If You Wear That Velvet Dress - Jools Holland vs Pop

[namkcuR]

Which version of If You Wear That Velvet Dress do you prefer? I think right now I prefer the Jools Holland version. The minimalist approach on the Pop version is good but it's just too underproduced. You know there is a problem when you turn your stereo volume almost all the way up and you still can't hear Bono singing the thing very well. Which is a shame because this really is a great song. The Jools Holland version, while it might go overboard at points, is just fucking great. Bono's vocal performance is better(not to mention you can hear it this time), the instrumentation really fits the song very well, and the atmosphere of the song reminds me a lot of Two Shots Of Happy One Shot Of Sad, which is never a bad thing. While I still think the Popmart Live versions of Velvet Dress are the best versions, I think right now I pick Jools Holland over Pop.

 

[Hallucination]

I love this song but the begining before Bono breaks into "If you wear..." is too slow. The guitar solo if you can call it that is my favorite solo ever I think. It's drug like in the effect it has on the listener. Up till that part the song is this ambient little gem and then outta nowhere the solo seduces you in a way you would never expect. I'm sad to say though I have never heard theJools Holland version.

 

[Axver]

The Jools Holland version makes the beautiful Pop version look like last night's dinner leftovers.

 

[liamcool]

I'll get shot for saying this.

Pop.

And Hallucination, what's your email? I can send the Jools Holland version.

 

[Hallucination]

I'll get shot for saying this.

Pop.

And Hallucination, what's your email? I can send the Jools Holland version.

SWEET!! thanks liamcool! putnam3360@yahoo.ca

 

[Nisse]

Pop

 

[Hallucination]

Well now that I have heard both versions(Thanks liamcool ) I can say I like the version off of POP a whole lot more. It's way more seductive and sexy. The Jools Holland version doesn't seem to have anywhere near the emotion/atmosphere and it doesn't have that killer guitar solo either. Nope after hearing deciding which one is better isn't even an issue. POP's version all the way.

 

[Aardvark747]

Jools Holland Duet....

 

[tink]

I have to side with the Jools Holland version on this occassion ... mainly because there aren't enough superlatives in the world to sum up how much I love it.

If you haven't heard it already - please do - it's really something special.

 

[Niceman]

IT is an amazing improvement on a song that I always loved.

 

[Rafiennes]

Pop's version is more intimate, more in the room with you and whispering in your ear

Jools' version is more lounge, a little more Vegasy

It depends on the mood, but 9 out 10 times I'll go for the Pop version. That middle part with Edge's solo is like transendental meditation - you totally get transported to some other place...

 

[DPrinceNY]

can someone send me the Jools Holland version too?

MLivshiz@gmail.com
thanks in advance

 

[namkcuR]

For those who prefer the Pop version...don't you agree though that the mix is too low and that you can't hear the vocals very well at some points?

 

[U2girl]

Musically I prefer Pop version, Bono-wise Jools Holland.

On the album what is supposed to be sultry and seductive turns out like a dirty 60 year old man chasing young girls.

 

[U2Man]

Musically I prefer Pop version, Bono-wise Jools Holland.

On the album what is supposed to be sultry and seductive turns out like a dirty 60 year old man chasing young girls.

Yes, he kinda sounds like a horny old jerk in that song

 

[LightMyWay60]

I would pick the Jools Holland version over the Pop version...Bono's voice sounds excellent and the background music is great as well.
I'd have to agree also with the dirty 60 year old man thing too, but hey, its Bono

 

[The Disciple]

Can somebody post a YSI link? Por Favor?

 

[AngelofHarlem01]

please please please

 

[namkcuR]

If You Wear That Velvet Dress(Jools Holland Version)

http://s40.you sendit.com/d.aspx?id=2930E7OBB07543CQEBRREVH3SI

 

[biff]

I like them both, but I almost think of them as different songs, one saintly and one sinful. The original version has this verse:

Sunlight, sunlight fills my room
It's sharp and it's clear
But nothing like the moon
It's okay
The struggle for things not to say
I never listened to you anyway
I got my own hands to pray

The Holland version substitutes that for this verse:

I say
Hold me baby
Hush now
Hold me baby
I’m crying out loud
You showed me baby
Just what to do
I’ve got the whole night
Then we’re through

The first is Bono's "get thee behind me Satan" song, where he flirts with the idea of adultery, but in the end chooses to be good.
The almost dreamy, ethereal nature of the music supports this resolution.

In the second, there's no doubt he's very, very bad, and the jazzy, almost sleazy sounding orchestral accompaniment undersores this in the perfect way.

Great stuff in both cases, but I guess I do prefer the very lovely combination of spirituality and sensuality in the original.

 

[AngelofHarlem01]

sounds really good..kinda piano bary lol. i really like both versions though. thanks so much for posting it namkcuR

 

[kellyo]

Thank you for posting this!

 

[1stepcloser]

Pop version. by an absolute country mile. it's just beautiful. couldn't care less for the jools holland version.

 

[AtomicBono]

On the album what is supposed to be sultry and seductive turns out like a dirty 60 year old man chasing young girls.

hey I'm 17 Bono can chase me anytime...

I prefer the Pop version...they're two completely different approaches to the song. Bono's vocal performance on the Jools Holland is outstanding, but I kind of like how Bono does the sexy low voice thing on the album version...and Edge's guitar solo with Adam's bass pulsating is beautiful. Perfection.

 

[Flying FuManchu]

Thanks your the link...

Hmmm... it was an interesting diversion/ interpretation/ version but where's the Edge? I'd have to say I like the POP version better b/c the Jools version is a little too show tune-y for my tastes/ mood.

 

[pacemaker]

I haven't heard the Jools Holland version, but personally, I think the POP version is one of the sexiest songs ever written/recorded. I dreamt, waaaay back in 1997 when I was in 7th grade that it would be a perfect song to lose my virginity to.

If anybody would be kind enough to send me the Jools Holland version, or tell me where I can find it (there're too many damn U2 fansites....), here is my e-mail adress:






EDIT* Woops... forgot to read ALL of the replies. Thanks for the YSI link.

 

[pacemaker]

Having listened to the Jools version just now, I have to stick to my guns and vouch for the Pop version...

The Jools version feels like a Million Dollar Hotel-vibe remix, and while it fares really well, I just can't let it replace my feelings that the Pop version is one of my favorites off the album... even the Popmart version, to me, is lacking compared to the album version.

If You Wear That Velvet Dress on Pop is slightly naughty, raunchy, sleazy and then becomes this whole feeling of everything you thought was wrong being right. I hear it as one of the most overtly sexual songs U2 has ever written (the lyrics and music fit each other PERFECTLY) and while it makes you think of a piano lounge filled with smoke while two people make a connection (I'm not the only one, am I?), it leaves you believing that above all of the cheap, sleazy gimmicks of what led to the "hook-up", that something magical is happening (Edge's much-layered solo, which I wish I could emulate, but what's the point?).

To me, the Jools Holland version is a blatant representation of what the song leads ME (and I emphasize that) to think about. Blatant in a way that takes all of the originals vibes and exposes them to the listener in a package, presenting it as a multiple choice question, rather than a window into the events of two people who may or may not...


Well, what am I talking about... this is quite enough for the "quick reply" field.

 

[annabelle]

^ great reply!

I heard the Jools Holland version before the Pop version (yes, I am playing catch up!) and I have to say that while the JH version is over the top in so many ways, I do love it, but having said that I would love to hear the Pop version one day - re-produced and re-released on the mythical (?) future remix of POP!

(did that make sense? )

 

[beli]

Pop.

There is hardly any bass on Jools version. The U2 version is seductive. The Bono and Jools and Jools band version is very upfront and brassy (without the brass). I do like Jools version but some of the other songs on that album are just so tacky and over the top. The exception being Bryan Ferry.

The beauty of Pop is its a dark, sensual album. Take the atmosphere away and you have cabaret.

 

[Axver]

Funny the love the Pop version is getting here. I've distributed both versions to people before and normally they're falling over themselves to praise the Jools Holland version. I know a couple of girls who think it's the single sexiest song they have ever heard.