Studio Unleashed I

I'll borrow a trope from Andrew Sullivan and start naming posts that are actually about the same thing the same way. I think I want there to be more than one of these.

I am a big fan of live music, as you may know by now. One of the things I like best about it is when a band that does really great things in the studio is forced to do something different live. It can get rawer and more personal, although sometimes you have to sit back in awe at how much of the original album can be reproduced without overdubs.

So, Studio Unleashed: great songs from the studio that stayed great live.

Here is a gem by Arcade Fire. I don't know why I think it's so beautiful. It's on their first album, the Arcade Fire EP. The song is called "Vampire/Forest Fire". I suggest you listen to the studio version first. There are lyrics at the bottom of the post for your inspection.

Studio:




Live:

You wanna be set apart?
Burn all of your art repair the wasteful part
I'm a vampire in a forest fire
Hey! we all gotta keep warm
driving towards the storm

Your father was a pervert
Face down in the dirt
He taught you how to hurt
My father was a miner who lived in the suburbs
Let's live in the suburbs
If I let where I'm from burn I can never return!

My brother reads you and me his new poetry
How embarrassing
Your sister pours the gasoline
I'll fix your meals
while your burns heal!

Find a house you don't have to rebuild
Stone by stone, brick by brick, nail by nail my father never meant to leave me this
Let this love last
I drive too fast
Said I'd return if I'd ever cared
But there's no Interstate I'd find to take me there.
to take me there.