Susan Boyle's Gorgeous Lou Reed Cover Ascends to the Heavens
Susan Boyle's version of Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" is, well, perfect.
Sometimes, it doesn't matter if a song is holiday-themed; Susan Boyle has the talent to turn anything into a jaw-dropping Christmas tune!
Today, we're getting into the holiday spirit in August and taking fans back to November 30, 2010, to NBC's Christmas at Rockefeller Center special. It was then that Boyle, about a year removed from her amazing viral performance on Britain's Got Talent, mesmerized a worldwide audience with a phenomenal rendition of the Lou Reed hit "Perfect Day."
With pose, grace, and her trademark flawless vocals, Boyle delivered a song that isn't usually played during Christmas and elevated it to the status of "instant holiday classic." With the help of a backing choir, Boyle elevated the song to new heights. Get more details from that performance here, and listen to Boyle's take on "Perfect Day," below.
It's breathtaking, isn't it?
Simon Cowell said about Boyle, "She is just the most incredible person. This was a lady who lived on her own in Scotland, and she came on the show [BGT] and everything changed. Because up until that point, there was a perception that you had to look this way, or be this age, and she just changed the rulebook. Full stop."
Here's what to know about "Perfect Day"
Written and recorded in 1972 for Reed's Transformer album, "Perfect Day" hit its peak popularity over three decades later when it was heavily featured in the 1996 film Trainspotting. The highest-charting version of the song was a 1997 BBC charity single — featuring guest vocals by David Bowie, Elton John, Bono, and others — which reached the top spot on the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Norway charts.
Although it's been heavily speculated by fans and critics that the song's subject matter romanticizes drug use, according to Reed himself, that's not the case.
"No, you're talking to the writer, the person who wrote it. No, that's not true," Reed revealed in a 2000 interview. "I don't object to that, particularly... whatever you think is perfect. But this guy's vision of a perfect day was the girl, sangria in the park, and then you go home. A perfect day, real simple. I meant just what I said."
