Now that I’ve written a few blogs for Kurrent Music, you must have notice that I’m a pretty positive person. I look at Ciara as the same. I know her for her up-tempo songs, sexy slow jams, her colorful videos and, OMG, those dance moves!
I would think there is no dark side to her, so when I noticed she had recorded a cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black”, I actually refused to listen to it. I expected she turned it into some slow airy and sultry R&B ballad. With that in mind, I thought I’d rather leave the depressive appeal of the original version together, because that was a perfect fit for me.
Though, “Paint It Black” by the Stones was probably released well before my time, it saw a re-release somewhere in the 90s due to the use of it in the popular TV series “Tour Of Duty”. It became a number one hit in many countries and this is how I was introduced to it.
Ciara’s version is very different. It’s slower, it’s dense, dark, moody, even powerful at times and I don’t think I’ve ever heard her voice this way. Usually it’s light and carries a bit of a thin sound, usually enhanced by the airy background vocals. But on this track, especially singing some of its low parts, it sounds strong and round (full). It’s really gotten me to look at her from a different perspective.
She recorded the song for the movie “The Last Witch Hunter” and the spooky, chilling vibe you would expect for a movie carrying that title, is definitely present in this version of the song. I can so imagine this song playing a major part in some creepy scene.
I’ve noticed pretty much immediately that the title of Ciara’s song has an additional comma “Paint it, Black”. At first, I thought this was added because the song has gotten such a different feel from the original, that she wanted to distinguish it a little from it.
However, it turned out, by doing a little research that the first release by The Rolling Stones also used the comma. Their record company had made a little mistake when printing the covers and that’s how it was entered. It was corrected with its second release.
Ciara will be touring the States at the end of this month. It’s the second leg of her “Jackie Tour”, which already sold out earlier this year. It’s her first tour in over six years.
