TUNAGE – SLS
How an acoustic guitar and a raspy voice turned a genre-bending hit into something quietly devastating.
I’ve always been a fan of the acoustic guitar. In fact, it’s my favorite style. I’ve always felt that if an artist can make the acoustic guitar speak, then they’re really talented. There’s something about that sound—it adds a layer to the music that gets lost in the distortion of its electric counterpart. It’s honest. Exposed. No tricks to hide behind.
I first heard Ray LaMontagne’s Gossip in the Grain and was hooked immediately. That album had a mood I couldn’t shake—soulful, grounded, a little haunted. So when I found out he covered “Crazy,” I got excited. I wondered what he’d bring to it. I already knew it would be something special.
Not just because of Ray’s style, but because “Crazy” already lives in this weird, beautiful space between genres. I love it when songs do that. Even more, I love when a cover respects the original but still brings a fresh voice to it—makes it something completely different, without losing what made it great in the first place.
That’s exactly what Ray does here.
Yes, it’s the same “Crazy” that Gnarls Barkley made famous—but this isn’t just an acoustic remix. This is a complete reinvention. No beats. No polish. Just Ray, his guitar, and that worn, aching voice of his. And somehow, it feels bigger because it’s so stripped down.
He slows the whole thing down, stretches out the space between lines, and sings like he’s living every word. There’s one moment—when he softly asks, “Does that make me crazy?”—that just lingers in the air. It’s not a performance; it’s a question he doesn’t know the answer to.
Where the original had swagger, this version has weight. It feels like someone sorting through their own history, looking back on a breakdown that already happened. It’s quiet. It’s tired. And it hits like truth.
I’ve heard a lot of covers of this song, but none of them hit like this. No over-singing. No flash. Just soul. The acoustic guitar does all the emotional heavy lifting—carrying the tension, the silence, and everything in between.
If you’re into music that guts you in the gentlest way, this one’s for you. Just press play, close your eyes, and let it wreck you a little.
Memoirs of Madness 