Joseph Gordon-Levitt Sings Nirvana’s “Lithium”
Posted by on 08/25/2011 at 4:26 PM Videos
The Popdust Files: covers, Live, nirvana
Joseph Gordon-Levitt celebrated the 20th anniversary of Nirvana’s Nevermind by performing “Lithium” at his HitRecord show in Seattle on Tuesday. Rather than succumb to the temptation of creating a viral cat video to the classic song, Levitt tried his best to stay true to Kurt Cobain’s intention, which means he doesn’t want to hear your theories on Cobain’s death while doing so. “It doesn’t matter to me. It doesn’t matter that he’s dead or how he died,” Levitt said, pausing for reflection on the life and death of the lead singer, mid-song. “His songs are fucking awesome, that’s what matters!” Oh, JGL. Your constant enthusiasm makes it so hard for us to criticize you. Come for Levitt’s attempt at mimicking Nirvana, but stay for his impassioned musings on the late singer. From the mouth of Tommy Solomon!
So did the sometimes-musician do a better Cobain than Miley Cyrus? Yes. Also, let it be known we were not the only ones scratching our heads after hearing her Teen Mom take on “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Rolling Stone readers called it one of the worst covers ever! We saved that honor for “Landslide.” But for us, the pinnacle of Gordon-Levitt’s cover career began and ended with “Natural Woman.”
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