Charlotte Gainsbourg took the stage of French TV show Taratata recently, performing live versions of “Heaven Can Wait” (no Beck backup vocals or SpongeBob Squarepants costumes, unfortch) and “Trick Pony” from her new Beck-produced album IRM. Pretty much your typical album release promotional fare.
But then Gainsbourg— who played one of Bob Dylan’s wives opposite Heath Ledger’s Dylan in I’m Not There—offered an intriguing, oddly childlike version of “Just Like a Woman,” which has yet to infect the blogosphere.
With all the hype surrounding belted-out, vocally acrobatic performances from shows like American Idol and the X Factor these days, many are losing touch with the unexplainable, nuanced, and circumstantial (Gainsbourg’s famous father, who introduced her to Dylan’s music, etc.) touches that add magic to some performances. The je ne sais quoi, if you will.
Watch Gainsbourg whisper out Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde hit here or below:
**Update: this performance was removed from YouTube, but here’s Gainsbourg’s live rendition from Brooklyn instead…