Norah Jones chronicled a tale of musical dreams and disappointments with her gorgeous cover of Neil Youngs Dont Be Denied onThe Late Late Show With James CordenMonday.
Jones flips Youngs ragged, autobiographical tune into a shuffling piano ballad about a woman from a broken home who finds solace in music and eventually hollowness in success. Jones delivers the songs aching final verse with a brutal delicacy as her band swoops in with stunning harmonies: Shes a pauper in a naked disguise/ Millionaire through a businessmans eyes/ Oh friend of mine/ Dont be denied.
Dont Be Denied appears on Jones latest album, Day Breaks,and in a recent interview with Rolling Stone, she spoke about relating to Youngs musings on fame and growing up with a largely absent father (the late sitarist Ravi Shankar). I dont think Ive ever been at the place where Neil was, but I can relate to that part of the song for sure, she said.
Day Breaksfollows Jones 2012 album Broken Little Hearts. The LP features nine new songs alongside Dont Be Denied and covers of Horace Silver and Duke Ellington. Jones has a handful of live dates left in the United States this month before embarking on a European tour in November; shell return to the U.S. for another leg November 28th at Ulster PAC in Kingston, New York.