Shazam! Man, Oh No! Oh My! blew everyone away last night at Underlying Themes. So because it’s almost 6am and I’m worn out from an amazing show, here’s a song that Daniel from ON!OM! asked me to post. When our conversation drifted to Stephin Merritt after talking about musicals, I had to ask if he’d heard this cover from Fiddler On The Roof; he hadn’t, so I figured it’s best to remedy that.

MP3: The Magnetic Fields – If I Were a Rich Man
“Here’s where a normal person would sing the song,” I told Daniel, holding my hand at about eye level. Then, dropping my hand about a foot and a half, I explained that “here is where Stephin songs it.” While there’s no real point to that opening bit, it gets one point across: Stephin Merrit has amazing range. My throat hurts just thinking about trying to go as low as he does. I mean, his voice is a more powerful instrument than anything that’s ever been featured in any of his songs. There’s a reason he takes precedence over the three or so instruments in this cover.

Buy Knitting On The Roof

Totally unrelated: The new Apples in Stereo album is going to be called New Magnetic Wonder. Bill Doss is apparently playing with them on their Strokes dates, and they’re also appearing at the Athens Popfest on 8/12.