Under the Covers: Albert Pla and "El Lado Mas Bestia de la Vida"

Today's song is one I really like. I liked the original version, performed by Lou Reed, but I like this one too. One reason is that it is not just a cover from someone who is trying to piggyback off someone else's work. From what I read about Albert Pla, the artist who performs this cover, he chooses songs often based on their content and especially likes taking on controversial subjects. Walk on the Wild Side is about people doing self-destructive things, but it is also about drawing attention to the people who hurt in our society. The song doesn't necessarily exhort us to "walk on the wild side" but it does urge us to have a bit more understanding of those who do, and to have some level of compassion for them. At least that is how I interpret the song.

Albert Pla is a Spanish performer who sings in both Spanish and Catalan. He swings from controversial music to music that is very whimsical. His songs often touch on the choices between participation or leaving, whether that involves a relationship with a girlfriend, deciding who owns a piece of property, choosing to participate in a radical political group with a terrorist agenda. He is also an actor, having acted in films and on stage and his song Suffer Like Me is on the soundtrack of Pedro Almodóvar's movie Live Flesh. El Lado Mas Bestia de la Vida is on Pla's 1995 album Assumes Fonollosa and can also be found on Putumayo's Cover the World compilation album.