While appearing on 'The Tonight Show,' Amanda Seyfried sang a cover of California by Joni Mitchell, and the resemblance is uncanny. The 39-year-old American actress pulled out a dulcimer to strum while singing this iconic tune on Jimmy Fallon's evening show.
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Seyfried had shown off her stellar singing abilities when starring in Mamma Mia! and Les Miserables. Although we knew of her talent, we had no idea she could sing just like the 81-year-old singer-songwriter.
Amanda Seyfried Nails Cover Of 'California' By Joni Mitchell
When Fallon asked Seyfried on his March 4 show if she knew how to play any instruments, she listed a few common ones. Besides piano and guitar, she learned how to play the dulcimer, which she played when singing 1971's California.
"I would love to play something that's about a state which deserves a lot of love right now," said Seyfried. The actress is presumably calling back to the horrific wildfires that spread across Los Angeles in January.
Why the dulcimer? It's an Appalachian string instrument with only four strings, but there's a reason she chose it. "She wrote a lot of the songs from the Blue album on the dulcimer," Seyfried explained. This was the album California released on, so it's obvious why she'd choose it for this cover.
As soon as Seyfried started to play the instrument, the crowd began to cheer. But the stellar moment came when the actress started to sing the lyrics. Seyfried has a lovely, airy voice with a vibrato that sounds strangely similar to Mitchell's.
It's not an exact replica, but Seyfried nailed the cover and can certainly mimic Mitchell's iconic sound. The majority of the internet agrees, as the YouTube comments in response to the song were blown away.
"I grew up listening to Joni Mitchell n the 70's and was absolutely blown away when i heard Amanda Seyfried sing 'California'," one user wrote. "Had i not seen her, i wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between the two."
"Not an easy pitch to hit, but this was absolutely flawless," another listener said. Someone even claimed that Seyfried "transcended" Mitchell so well that it brought them to tears.
