There are songs that beg to be remade. Songs that may very well be good in their own right, but once in the hands of someone else can get transformed into a thing of beauty. Still there are others that are sitting around minding their own business that don't need anyone to touch them because they are already perfect as is. For me, Van Hunt's ode to dysfunctional relationships "Down Here (In Hell With You)" is one of those songs. Unfortunately, singer Tiffany Evans didn't get the memo to leave well enough alone and decided to try her hand at covering the 2004 song.
Don't get me wrong, her stripped down version is nice enough -- almost too nice. Her saccharine-sweet voice captures little of the emotion that made Hunt's original so friggin' awesome in the first place. When he sang, "Love without pain would leave me wondering why I stayed," you were able to identify with that same frustrating sense of resigned satisfaction that he was bemoaning. However, in Evans' hands the only thing I was left feeling was that I was watching a little girl playing dress up with a grown-up song. This feeling was made all the more intense by Evans' perplexing decision to forgo saying "hell," instead replacing the word with one of her expertly placed vocal runs. Sure, the clip makes it abundantly clear how competent a vocalist she is. On the other hand, it also makes clear how important choosing the right song can be. Then again, perhaps its my own fervent adoration of Hunt's song that colored my thoughts on her efforts.
