Yeah Yeah Yeahs vocalist Karen O performs 'Our Time' after a decade to thank first responders
Karen O, frontman of American indie band Yeah Yeah Yeahs, has decided to join those sharing good music during the quarantine. For the first time in a decade, Karen played the song 'Our Time' and shared it on social media on April 13.
'Our Time' is the final track on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' self-titled debut EP which released in 2001 and interpolates the Tommy James and the Shondells song 'Crimson and Clover' when Karen sings, "It's the year to be hated. So glad that we made it." 'Crimson and Clover' reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1969.
The video shared on Instagram starts with a child opening a door and the space revealed is decorated with a pennant banner and colorful lights. Seated on a chair with her guitar, Karen says, "Hi everybody, we've been in quarantine for exactly a month now and I just wanted to sing a song for you." She adds, "It's the first song I ever wrote for Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It's called 'Our Time'."
Karen takes the song down a notch compared to the studio version with its cocky crunchy guitar riffs as she gently plays on an acoustic guitar. Carrying her vocals in pitch-perfection just like the original, she presents the emotion of the song with a tone of nostalgic sentiment. After the performance, Karen pauses for a second. Looks like she's a bit taken aback and a little teary-eyed too and YYY fans may find it hard to not shed a tear after hearing her sing again.
According to Stereogum, the last time the band performed the song live was at The Mercury Lounge in New York during their 10th anniversary show in 2010, although they performed it frequently before that.
Karen captioned the video with, "Our Time to be whatevs (sic)," before leaving a note which thanked the "essential workers" of the coronavirus pandemic.
"So maybe you hate the year so far - don’t blame you if you do - it’s the year to be hated," she opens the note. "Here’s a YYY deep cut from my heart to yours, and f**k yeah for every day you make it through knowing somehow it’s gonna be alright... but couldn’t do it without the essential workers thank you we love ya!" she wrote, tagging in "#django #barneyclay #familyaffair @yeahyeahyeahs #ourtime #quarantine2020."