There’s one less sacred cow in Miley Cyrus’ world today: She unleashed a cover of the song “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You,” first recorded by Joan Baez, but later immortalized for millions of guys who love to say, “No, you’ve got hear it in HEADPHONES, man” by its inclusion on Led Zeppelin’s self-titled debut album. Cyrus steers much closer to the Zeppelin version of the song than the Baez version—which is understandable, given that the former is far more bombastic than the latter, and Miley isn’t having any of your arguments for being anything less than bombastic. It’s also a distinctly more lo-fi production than her usual singles.
Not surprisingly, the Internet has responded about as expected. The Soundcloud stream is littered with comments ranging from the questioning (“Who do you think you are to cover a great song like that?”), to the imploring (“plz kill yourself”), to the helpfully informative (“One day, when you’re washed up, fully drugged out and broke, you will finally realize you were never an artist”). There are a few brave defenders (”luv u”), but they are mostly drowned out by a tidal wave of furious rage.
This marks the latest in a series of high-profile covers that Cyrus has unleashed on the world over the past year, some captured live in concert, while others are merely rumored to exist. They all join the growing number of cover songs she has now performed in her career. It’s entirely possible at this point that she’s just slowly accumulating material for an all-covers album—something that considering her “strategic hot mess” career plan, would definitely be a canny move on her part.