Young Girl With Fire: Weyes Blood Covers Neil Diamond's "Shilo"
- Josh Kitchen
- Mar 24
- 2 min read
By: Josh Kitchen / March 24, 2025
Photo Credit: Cloudy Thoughts: @cloudyytots
If like me, you were completely horrified by the shocking insights revealed in the docu-series The Curious Case Of Natalia Grace, you know about the trauma Ukranian born Natalia Grace had to endure by the adults who adopted her and completely let her down. I won't give away any more about it, but it's an insane story, and now it's been dramatized into a new series starring Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplass, called Good American Family.
While just about every salacious true crime doc can be expected to be turned into a series on one of the many streaming services we all owe fealty to, the last thing I expected to come from this one is a new Weyes Blood song - a beautiful cover of the classic Neil Diamond track, "Shilo." When you listen to the original and then are reminded of its lyrics by Weyes Blood's version, it quickly makes sense why this song was recorded in this way and by Mering. "Young child with dreams/Dream every dream on your own/When children play/Seems like you end up alone." Again, I won't reveal too much of the story, but once you know the extent of what transpires, the song completely works.
Mering's version is more tender than the original, ditching Diamond's grandiose backing band for a string-laden acoustic version, letting her greatest instrument - her voice, hit you in the gut and all the feels for a very glorious four and half minutes. It's a truly gorgeous addition to Weyes Blood's quickly growing catalogue, and joining some very interesting cover choices by her like Dylan's epic "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands," "You're No Good," the Linda Ronstadt/Dee Dee Warwick classic featured on the Minions OST (that's right, and its GREAT), and the jazz standard, "When You're Smiling." While we wait for new Weyes Blood original music following her two most recent triumphs, Titanic Rising, and And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow, we are lucky we get a recording so full of beauty and longing to hold us over. Check it out below: