Prompt: "A live version that just hits better than the official version"
Selected by Pat
"West End Girls / People Who Died"
GWAR
AV Undercover, 2014
Back before The A.V. Club sucked ass, they used to do a series called AV Undercover, in which musical guests would pick a song to cover from a list compiled by the website. All the official episodes have been deleted from YouTube, because capitalists believe beauty should not exist unless it's profitable. But there was some really great stuff in there.
One frequent and beloved guest was heavy metal mainstays GWAR. I wouldn't consider myself a GWAR fan, per se, but I have always appreciated their absurd pageantry. Their 2014 appearance is probably their best. It starts out as a cover of Pet Shop Boys' "West End Girls," which is so ridiculous it becomes delightful. It's hard to imagine a musical style that sounds more different than the original. Maybe DMX covering Aqua or vice-versa. It's a very fun performance, but then shifts into something that I find genuinely touching. GWAR transitions from "West End Girls" to their own version of Jim Carroll's "People Who Died." Punk is more GWAR's speed, and the new lyrics pay loving tribute to founder and longest-serving member Dave Brockie (AKA Oderus Urungus), who had died just six months earlier.
This live performance has always stuck with me. It's nice to know that underneath all those layers of armor and makeup, even those intergalactic sex demons have hearts.
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