Watch Patti Smith Cover Lana Del Rey’s ‘Summertime Sadness’
Patti Smith offered up an emotional rendition of Lana Del Rey‘s song “Summertime Sadness” at her concert in Dublin last night. Smith, who performed at Vicar Street, played a setlist of several classics, but also took the opportunity to perform Del Rey’s 2012 hit.
Appearing with her band, Smith gave an intimate, pensive performance of the song, much to the delight of the crowd. The singer dedicated the song to her late husband and MC5 member Fred Smith, telling the audience it reminded her of their “wild youth.”
Elsewhere during the show, Smith covered Bob Dylan‘s “Man in the Long Black Coat,” which she has previously played onstage, and Nirvana‘s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Smith has regularly covered the Nirvana track, performing it as a stripped back version since 2007.
Smith is currently on tour in Europe, with upcoming shows in Amsterdam, London, and Oxford. She is set to perform at numerous festivals, including Les Nits de Barcelona, Festival de Nîmes, and Ostia Antica Festival. In October, she’ll perform two concerts at Pappy and Harriet’s in Pioneertown, California.
Del Rey will unveil a country-inspired album, Lasso, in September, marking the singer’s 10th studio album and third in the past four years. She has been setting her country intentions for a while now, and previously performed a moody rendition of Elvis‘ 1977 song “Unchained Melody” in November for NBC‘s Christmas at Graceland. Last September, she visited Robert’s Western World in Nashville to feature her recurring cover of Tammy Wynette‘s 1969 song “Stand By Your Man; the following December she released her iteration of John Denver‘s beloved single “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”
“If you can’t already tell by our award winners and our performers, the music business is going country,” Del Rey said at a Grammys event earlier this year. “We’re going country. It’s happening. That’s why Jack [Antonoff] has followed me to Muscle Shoals, Nashville, Mississippi, over the last four years.”