"
Yang Yang" was covered by
Anika and released as the lead single from her debut album
Anika in September 2010. The song was offered as the "Free MP3 of the Day" on
Spinner. On her choice to cover the song for her album, Anika explained, "I loved the way the words sounded and as an ex-politics student and political journalist, I thought the song would make a great cover.
Yoko Ono is renowned for her political views but I think there was a dark side to the lyrics that the original version had not fully explored."
Critical reception Heather Phares from
Allmusic described the song as a "fantastic anti-pop single, with
klaxon-like synths providing the hook and a bassline so strutting it could have been stolen from a
blaxploitation soundtrack." John Doran, in his review for
NME, commented, "Just when you thought the post-punk genre had been strip-mined for all potential inspiration, along comes Anika."
Drowned in Sound included Anika's cover of "Yang Yang" on its list
Singles of the Year 2010.
Music video The music video for Yang Yang was directed by John Minton, who had previously directed music videos for
Portishead,
Robert Plant, and
Amusement Parks on Fire. Shots of cartoon UFOs, Wall Street trading floors,
Ronald McDonald, the film ''
Monty Python's Life of Brian, the animated short The Skeleton Dance'', and the Earth as seen from outer space are shown throughout the video.
Track listing •
Digital download • "Yang Yang" – 2:55 • "
End of the World" – 2:58 ==References==