There is a song on Loveless I never warmed up to: To Here Knows When. It sounds like a tape being played on a crappy tape deck which cannot hold a constant speed. Like when my old Saba cassette recorder from 1975 tried to play classical piano music. I have become rather allergic to that sound even more than to half-boiled potatoes which I can't stand neither and I prefer that musicians leave the whining to the dogs. They are better at it. More authentic, if you know what I mean. Another thing which bothers me about the song is that I cannot hear a tune. Just annoying melody bits covered in a muddy production. Bilinda Butcher's soft hushed voice doesn't save it at all, its unobtrusiveness even aggravates the dullness factor. I can say two positive things about the original version by My Bloody Valentine though. First the lyrics - don't laugh - and second the coda. The lyrics could be about this great thing called sex (after a long abstinence?), just have a look at the second verse:

The coda sounds rather neutral and serves perfectly to rise the tension. It is a phantastic interlude before the next song. During its minute or so in my head I anticipate the blasting start of When You Sleep, my fave song on the album, a glorious, kicking wake-up song if there ever was one.

Why all this talk? Because I heard a version of To Here Knows When - by a band that covered the whole MBV album - which reveals the hidden beauty of that song. It is calm and reserved. The cello which takes the part of Bilinda Butcher's voice to me sounds like a child cautiously caressing a wild animal. The dead original is resuciated into a fragile and sensitive being. The coda isn't as good though and the next song is a pretty boring cover of my fave on Loveless. But that's okay with me. Like REM they come from Athens, Georgia and not so like REM they can often not hide a certain penchant for country music.