When the world needs a hero, you can always turn to one man: Neil Young.
Case in point, according to TwentyFourBit, the duo of Justin Vernon and Annie Clark, of the Bon Iver and St. Vincent monikers respectively, aren’t the first to cover Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon”. But their crack at the song at BrooklynVegan’s recent Haiti benefit is something just as special.
The rendition is as sweet and strummy as one would expect from the two, but with a hint of Young’s trademark downtrodden common man vibe. With Clark taking lead, “Harvest Moon” shines as a slow, smokey groove. And said groove gets even more heart-wrenching when Vernon joins in; the falsetto harmonies make you feel the pain and want to crack open your wallet. But if you’re a Young purist, you can also enjoy the duo’s stab at Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”, which invokes the noisy version of the White Stripes cover.
The performance, while not worth half a million dollars or on par with the notoriety of a U2/Jay-Z collabo, invokes the power of a true rock pioneer and his spirit of giving back.
Keep on rocking, indeed.
