Lana Del Rey Covers Nirvana’s ‘Heart-Shaped Box’

Covering Nirvana songs is always a risky proposition. The standard is high, given the group’s status as possibly the most-revered rock band of the past 30 years. Lana Del Rey gave it shot last night in Australia, taking on the band’s 1993 hit ‘Heart-Shaped Box.’

Del Rey played the song during her show at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney, and thanks to a fan video taken from the front row, we can all watch the performance. Kurt Cobain and company built the track around quiet verses and explosive choruses, but Del Rey changed it up by turning the entire song into a ballad relying heavily on string instrumentation.

That was probably a good artistic decision, since no one’s going to out-rock Nirvana. Intentional or not, Del Rey delivered quivering vocals that fit with the creepy mood of the track. Watch for yourself and decide whether she did justice to the classic song.

Before leaving Australia, Del Rey has another show at the Enmore and then a set at Splendour In the Grass. The H&M model’s debut album ‘Born to Die’ went platinum and hit No. 1 in that country, one notch better than in the U.S., where it stopped at No. 2. The album will see a re-release in November with seven new tracks.