I like Regina Spektor AND John Lennon AND making lists
So this all started with me having a girl-crush on Regina Spektor for all sorts of reasons but right now because of this song:
And, as is the case with youtube, I linked to other videos of her Bonnaroo show until I eventually came to this beautiful cover she did of a John Lennon tune (the Amnesty International link she mentions is Here) which got me thinking about covers in general and while I’d like to make an observation (or two or five), historically I’ve found conversations about music to be nearly as dangerous as conversations about politics. This could be because I dated a great deal of musicians in the past, many of whom felt a “conversation about music” meant either saying “(insert band name here) SUCKS,” or “(insert band name here) ROCKS,” and that’s the end of that, and if you try to insert a “but I really like that one song where they … “ you’d get THE LOOK. Like when they saw the Jagged Little Pill album on your CD shelf (this was pre-mp3’s, kids. We all bought CD shelves at IKEA and on the third date, when you finally brought him home to your apartment, he’d go right to that shelf. To size you up. So you had to be sure to display the Modest Mouse and Dismemberment Plan CD’s in the front and shove Tori and Alanis to the back. ‘Cause, of course, you couldn’t be THAT girl).
Especially tricky territory is the cover song. Apparently, there are certain song that aren’t allowed to be covered, or certain bands that aren’t allowed to cover other bands cause they’re not cool enough or punk enough or RRRRROCK enough or whatever and you know what? I’m thirty-two years old, people. Can we all just shut up for five seconds and enjoy life? Have a cocktail, emoboy! It’s a beautiful DAY! And plus, I LOVE covers. I love originals and updates and looking at the idea in a new way, THEREFORE: What follows is my favorite all time covers list.
NOTE: please don’t come after me in the comments with your “(insert band name here) SUCKS,” or your “You got that wrong, so-and-so didn’t write it, SO AND SO WROTE IT LIKE D’UH,” because then I will tell you you are sucky and maybe you should bite me and also JAGGED LITTLE PILL WAS A REALLY GOOD ALBUM.
1. RESPECT by Otis Redding, cover by Aretha Franklin
2. HEARTBEATS by The Knife, cover by Jose Gonzalez
3. I’M SO EXCITED by The Pointer Sisters, cover by Le Tigre
4. HURT by NIN, cover by Johnny Cash
5. TALIKIN’ CANDYBAR BLUES by Peter, Paul and Mary, cover by my dad
6. WHEN YOU WERE MINE by Prince, cover by Cyndi Lauper, cover by Ani Di Franco with Maceo Parker
7. NOTHING COMPARES 2 U by Prince, cover by Sinead O’Conner
8. HALLELUJAH by Leonard Cohen, cover by Jeff Buckley, cover by Rufus Wainwright
9. TAINTED LOVE by Gloria Jones, cover by Soft Cell
10. COME TOGETHER by The Beatles, cover by Aerosmith
11. CAN’T TAKE MY EYES OFF YOU by Roberta Flack, cover by Lauryn Hill
12. WHITE RABBIT by Jefferson Airplane, cover by Sleater-Kinney
13. PIECE OF MY HEART by Janis Joplin (yes, yes I know she didn’t write it or even perform it first but that song belongs to her, this can’t be argued), cover by Melissa Etheridge live at the 2005 Grammy’s when she was bald from beating cancer and it was totally badass.
14. KICK OUT THE JAMS by mc5, cover by Rage Against the Machine
15. I JUST DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF by Dusty Springfield, cover by The White Stripes
16. KNOCKIN’ ON HEAVEN’S DOOR by Bob Dylan, cover by Guns’n’Roses (back when Axl Rose was cool)
17. ME AND BOBBY McGEE by Roger Miller, cover by Janis
18. STAND BY ME by Ben E. King, cover by the Fugees
19. DEAR PRUDENCE by The Beatles, cover by Siouxsie and the Banshees
20. DON’T SPEAK by No Doubt, cover by Leela James
21. LOVE WILL TEAR US APART by Joy Division, cover by Nouvelle Vague AND The Frames AND Calexico AND Jose Gonzalez
22. COMFORTABLE NUMB by Pink Floyd, cover by Scissor Sisters
23. I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU by Dolly Parton, cover by Whitney Houston (pre-crazy)
24. FAITH by George Michael, cover by The Boy Least Likley to (listen for the banjo and the handclaps)
25. I PUT A SPELL ON YOU by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, cover by Nina f'ing Simone
Comments
I totally agree with the cover songs thing. Have you heard the Nouvelle Vague cover of "Dancing With Myself?" I've enjoyed that one for awhile now and they started using it in promos for LA Ink on TLC, which I'm kind of indifferent about.
The more I read your blog, the more I think I'm a lot like you when you were my age. I finally gave up dating musicians (unless they actually have goals outside of hoping they get signed and become the next big thing, which will cause another group of people to say they used to love them before they sold out) and I have no problem admitting what I like when it comes to music. Yes, I do have 21 Hanson CDs (which includes a shitload of import singles my friend gave me when she moved for college). Yes, I do have all the Dashboard Confessional CDs and while I'm not that impressed by the newest album, I still really love him (and I use him because I discovered him before the rest of the band was solid and I use the band as an analogy I'll explain later), even though there are throngs of 14 year old girls and their boyfriend sweetly cuddling and singing along to "Screaming Infidelies," not realizing that the song is about a girl who cheated on him (that's what infidelity is, you 14 year olds) and he wasn't happy to be seeing her hair everywhere.
And my last bit I want to write about cover songs: love love love most of them. And every since I started playing violin in two bands, I've been listening to music and thinking, "I would love to cover this song with one of the bands." I think when done well, a cover of any song can be fantastic, whether the original version was or not (if you can find Nickle Creek's cover of Britney Spears' "Toxic," that's exactly what I'm thinking). I'm not sure what the thoughts are of one of the bands I'm working with when it comes to covers, but i know with the other band it probably won't happen. This band is basically like being in Dashboard Confessional when you're not Chris Carrabba, only our Chris is a guy named Kevin who plays keyboard.
This is an absurdly long comment, so if you just want the short version this is it: Cover songs? Wonderful if done right. Pretentious emo boys who scoff at some of your music collection? Really suck and need to get over themselves. Will either of the bands I'm playing violin with do a cover of anything? I hope so, but don't know.
Posted by: Coley | August 13, 2007 12:22 PM
Regina Spektor was really awesome at Lollapalooza, though a little too mellow for that time of day and the level of drunkenness and all, but very beautiful and a beautiful voice, and can you imagine the talent it takes to get up in front of a crowd that size with just your voice and a piano? Amazing.
Posted by: Viki | August 15, 2007 6:54 PM
i'm printing this out and making a "megan loves covers" playlist to go with my "cover it up, baby" playlist. and i made you a cover selection CD so next time i see you dude say "where is my CD" and i will pull it out of my bag.
Posted by: carolyn | August 20, 2007 9:30 AM