prepared for the worst. But after just a few notes the tension eased and I relaxed into the gentle sway of Beautiful Day, the acoustic version. Just Dewyze and his guitar, accompanied by piano, and a quasi-folk feel-good groove flavored with a raw, husky swirl of a voice. Very appealing. Very chill. Very me... For a second. Then my brain came to, snapped out of the drunken state of bliss it often escapes to when guitar and voice combine, and I remembered what song he was singing. EW!!! Seriously? This is U2, dude. Ugh!
I mean...kudos to the kid for winning American Idol, and kudos for rockin' a pretty sweet acoustic version of the song, but we're talking U2. Period. You don't cover U2. Period. I begrudgingly admit the acoustic arrangement was clever and even kind of beautiful, but there is never....never, ever, ever....a proper occassion for U2 to sound like John Mayer. Ever. There is a genius about this band of Irish boys...a wisdom, crafted over decades of pain, love, and fear...of celebration and condemnation...that goes into every song they will ever sing. Not just the lyrics, not just the tune, but the the entire arrangement of a song; from its conception to the moment crowds of thousands sing along as it is sung live, on stage (by Bono, that is)...that makes each song a special gift. A gift so good, so real, so beautiful, that it can't be recreated.
Sooooooo, A+ for effort, kid, but I'm afraid this just proves the saying, "often imitated, never duplicated". When it comes to covers, step away from the Irish rock band. Or you might get hurt.