Sinead O'Connor comes to mind as your writer is surprisingly not disgusted by the just-released cover of a Tom Waits song by Scarlett Johannson, "Falling Down". Produced by TV On The Radio's David Sitek (and thus thoroughly mucked up and devoid of any subtlety), "Falling Down" is the first song from Anywhere I Lay My Head, an album comprised almost entirely of Waits covers.

At first listen, it's almost too easy to refer to the "Scarlett and me" lyric from the song and dismiss it as tripe, thanking David Bowie for showing up to give the track some saving grace, but one must remember that when an actress goes into music it can be an uphill battle against the naysayers.  So we step back in the interest of journalistic integrity and give it an honest listen. The verdict? It's OK. Johansson's voice is not as timeless as her beauty, and is mixed forgivingly into a codeine-infused piece of decent music.

It's not bad, but it's not great. Frankly, it's somewhere in the middle, and if it wasn't Scarlett Johansson, no one would care. But it is her, and people care. Many care only to see her fail, but on this one, we just can't join that contingent. The only other actress-cum-singer that has done it better is Minnie Driver.

Head over to Yahoo! Music to hear it for yourself.

Tags: New Releases, Scarlett Johannson, Tom Waits, TV On The Radio