Darling Don’t Be Afraid: John Grimes Of Jedward Releases Emotional Acoustic Cover Of Christina Perri’s ‘A Thousand Years’

First released in 2011, for the film ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1’, Christina Perri’s song, ‘A Thousand Years’ has long been on the soundtrack of lovers all over the world. It’s also a favourite of John Grimes, one half of Irish duo Jedward, who has now released a gorgeously emotional acoustic cover of the song.

Accompanied by his Gibson guitar, John sings with a sense that he feels every single syllable of the lyrics and note of the music; he has loved deeply in the past, and he will continue to do so. We’ve said it so many times of his covers, that he makes every song his own, and this is no exception, he’s taken the already highly emotionally charged song and imbued it with his own passion.

There’s no faulting John’s vocals or playing: let there be no confusion, he’s performed this direct to his phone, before uploading it to the internet, there’s been no further editing, auto-tuning, or other adjustments – the most he’s done is make a few takes and chosen the one he felt was best. Put simply – this is raw John, singing and playing his heart out, and he does it beautifully. It’s not merely heartfelt, it’s an arrow laden with powerful feeling, shot straight into our own hearts.

Not only can John convey strong emotions when covering other people’s songs, Jedward can do high charged emotional songs of their own. The duo recently revealed that they will soon be releasing the music video for their song, ‘Soul Crushing’, the first single from their 2019 fourth album, ‘Voice Of A Rebel’. When the single came out last year, we had this to say:

Lyrically Jedward display a profound understanding of the role of poetry, and an advanced understanding of meter and rhythm when it comes to song writing. Maturity of concept is another aspect of this song: more than just about lost love, ‘Soul Crushing’ addresses the heartfelt emotions experienced when the end of a relationship is beyond your control, with the lines, “And now I’m screaming into my pillow tonight”, providing the listener with a lyrical picture of the over-thinking that goes on – especially late at night.

Listen to John’s cover of ‘A Thousand Years’ below.