Jukka Ruottinen- In The Blood (The Cranberry Merchants Cover)

Reviewed by Duzzy Clayton

It is no secret I am a huge fan of Finland musician Jukka Ruottinen, a band I am also a huge fan of is the US band namely The Cranberry Merchants who are both talented in their own right 
So you can imagine my excitement when I heard Jukka has done a cover version of The Cranberry Merchants’ track, namely In The Blood.  
However, Jukka has put me in a bit of a bad position here because I am such a huge fan of both artists and also of the song In The Blood, I am now left to say who did it better, what in my opinion is the better version, something similar I had to do when Johhny Cash Covered NIN song namely Hurt. And my opinion is this, why choose? It is actually okay to like both versions for different reasons and because this review is for Jukka’s version I am going to say why I think it is such a great cover and version of the song, but before I start all that I want to say The Original version from The Cranberry Merchants  is just as awesome, it is, along with Black Maria  what introduced me to The Cranberry Merchants and the song will always have a special place in my heart 

One thing about Jukka Ruottinen, if you know anything about his covers, he really makes the song his own, a good example of that is his versions of Scanner- Its A War.  In the typical Jukka Version, he has gone and done it again and has really outdone himself with his take on the track In The Blood, and with total respect to the original, Jukka has managed to breathe new life into the track.
Stripped down to an acoustic version of the song, Jukka has managed to make the track very intimate and sings it with so much emotion, if you listen to the original version of the song, it is sung by Dianne Moore, a female vocalist but hearing  male vocals sing the song really makes for a nice gesture of the song and this is why I say it brings new life to the track 
Jukka’s voice is of perfection on this song and his pronunciations and emotions in which he sings it really actually made me take notice of the lyrics of the song, not that I didn’t take the lyrics in CM’s version but just something about the emotions in which Jukkar sings it, really made me ponder the lyrics and how deep they are. 

I must also comment on Jukka’s great guitar playing on the track really using the acoustic guitar to his advantage to bring out the emotion of his voice, by the time we get to the chorus and bridge of the song there is a slight hint of change of pace of guitar and vocals, I can just about make out a bit of lead guitar especially evident in the chorus 
I can picture myself adding this cover song to a playlist while I’m just driving on a highway or if I just need time to think and get my thoughts out in the open while spending some time on my own
I would like to congratulate Jukka Ruottinen on a very well-done cover I am in awe of his talent and ability to interpret an already well-written song and somehow put his own colors on the track and take it on a new direction but at the same time still pay respect and give tribute to the original version 
To hear more of Jukka Ruottinen’s music, tune into The Brunch And Lunch show With Duzzy Clayton every Wednesday we do Jukkar Wednesday and play his solo music or a song from one of the many bands and projects he is involved in 

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Lyrics

 

In The Blood

Well they found a way to paint the landscape
In their lame, but soulful gestures
While the thinking man struggles to plan
Just the token word requested

And I wanna see the world
But do I want to listen?
In the ways of the world
They’ve got a place for me

Endless string of litanies distill the household
Instill in us a sanity that never grows old
When we talk to heaven we’ve got a word like “pray”
When God talks back to us we’re crazy anyway

And I wanna see the world
But do I want to listen?
In the ways of the world
They’ve got a place for me

Is it something in our blood?
Do we think we know enough?

But we don’t know why we exist or die
Even in the sharpest minds
How are we so smart, how we got this far
When we think we are the one who’s more right
By our hand we’re to understand
That the wiser man is heard
And we can quietly accept the fate we’re served

Well they phased away complacency days
Just to scatter generations
Demography ads and yesterday’s fads
Are the moral separations

And I wanna see the world
But do I want to listen?
In the ways of the world
They’ve got a place for me

You think you’ve single-handedly got the earth to face
But a little desolation can go a long, long way
Even when we’re sleeping we feel the passage of time
While you write your standards tonight
I’ll be living mine

And I wanna see the world
But do I want to listen?
In the ways of the world
They’ve got a place for me

©2018 Stephen & Dianne Moore

credits

released September 20, 2023
Arranged and performed by Jukka Ruottinen.
Written by Dianne and Steve Moore.
Lyrics by Dianne Moore.
Cover photo by Riika Ruottinen.

The original song can be found from the The Cranberry Merchants’ debut EP
In the Blood, was released in 2018.

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