When you think about the Replacements, the word "empathy" might not come to mind. That band operated as a whirlwind of chaos, blowing into town and leaving wreckage in their wake. It was their whole deal. But when you listen to their 1984 song "Androgynous" even today, the empathy on display is striking. At a time when even lots of underground punk bands threw around homophobic epithets like it was nothing, the Replacements celebrated a certain level of human difference. We're still struggling with that shit now, and they figured it out more than 40 years ago.
Lots of people have covered "Androgynous" over the years — Joan Jett, the Crash Test Dummies, Laura Jane Grace, Miley Cyrus. Today, we get a new version of the song from Jenny On Holiday, otherwise known as Let's Eat Grandma's Jenny Hollingsworth. At the beginning of this year, Jenny On Holiday released her very good solo debut Quicksand Heart. Now, she's getting ready to kick off Quicksand Heart: Extra Baggage, a series of acoustic versions of that LP's songs (as well as a cover of Wheat's "Don't I Hold You." Today, she shares a stripped-down, minimal take on "Androgynous" that's just her and an acoustic guitar. Below, check out Jenny On Holiday's "Androgynous" cover, as well as the Replacements' original.
Quicksand Heart is out now on Transgressive.
