YouTuber Denis Pauna imagines an alternate universe where hit songs were recorded by different artists. For his latest hypothetical, Pauna pondered, “What if Motörhead wrote ‘Personal Jesus’ by Depeche Mode?’”
That’s the title of the Croatian musician’s latest pseudo-mashup cover. As if to discover the answer to his own question, he dressed up in full Motörhead regalia — even donning Lemmy Kilmister’s signature mutton chops — and played Depeche Mode’s classic in the vein of the British heavy metal pioneers.
As Pauna proves, if Motörhead had written “Personal Jesus”, it would have still been an awesome song. Over a propulsive riff and the crushing Kilmister bass tone — all played by Pauna himself — hearing the chorus rendered through his spot-on Lemmy bark is truly satisfying.
It made us curious about the other “what if” crossover videos Pauna has made. Clearly, he has a taste for heavy bands. Here’s a few that caught our eye: if Type O Negative wrote Nirvana’s “Come As You Are”; if Alice in Chains wrote Metallica’s “Master of Puppets”; and if Ghost wrote “Enter Sandman”. Pauna’s channel also has experiments where he covers Metallica songs in different keys, as well as music from his own project, Planleft.
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The “Personal Jesus” crossover reminds us of a recent video in which YouTube singer-songwriter Frank Watkinson reinterpreted Slipknot’s “Snuff” in a style similar to Johnny Cash’s American albums. The Two Minutes to Late Night “Bedroom Covers” series has also been a great source of quarantine entertainment, as major metal musicians collaborate remotely on covers of classic songs.
Watch Pauna deliver Depeche Mode in the style of Motörhead below. For more videos, check out Pauna’s YouTube channel.
