The Arctic Monkeys’ recent adaptation of Patsy Cline’s “Strange” into live renditions of their hit “Fluorescent Adolescent” is brilliant on a number of levels. Namely, the song itself, which is one of my favorite tunes from Alex Turner and the boys, seems to lose steam during the recorded bridge and outro. That critical bit aside, the fact that Turner penned the tune with his ex, Johanna Bennett, and released it after the demise of their romance always added depth that was not entirely covered by its lyrical tale of fading lust and lost youth.
Enter Patsy Cline. “Strange, how you stopped loving me,” sang Cline. “How you stopped needing me / When she came along.” Turner follows his original question of “Where did you go?” with Cline’s words and dramatic intonation, replacing “she” with “he.”
It’s a perfect transition and welcome edit to a song, which, IMO, needed a classy tweak. Watch the Arctic Monkeys perform “Fluorescent Adolescent”/”Strange” in Valencia, Spain here or below: