Pet Shop Boys, tributing Robin Gibb with their take on “I Started A Joke”
Live in Berlin 2012.
I've seen complaints on this cover here and there, about how Neil Tennant's voice wouldn't be able "to carry" this song - and i have to disagree there. To those complainers: Look at the very song itself again: It's "I started A Joke". This song is not about rocking the stage; the very nature of this song is its vulnerability. Listen to the first few lines of the lyrics and you'll quickly notice how downright depressing it is (in other words: pretty much made for the Pet Shop Boys, bwaha, jk). And to me, it is this exact vulnerability that is the key and essence, which Neil conveys pretty much perfectly. It is timid, it is sensitive, a little "unsure" here and there - and so are the very lyrics. Performed in such a beautiful, heartfelt way that it left me teary-eyed the first time i heard it.
And above it all: It is a tribute to Robin Gibb. It's all that matters here - and as such, it suceeded all the way through.