These days, Billy Mann works behind the scenes as a music industry executive, but back in the mid-to-late nineties he was a solo artist for A&M with a pair of studio albums to his name.
Perhaps that’s why he was invited to participate in 1998 Springsteen tribute project, One Step Up/Two Steps Back: The Songs of Bruce Springsteen.
Or maybe it’s just because he’s a big fan of the music, especially “Two Hearts.”
In his liner notes that (like the song itself) never actually made it to the album, Mann wrote, “‘Two Hearts’ is a song about consoling a girl who claims to be ‘hurt so bad she’ll never love again’ and how through life he has learned that love is worth searching for even after the pain.”
In covering the song, Mann opted for a tender acoustic arrangement with a female shadow vocal to underline the song’s message.
“I tried to produce an interpretation of the song that reflects how the words impacted me… On first glance, the lyrics would seem almost unromantic, but when you read that whole lyric, you will be stunned. Anyone who knows ‘Two Hearts’ might even be shocked at how romantic the song really is when the musical environment is altered.”
Altered it is–as Mann put it, he turned the song “from a rager to a recliner.” And a beautiful recliner it is.
For some reason, though, Billy’s beautiful version of “Two Hearts” didn’t make the album–but it was released on an EP of album outtakes called Downbound Train. That’s about as undeservedly obscure as you can get: an outtake from a tribute album.
Mann’s “Two Hearts” cover deserves far more attention than that. So do yourself a favor and take a listen–you won’t regret it.
