Eagles of Death Metal’s ‘I Love You All the Time’ Becomes New Paris Anthem
For the first time since their Nov. 13 show at the Bataclan was interrupted by gun-wielding terrorists who murdered 89 people, Eagles of Death Metal returned to Paris, France, on Dec. 7. They joined U2 onstage during U2’s HBO concert special taping for a cover of Patti Smith’s “People Have the Power,“ and then performed their own song, “I Love You All the Time.” The latter tune has taken on special meaning for EoDM and their friends and fans since the Paris tragedy last month.
In their first interview following the terrorist attacks, EoDM main men Josh Homme (who was not at the Bataclan show) and Jesse Hughes noted that Duran Duran had generously offered to donate all their royalties from EoDM’s cover of “Save a Prayer” to victims of the tragedy. In a similar spirit, EoDM invited other acts to cover “I Love You All the Time,” pledging to donate all proceeds earned from the performance or sale of the song to the victims as well. Many acts took the band up on the offer, onstage and on YouTube, and this week came first wave of of official “I Love You All The Time” covers, via the Play It Forward EoDM Campaign, by Florence & The Machine, Kings of Leon, Imagine Dragons, My Morning Jacket, Jimmy Eat World, Savages, and other all of whom are donating any royalties due them for these performances.
The covers are available today on iTunes, Prime Music, and Spotify. Additional versions are forthcoming and will be announced as they are confirmed. Those wishing to donate should go to http://playitforwardeodm.com/ for information.
While the song is off EoDM’s latest album, Zipper Down, it actually dates back to 2011, when it appeared under a slightly different title, “I Love You All the Thyme,” on Honkey Kong, a solo album released by Hughes under the pseudonym Boots Electric. Here’s Boots performing the track live in London in 2012 (video contains some profanity):
Last month, on the latest episode of his Apple Music radio show The Alligator Hour With Joshua Homme, Hughes appeared as a guest and the duo played three versions of the song – first the Dean Ween version, which Homme said was the first to roll in, followed by the versions by Cameron and Johannes.
In a lengthy statement, Dean Ween urged fans to share the clip with the goal of reaching one million views. He recounted how he has been friends with Homme for more than two decades. “When I heard about the Paris attacks, I broke down and called him immediately and surprisingly he answered,” Ween wrote. “Finding out that [EoDM guitarist] Dave Catching was alive and unharmed was one of the biggest reliefs of my life.”
The Cameron version can he heard at 34:50 on either Apple Music or iTunes Radio, while Johannes’s take starts at 50:35. During The Alligator Hour, Hughes called Cameron’s version “Wonderful,” adding, “In general, the entire participation is beautiful.” As for the Johannes rendition, Hughes noted, “I love his Beatle inflection to it, his ‘Eleanor Rigby,’” while Homme added, “That wonderful Beatles inflection without dry-humping it into copy-dom.”
Aside from those studio takes, some acts have also taken to song to the stage. My Morning Jacket performed the track live on Nov. 28 during their show at New York’s Beacon Theatre. “Every note we play and every syllable I sing is for peace, and for understanding, and for love. The music must always go on and fear must never win, and we must stick together and talk about how we can find ways to accept each other,” MMJ singer/guitarist Jim James said in a statement about the tribute to the victims of the Paris attacks.
Also covering the song live last month was British post-punk band Savages at a gig Dec. 1 at La Maroquinerie in Paris. Singer Jehnny Beth, who is French, introduced the song in her native language, before the band performed a version – captured for posterity in black-and-white – and received a rousing ovation from fans at the gig.
