“Changes” Cover by Seu Jorge

’s 1972 song “Changes” is a rock classic. It’s merited many covers since its debut, but none have proved as moving or intimate as that of Brazilian artist Seu Jorge – none have ever stricken us as a potential memorial song. But Jorge’s cover was made for a bittersweet, reflective moment. Bowie himself even said that if “Seu Jorge had not recorded my songs, I would never have heard this new level of beauty which he has imbued them with.”

Initially, Jorge’s “Changes” was made for the 2004 Wes Anderson film, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. The choice to sing in Portuguese works with sweet effortlessness (even if the lyrics don’t always translate perfectly). There’s also something to be said for his choice to create an acoustic cover. The guitar creates a quiet strength, highlighting the pensive nature of Bowie’s lyrics (which would normally be overshadowed by a faster rhythm):

Seu Jorge.
Credit: Brasil Summerfest

Strange fascination, fascinating me/
Changes are taking the pace/
I’m going through

Pretty soon now you’re gonna get older/
Time may change me/
But I can’t trace time/
I said that time may change me/
But I can’t trace time

Change. It’s the song’s central theme, which explores the frustration and anger that accompanies the loss of time—perhaps of a loved one, too:

I watch the ripples change their size/
But never leave the stream/
Of warm impermanence and
So the days float through my eyes.

The lyrics take on a cathartic relevance when seen through the eyes of one who is grieving. Time becomes a strange thing when a loved one dies. One day, it can lump the hours and minutes together into a surreal, numb atmosphere that pervades everything – making “the days float through” the week (as Bowie writes and Jorge coos).

Yet, there is a firm confidence in the refrain “time may change me/ but I can’t trace time.” We can’t help the fact that time will change us through inevitable losses and alterations. Nor can we undo those losses through constantly tracing time. You can’t change change — it’s something we have to go through together, in “strange fascination.” And that’s one realization with memorial song material.

Read all of the lyrics here.

Check out more memorial music here.