Caroline Spence is giving Jimmy Eat World's early 2000s hit "The Middle" an Americana makeover. The singer-songwriter recently released her take on the track, in both full-band and acoustic form.

Spence began reworking "The Middle" while on tour in the fall of 2019. "During a long tour drive, I had rediscovered my love for Jimmy Eat World, this song and the whole Bleed American album," she recalls in a press release, noting that her first live performance of the song came "on a whim."

"Upon hearing "The Middle" for the first time in a long time, it still felt relevant to me, even all these years later," Spence shares, "and just as wonderful to remind myself that I was still 'in the middle of the ride.'"

Spence continued to perform "The Middle" live, even closing her sets with the cover earlier this year. "I think it's always good to have a cover in your back pocket as an opener, but I didn't expect this cover to be my favorite part of the set," she confesses.

"I've always known that this song meant a lot to me growing up," Spence continues, "but it wasn't until I played it every night for a month with the audience singing along did I realize just how much it was an anthem for the millennial generation when we felt like awkward middle schoolers and misfit high schoolers."

Spence calls "The Middle," a Billboard Alternative Songs chart No. 1 written by Jimmy Eat World, "one of the sweetest and wisest songs out there," even comparing it to seminal tracks such as Cat Stevens' "Wild World" and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's "Teach Your Children."

"It brings a smile to my face to sing it; to sing it feels like I'm comforting both myself and those in the audience," Spence notes. "I decided to record it as a way to keep that feeling going."

Spence released her Rounder Records debut album, Mint Condition, one year ago, in May of 2019; the project followed 2015's Somehow, her first release as an artist. The raw emotion, pure honesty and relatable sense of humor in her songs capture the human experience in all its beauty.

LISTEN: Hear Caroline Spence's Acoustic "The Middle" Cover

Who Is Caroline Spence? 5 Things You Need to Know

 

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