Cover songs can be a gift or a curse, depending on the songs and the person performing them. In the case of singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran’s recent trip to The Tonight Show, the soft-spoken Brit did a hell of a job putting his spin on both hard rock songs and a rap track. Anybody doing Limp Bizkit is better than Limp Bizkit doing it, right? Check it out.
Hot damn, that was a good time to be had by all. I mean, probably not by heavy metal fans who are solely invested in that musical preference, but still. As well, I’m certain that all actual heavy metal fans balked whenever Limp Bizkit’s name came up, because that’s about as far from heavy metal as, well, Ed Sheeran is. But still, it’s worth the mislabeling to see “Break Stuff” get played like this. Even he can't keep a straight face while doing it.
Even more enjoyable is Sheeran’s take on Iron Maiden’s 1982 hit “Run to the Hills,” as it’s an actual song and not just a series of Fred Durst’s deep musings. Plus, it gives us a chance to see the Grammy-nominated musician in this glorious greenscreen image.
If there would be any justice in the world, NBC would put a shitload of money into commissioning Ed Sheeran Sings Heavy Metal as an actual release, since an album of acoustic covers is one of the easier music-related projects to put together. Even if there were less than 25 songs on the album, that’s fine. I might not be able to sleep tonight, wondering just how Sheeran would have handled Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel songs. On the opposite side of things, I’d easily take the hardcore rap album first. Ed Sheeran adding to his Ty Dolla $ign track with covers of Rakim and Jedi Mind Tricks songs would be equally amazing.
But since that project won’t happen, we’re just left with “Break Stuff” as an earworm for the rest of the afternoon. It’s just one of those days, I guess.
I’m not sorry about that. Now, I wonder when we’re going to see Jimmy Fallon get Blake Shelton on his show to sing Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen.” We’ll just have to watch The Tonight Show every weeknight to see.
