I’m closing out these three weeks of “covers you didn’t know were covers” with a trip into the ‘Torn’ extended musical universe.
Most of us know today’s Song of the Day as ‘Torn,’ the 1997 pop song by Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia. It was a huge hit in both the UK and the U.S., though it was initially kept off the Billboard Hot 100 due to a rule that didn’t allow songs to chart unless they had been released as physical singles. That rule changed late in the song’s popularity, and it managed to reach #42 for a couple of weeks.
Adding to the song’s appeal was its clever video, which featured a locked-down camera on a soundstage, where the beautiful Imbruglia and an actor played out scenes from a crumbling relationship.
A year before Imbruglia recorded the song, it was released as a single by Norwegian singer Trine Rein in an arrangement very similar to the one that broke records a year later. Rein’s release didn’t break out of her native Norway, but it did make the top ten there.
But Trine Rein’s song was also a cover. ‘Torn’ was written by Scott Culver and Anne Preven of the Los Angeles rock band Ednaswap, and released on their debut album in 1995. Their version is a notch heavier and angrier than the subsequent releases.
Ednaswap split up in 1998, but Preven and Cutler formed another band, Annetenna, and released an album in 2001. As Annetenna, they performed a slowed-down acoustic version of ‘Torn,’ which you can hear here.
OK, so we’re up to four versions of ‘Torn’ but we’ve yet to get to today’s Song of the Day. Bear with me.
Back in 1993, after Preven and Cutler wrote the song but before they recorded it with Ednaswap, they gave it to Danish singer Lis Sørensen for inclusion on her album Under stjernerne et sted. The lyrics were rewritten in Danish and the title changed to ‘Brændt,’ which means “burned.”
So this is the first version of ‘Torn’ ever recorded. It became a hit in Denmark, meaning three different versions of ‘Torn’ charted in multiple countries for three different artists. The only version not to have success was the one by the people who wrote it.
Nu tænder månen lys i mit kvarter
Jeg står op, går lidt omkring, ka’ ikke sove mer’
Står ved vinduet og ser
Den sidste bus, det sidste stoppested
Og jeg ønsker højt og håber vildt, at det er, du er med
Og gi’r mit trætte hjerte fred
[Bro]
For angsten den gi’r aldrig op
Når angsten bor i sjæl og krop
Den flammer op så nemt
I hjertet som blev brændt
[Omkvæd]
Tusind gange før af én som loved’ alt
Og smækkede sin dør, lod mig ligge blå og brændt
Lille, bange, svag med drømmende brændt af
Nu ‘jeg fuld af tvivl, om du alligevel er den
Der tænder mig igen og brænder mig igen
[Vers 2]
Nu tænder månen lys i mit kvarter
Jeg vil elskes, ikke svigtes eller brændes mer’
Så vis mig, hvem du virkelig er
[Bro]
For angsten den gi’r aldrig op
Når angsten bor i sjæl og krop
Den flammer op så nemt
I hjertet som blev brændt
[Omkvæd]
Tusind gange før af én som loved’ alt
Og smækkede sin dør, lod mig ligge blå og brændt
Lille, bange, svag med drømmende brændt af
Nu ‘jeg fuld af tvivl, om du alligevel er den
Der tænder mig igen og brænder mig igen
[Guitar-solo]
[Bro]
For angsten den gi’r aldrig op
Når angsten bor i sjæl og krop
Den flammer op så nemt
I hjertet som blev brændt
[Omkvæd]
Tusind gange før af én som loved’ alt
Og smækkede sin dør, lod mig ligge blå og brændt
Lille, bange, svag med drømmende brændt af
Nu ‘jeg fuld af tvivl, om du alligevel er den
Der tænder mig igen og brænder mig igen
Og la’ mig ligge blå og brændt og lille, bange, svag
Med drømmende brændt af i hjertet, som blev brændt
Meet Me In Montauk 
So, “THAT’S what’s going on!”😉
Really enjoyed this exploration into covers.