The Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O is no stranger to the silver screen. Her songs have appeared on a Bob Dylan biopic, a cheesy horror flick, and she most recently composed songs for the Spike Jonze-directed Where the Wild Things Are. While her relationship with the 40-year-old Jonze (they once dated) probably landed her a spot on the soundtrack for the Jonze-produced Jackass 2, we’d like to think she earned her spot on the Jackass 3D soundtrack all by herself. I mean, her Jackass 2 song – “Backass” – was pretty damn good and her cover of Roger Alan Wade’s “If You’re Gonna Be Dumb, You Gotta Be Tough” for 3D is definitely worth checking out as well.
Per TwentyFourBit, Karen O’s country-ish take of the song turns Wade’s hard-edged version into a far mellower affair. She takes the lyrics, “Well, I drenched my brain with Rot-Got whiskey/’til all my pain was chicken fried,” and makes the experience sound somewhat pleasing. And even though it’s impossible to believe her when she sings, “I had dudes with badges frisk me,” she doesn’t take her self too seriously on the tune. She laughs when she sings about getting “medals in honky tonk wars,” and it even sounds like Johnny Knoxville – who is cousins with Wade – and the rest of the Jackass crew join her for a shout-along chorus at the end.
Karen O’s cover is the third track on the film’s soundtrack, which is available digitally on October 12th and physically on October 26th. Peep the tracklist below (via P4k). Jackass 3D, the movie, hits theaters on October 15th.
Jackass 3D Soundtrack Tracklist:
01. Squeak E. Clean: “Corona (Jackass Opera Mix)”
02. Twisted Sister: “The Kids Are Back”
03. Karen O: “If You’re Gonna Be Dumb, You Gotta Be Tough”
04. Weezer: “Memories”
05. Roger Alan Wade: “Party in My Pants”
06. Smut Peddlers: “Invisible Man”
07. The Blasters: “I’m Shakin'”
08. Cock Sparrer: “I Got Your Number”
09. Roger Miller: “You Can’t Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd”
10. Sassafras: “Been Blown to Shreds”
11. Melanie: “Brand New Key”
12. Gang Green: “Alcohol”
13. CKY: “Afterworld”