When Swimmingly, the project of British musician Mack Hofberg, submitted his song “Fred Astaire” to me, it instantly grabbed me and sounded so familiar but I couldn’t place it. When I looked closer I realized why it felt like I had heard it before – because I had.
Hofberg cleverly covered “Fred Astaire,” from Greta Gerwig’s 2017 film Lady Bird. The song which is just briefly performed in a scene by a band featuring Timothée Chalamet, is actually written by musician Adam Brock (hear his version here).
Hofberg takes the upbeat jangly “Swimmingly” and gives it a melancholic acoustic reworking that packs the same power, just in a more thoughtful emotive fashion.
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