I heard the weirdest friggin' rendition of CANDLE IN THE WIND on XM on the way home from a gig tonight. The artist was Bronn Journey or something like that, and it sounded like a Celtic harp. As the musically literate here know, CANDLE is a pretty basic 4/4 piece with a pretty traditional harmonic schematic. This version was like someone playing on Quaaludes for a measure and 1/16th, then suddenly becoming a crack head for about a beat and a half and then doing something in between--completely (and I mean completely) assymetrical phrasing on what is one of Elton's most "balanced" tunes. I mean, it made Rubato seem like a martial tempo.

The weird thing is there was this massive string orchestration in parts, so it must have been planned--at least, I kept thinking it must have been. Weird, weird, weird.