Rosie Tucker has shared their cover of the one and only Jeffrey Lewis’s ‘Arrow’. Already a live favourite, Rosie has released a recorded version during the lockdown as the song’s themes are fitting to the current situaton we’re all living in: ‘For me, it’s a song of disassociation, born in the uncanny space where the onslaught of time bends beneath the weight of present circumstances’.
Replacing Jeff’s DIY aesthetic with something a little more polished and far-reaching, Rosie retains the sense of creeping paranoia in the song (‘I think the DJ left his booth, I’m staring at the roof and there’s static on the radio now’, ‘I will stay awake, the Tooth Fairy won’t take all my teeth away’) as they take on the role of storyteller and deliver the words with fraught intensity as the guitars swirl around before ending in a dose of feedback: ‘I don’t fall asleep, I ascend to it’.
Rosie says: ‘I hope people like our version but I’d be just as pleased if they hated it and started listening to Jeffrey Lewis instead’.
Everyone should listen to Jeffrey Lewis. His comic books,songs (and low-budget live-action films – check YouTube) are full joyful, sad, triumphant, hilarious and touching observations. He has the ability to capture moments of life with a sincerity you can’t fault – just listen to ‘Broken Broken Broken Heart’ or ‘Don’t Be Upset’ – while also singing about his unashamed love of physical records, zombie uprisings and a glowing pig.
