Big Star wrote it, Jamie T sampled it, and it was one of Jeff Buckley’s favourite songs. The story of the sleazy song that was reimagined to capture “the beauty of despair”

A still from the video for This Mortal Coil's Kangaroo.

“Ivo didn't let me hear the song before I went to the studio,” says Cinder Sharp, the singer of This Mortal Coil’s 1984 single, Kangaroo. “I walked into the studio, Ivo put it on, said, ‘This is the song I want you to sing,’ and I immediately went: ‘This is shit! This is a shit song!’"

“I mean, I've completely changed my mind,” she says. “I love the original version much more than my own. But I didn't get it. I didn't understand the kangaroo part.”