bad diary days

Dark Was The Night is a forthcoming two-disc AIDS charity compilation organized by The Red Hot Organization (who are also behind Red Hot + Blue). There are 31 great tracks on the album (out February 17), but there’s one that stands out furiously among the rest, and naturally it’s by Grizzly Bear.

Service Bell isn’t a new song - it appeared on 2005’s Horn Of Plenty - but this is a reworked version featuring Feist on vocals instead of just the boys from Grizzly Bear. The addition of Feist (who I am normally not even a fan of) is outstanding. The new version is 23 seconds longer than the original, yet it still clocks in at only 2:24 long.

Whereas the original Service Bell is backed by only an acoustic guitar, over-reverbed male vocals and some indistinguishable backing lyrics, this new version has a dozen more beautiful layers added to make it such a spectacular upgrade. Feist’s super delicate voice, layered male harmonies and some sort of tuba or other brass in the background along with percussion help the song crescendo into Beirut-esque territory at 1:00 before it simmers back down at the 1:36 mark.

Grizzly Bear featuring Feist - Service Bell

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Compare to the original version [YouTube].

Lyrics:
I keep a service bell by my bed for you
let the others do what they do
I will hold on
hold on
hold on

I keep a service bell by my bed for you

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 at 3:13 PM and is filed under Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.