Kurt Vile Covers John Prine’s “Speed of the Sound
of Loneliness”
Kurt
Vile stopped by Late Night with Seth Meyers on
Thanksgiving evening to perform his cover of “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness”
by John Prine. Watch the full performance below.
Instead of doing the traditional introduction to segue into
Vile’s performance, Meyers actually told a brief, personal story before passing
the microphone over to the musician. “My family loved John Prine and we booked
this act because we thought it would be a perfect song to listen to together on
that couch,” he said. “Now we can’t be together, and it was unplanned, but this
is a perfect song for anyone who’s not with their loved ones this year.”
Vile’s rendition of the song is a faithful, yet emotional, spin
on Prine’s original version. Basked in the soft glow of an overhead light, Vile
takes his time fingerpicking his way through the track, letting his voice curl
around each vocal slide with the slightly pitchy delivery he’s known for — and
the result of which makes for a rather tender cover of “Speed
