Cover songs have long been a staple of karaoke bars, but they are also the ace in the pocket of any great musician. A good cover song is an art form unto itself, and it is an art form the contestants of American Idol are yet to master.
But what makes a good cover song?
First and foremost: it has to stack up to the original, and unless you are covering Britney Spears this can be a formidable task. Posers are lame, so the second rule of a good cover song: put your own spin on it. If we wanted to hear an exact mimic of The Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses," we'd listen to the original. Good covers switch up genres, strip away instruments or utilize a singer of a different gender.
The following are just a few examples of excellent contemporary covers. Idols, pay attention! This is how it's done!
"Too Drunk to F**k" by Nouvelle Vague
ORIGINALLY BY: THE DEAD KENNEDYS
When Jello Biafra belts out the lyrics of "Too Drunk to F**k," it is a gritty, slapdash melee about rowdy punk drunkendom. But when the sexy French girls of Nouvelle Vague coo "Went to a party, I danced all night / I drank sixteen beers and started up a fight!" this song takes on a whole new meaning.
With theatrical live shows and sensuous singing Parisian filles, this is not your standard cover band. Nouvelle Vague performs 80s New Wave songs with a Brazilian Bossa Nova twist. You probably heard their cover of "Heart of Glass" tinkering in the background at your local Urban Outfitters... however, Nouvelle Vague is too cool to be relegated to ambience. Buy the album.
"The Last Beat of My Heart" by DeVotchKa
ORIGINALLY BY: SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES
Most covers strip away instruments in an effort to pump more emotion into a song. The problem with "The Last Beat of My Heart" is you don't get much more stripped down than Siouxsie & the Banshees' original.
So DevotchKa, perhaps one of the best live bands in the U.S.A. today, took this cover suggestion from The Arcade Fire and vamped up their instrumentation. DeVotchKa brilliantly blends violins, accordians, drums and Nick Urata's soaring Mariachi vocals to turn what was an achingly sorrowful ode to heartbreak into a powerful anthem about undying love.
"Troubled So Hard" by Paolo Nutini
COVER OF: "NATURAL BLUES" BY MOBY / ORIGINALLY BY: VERA HALL AND DOCK REED
Paolo Nutini is one of those rare modern musicians who sounds a hundred times better live. Nutini's over-produced studio album just doesn't capture his appeal, an appeal rooted in his hunchbacked stage presence and churned-asphalt, gravelly voice.
In his live show, Nutini performs this cover of Moby's "Natural Blues," which in turn was a sample of Vera Hall and Dock Reed's little-known, super duper rare "Trouble So Hard." I'm sure Vera and Dock would be all a-twitter-pated if they saw their modest blues number being performed all over the world in front of thousands upon thousands of fans.
"Common People" by William Shatner
I've mentioned this song before, but it is so fan-friggin-tastic it gets an encore. Indie rock band Pulp performs the more-than-awesome original, yet somehow (inexplicably) Shatner's spoken-word version rocks even MORE. ?!?!?!?!?!
To be fair, Captain Kirk had some help. Ben Folds arranged the music, and Joe Jackson sings the rocked out chorus. The lyrics themselves are delectable, about a rich girl who slums it with the "common people," only to be torn down for being "a tourist" who thinks "poor is cool." *Writer's note: of my four suggestions, this is the only one I haven't seen performed live, ruining my music geek streak... damn you Shatner!
The Good Music Corner began after VFTW's infallible Dave noticed an inundation of pretentious music geeks visiting his site. This blog, in addition to countering the poor quality music marketed on American Idol, serves as a soapbox for self-proclaimed musicologists.
If you have a submission for the Suggestion Box, would like to talk music, or feel a need to complain about the likeness of the caricatured Idols adorning the banner of this site, you may email Laura at CaricaturesByLaura at Yahoo.com.
Comments
Unfortunately, the best
Unfortunately, the best performance I've honestly seen on Idol is Chris Connelly's "Billie Jean", changed to acoustic and electric guitar and time changes to 3/4 time, like a waltz. David Cook chose an obscure cover instead of playing it straight and safe and yes, a rip-off of Connelly's, but Connelly had to sign off on the use of the song in that performance so call him a sell-out to the Idol machine as well.
I'm glad someone already pointed out Johnny Cash's Hurt... Other great covers include A Perfect Circle's cover of Depeche Mode's People are People (A Perfect Circle's album Emotive is all great covers!) and more obscurely His Name is Alive's cover of Man on a Silver Mountain sung with just a treated guitar and 2 high pitched almost falsetto female vocals.
I had fun compiling some of
I had fun compiling some of my favorite covers:
Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen) covered by Jeff Buckley
Bizarre Love Triangle (New Order) covered by Frente
Please Please Please Let Me (The Smiths) covered by Muse
All Along the Watchtower (Bob Dylan) covered by Hendrix
Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division) covered by Fall Out Boy
Dear Prudence (The Beatles) covered by Siouxsie & the Banshees
Just Like Heaven (The Cure) covered by Dinosaur jr
Superstar (The Carpenters) covered by Sonic Youth
Running up that Hill (Kate Bush) covered by Placebo
The Man Who Sold the World (David Bowie) covered by Nirvana
Wonderwall (Oasis) covered by Ryan Adams
Blue Monday (New Order) covered by Orgy
Mad World (Tears for Fears) covered by Michael Andrews
Aint no Sunshine (Bill Withers) covered by Eva Cassidy
Across the Universe (The Beatles) covered by Rufus Wainwright (Fiona Apple too)
Sea of Love (Phil Philips) covered by Iggy Pop (good Cat Powers version too)
Purple Haze (Hendrix) covered by The Cure
St. James Infirmary Blues covered by The White Stripes
A Change is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke) covered by Cold War Kids
The defining element of a
The defining element of a truly great song is whether it can be performed in a variety of styles & still remain a great song.
Here are a few covers people may have forgotten.
Nirvana covering Dutch band Shocking Blue's song Love Buzz - and their unplugged version of Bowie's Man Who Sold The World.
Santana covering Peter Green/Fleetwood Mac's Black Magic Woman.
Hendrix's famous live version of the Troggs' Wild Thing - which itself was a cover.
Otis Redding covering The Stones' Satisfaction.
Elvis Presley covering Big Mama Thornton's original version of Hound Dog - (written by Leiber & Stoller).
British prog band The Nice covering Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story evergreen, America, and turning into a crazy instrumental freak out.
Soft Cell covering Gloria Jones's Tainted Love.
Joe Cocker turning the Beatles' throwaway With A Little Help From My Friends into an anguished tour de force.
and even Frank Sinatra's (or Sid Vicious') My Way was originally based on a French song but with new English language lyrics.
Sadly I don't think anyone appearing on AI will ever have the artistry to create anything quite so memorable.
U2's "Mysterious Ways" by
U2's "Mysterious Ways" by KMFDM
http://www.dizzler.com/music/KMFDM/Mysteriousways
The Smiths "How Soon Is Now" by T.A.T.U. - *because lesbians are freakin awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eGvmB8Phk8
Radiohead's "Creep" by Karen Souza (Jazz and the 90's album) *in fact I recommend anything from Jazz and the 80's/80's part 2/90's to see how to transform a song into a different genre.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McR8zFSW_7M
Don Henley's "The Boys of Summer" by The Ataris (So Long Astoria album)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxkLHAJ6w-0
Run DMC's "It's Tricky" by the Bloodhound Gang (Take a bite Outta Rhyme album)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nIo6fcZY2E (it starts at around 0:21)
N.W.A.'s "Straight Outta Compton" by Nina Gordon * if only Brooke White had sung this version!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG2EGOB9-lc&feature=related
Well those are my best examples, look them up and see if you like them.
Other great covers: "Baby
Other great covers:
"Baby Got Back" by Jonathan Coulton
the album "12 Crass Songs" by Jeffrey Lewis
"Beautiful" by Elvis Costello (covering Christina Agulera's song)
All good choices... However
All good choices... However this pertains to AI awfulness...
If you can, find and listen to Ted Leo's acoustic cover of Kelly Clarksons "Since You Been Gone." In the middle of it, he seamlessly switches over to the Yeah Yeah Yeah's "Maps" , thus showing everyone that the bridge riff in both songs is exactly the same(YYY's came first).
It's pure mockery gold and would be hysterical if wasn't actually so damn good.
Travis' version of Britney
Travis' version of Britney Spears' "Baby One More Time". Phenomenal.
wow I can't believe VTFW
wow I can't believe VTFW forgot this one. Johnny Cash's cover of Nine Inch Nails "Hurt". Johnny Cash took a great song by the industrial-metal band and turned it into a slow rock/country song. He also did it a couple months after his wife die and a couple months before he died. He took the song and made it about his life, it made me cry the first time. especially watch the video.
Another good cover is Paramores cover of "Hero" by the Foo Fighters. The foo fighters was originally this big rock ballad about a hero (it was written for a spiderman movie) and when paramore did it it became a slow love song. Completely different feel to it which I love.
Another good cover is SOmething I Can Never Have by Flyleaf, originally by Nine Inch Nails, they dont change the meaning of the song but definately make it more rock, cause the original is a little boring haha
For good covers, check out
For good covers, check out the CD "Songs for a Blue Guitar" by Red House Painters. It contains the cover of the Cars "All Mixed Up" which was kind of popular for a while. Great version. It also has an awesome redoing of Yes's Long Distance Runaround, and perhaps killing two birds with one stone, does Paul McCartney's "Silly Love Songs" to the tune of Neil Young's "Cortez the Killer" and it works.
deleted due to double post
deleted due to double post
Kudos to whoever mentioned
Kudos to whoever mentioned Ben Folds' "Bitches Ain't Shit". I LOVE that cover.
Also notable - Nickel Creek's "Toxic" (originally by Britney Spears) and Obadiah Parker's "Hey Ya" (originally by OutKast).
Not to take anything away
Not to take anything away from the previous Good Music entries, but this is easily the most "relevant" to AI. It's always difficult for me to imagine most of the AI contestants as musicians/singers in any forum other than karaoke, because that's essentially what they're doing. The only possiblity they have to impress people like me (& I suspect most Worsters) is to do a good cover of a song in the ways you've suggested, Laura.
Big-head Cook was thought of as the tits because he did different arrangements of popular songs. It would have worked if he had come up with those arrangements himself instead of ripping off someone else's cover.
No list of great cover songs
No list of great cover songs would be complete without Cake's rendition of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvsI3jc4pPA
Cibo Matto's version of
Cibo Matto's version of Nirvana's 'About A Girl' is a good one
I like What Difference Does
I like What Difference Does it Make by Bobby Bare Jr. (Original by the Smiths)
Can't believe I fogot to
Can't believe I fogot to include this, as it's one of my favorite covers ever:
Dr. Dog covers Architecture In Helsinki's "Heart It Races" - The original is a fine example of AIH's manic, kindergartener-on-acid vibe, but my jaw dropped when I first heard the Dr. Dog version. For a little backstory, AIH recruited four other artists to remix/re-record their single "Heart It Races," and then they released them all together in a little EP. The absolute stand out of all of the versions (including the original!) was Dr. Dog's laid back, So-Cal groove. Replacing the steel drums of the original with a trippy slide guitar, distant background vocals, and some handclaps, Dr. Dog have produced the best cover I've heard in a long time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QvJ3dXqmvw
In 1987, Pet Shop Boys
In 1987, Pet Shop Boys performed a thoughtful new-wave version of "Always on My Mind" on Love Me Tender, an ITV network television special commemorating the tenth anniversary of Presley's death, in which various popular contemporary acts performed cover versions of his hits. Their performance was so well-received that the group decided to record the song and release it as a single. This version became the U.K.'s Christmas number one single that year, beating "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, and topping the charts for four weeks in total. It also reached number one in Germany in 1988, and peaked at number four in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 the same year, becoming the duo's fifth and last Top 10 hit there.
In November 2004, The Daily Telegraph newspaper placed the version at number two in a list of the fifty greatest cover versions of all time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2pNF_IXfyI
Despite a sizable amount of original material, the Gourds are probably best known for a song they did not write, and for which they initially did not receive credit (many internet tracks of their brilliant cover are still falsely labelled "Phish"). A full twelve years after its live debut, fans can still be heard calling out for the band's cover version of Snoop Dogg's "Gin and Juice", often before they have even taken the stage. This has led some to consider it an albatross, but the band continues to play the crowd pleaser on occasion, adding various impromptu covers to its mid-section as a way of maintaining its appeal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCAM3C3dpIA
You'll laugh at this, but I
You'll laugh at this, but I loved HERE COMES MY BABY by Cat Stevens, from the RUSHMORE soundtrack. Music doesn't have to be complex to be entertaining.
Any local-level rock band doing a gig in a different city should do at least two covers, and they should be catchy. A good cover brings attention to a band that's performing in unfamiliar territory.
Ok, I know most country
Ok, I know most country music sucks but my husband has taken a liking to the Zac Brown Band ("Chicken Fried") and he made me listen to a cd that he burned of theirs. Oddly enough there was an interesting cover that definitely caught my attention. Even with it being country, I felt it was entertaining and definitely a good cover.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S71Pa9M-SOc
"Gin and Juice"
Some of my favorites: The
Some of my favorites:
The Futureheads cover Kate Bush's "Hounds of Love" - A barbershop punk cover of a new wave goddess that arguably eclipses the original. The Futureheads' manic vocal hiccups and straight ahead post-punk power provide an energy that makes this song irresistible.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZH1h9l0w84
Jose Gonzalez covers The Knife's "Heartbeats" - Gonzalez's cover of “Heartbeats” adds an unexpected depth and striking beauty to a song that beforehand was just a fun dance tune. In Gonzalez’s version, the song is transformed into an aching love song hinting at infidelity and the release of forgiveness. While I am a huge fan of The Knife’s version, José Gonzalez has taken this song an infused so much emotion into it that he truly made it his own.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4_4abCWw-w
Lyle Lovett covers the Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil" - Using acoustic guitar and bass, lightly tapped bongos, and an understated cello, Lovett adds his incomparable singing voice to coax out the sweet melody and emotion of one of the Dead’s best and most endearing songs. The end result is an impeccably gorgeous cover, one that stands right up there with the original.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-LKkaJQkqo
You had to include Ben Folds
You had to include Ben Folds Five's version of Dr.Dre's Bitches aint Shit!
The Piano playing, Lounge singer tone with the Dre lyrics makes me laugh still! even after listening to it a thousand times!
And the arrangement was actually cool!!
BEST COVER EVER!
Great Call. I'd also throw
Great Call.
I'd also throw in Devo's cover of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction."