Lay Me Down: worth the wait

What can we say, this came out of nowhere. (We’re doing our best to sound normal in the lines that follow, while in reality, we’re terribly excited.)

OK, here it goes: registered members on Michelle Branch’s official site can now listen to the original, solo version of “Lay Me Down” (yes, this one) in its entirety (albeit in streaming fashion only).

The related announcement was posted on michellebranch.com on March 24th. (Thank you Krista & Ross for tipping us on this, rock on!) Branch wrote the following in a thread on her site’s message boards:

Just a heads up to let you know that I finally found the “OG” version of Lay Me Down and WB posted a streaming version for anyone caring to hear it. (www.michellebranch.com) Whoa, talk about a walk down memory lane.

The thread is full of thank you’s and compliments from fans, from all over the world; this is normal —

Because this song, in this version, fucking rocks. It’s all we ever imagined it would be. It’s rockier, it’s “putting my heart out there” done right, it’s perfect.

Also: we’ve always felt that the Wreckers’ version had a couple of weak, odd-sounding moments. They all had the same characteristic; they felt rushed, forced — locate your copy of the song and have a listen to the following:

• “since I begged for / anything but now I want…” (before the 1st chorus)
• “and you’d never even try to anyway” (end of 1st chorus)
• “as long as I can see it in your eyes” (before the chorus kicks in for the 2nd time — this is the most characteristic example)

Imagine our surprise when we found out that in Josh Abraham’s version all these kinks have been ironed out; the entire track flows with grace.

Finally, “I’m sorry / Lay me down / I’m lonely / Lay me down” sends chills down our spine on every single listen. (Josh Abraham, we must buy you a beer.)

So, all in all: “Lay Me Down” in its original version is nothing short of amazing. It was worth making such a big deal for those 56 seconds.

What’s next?
It would be a pitty for “Lay Me Down” to not get a proper release; a physical (B-side?) or digital (iTunes?) format, anything, it doesn’t matter. If you drop by the respective thread on michellebranch.com, do note that you’d be willing to see this gem of a track getting an actual release. And be sure to thank Michelle for taking the time to dig up this song and offer it to the fans! √ Mar 27th, 2008