A Brief Guide to Cover Songs

One of my absolutely favorite genres of music (although you can’t really call it a genre) is covers. I have this working theory, that is not fully fleshed out, that the sign of a great song is that it can be covered into almost any genre and still be a great song.

I just love hearing someone else’s interpretation of a song that I know and love. Event better, I love when there’s a song that I just feel meh about and I find a rendition that makes me actually love that song. When you find a cover that’s better than the original, or when that cover makes you actually like the original, that’s pure magic to me.

So, I regularly seek cover songs out. I go hunting for them. And a few years ago, I started to develop my own master playlist of all my favorite covers. It’s grown a lot over the years but to prevent it from overgrowing and becoming unmanageable, I’ve created some rules about what goes on my covers playlist and what I think makes a great cover song.

Cover Cannot Be More Famous Than the Original

In the last few years, you might have seen the info go around that Torn by Natalie Imbruglia is actually a cover! (If you’re just learning this, I guess insert mind blown emoji here.) Well, yes that’s true and as I’m researching this information to share with you, I just learned that the original was first recorded in Danish in 1993. And then again 2 years later by an American alt rock band. However, the Wikipedia article says, “Torn is best known as Australian pop singer Natalie Imbruglia’s 1997 debut single.” Key words there being Best Known. So, even though the Natalie Imbruglia version is in fact a cover, it doesn’t not fit on my playlist. Other covers of this song do (and I have them on here) but just not this one.

Other examples of this include:

• I Wanna Dance with Somebody by Whitney Houston
• Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinead O’Conner
• All Along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix

Cover Needs to Be Unique in Style, Tone, or Genre

This is an incredibly important element. The cover cannot just be a straightforward rendition of the original. To me, a good cover should offer something new to the song. A cover is really an interpretation of the original song and therefore I want to hear the unique voice of the artist that’s covering the song.

A good example of song that is just a straightforward rendition is Weezer’s version of Africa. It’s fun, especially considering the story of why it was made, but it just doesn’t offer anything new.

Cover Cannot Just Be “Pop Song but Make it Sad”

This is really a sub-rule the to the rule above but in the last few years, I’ve noticed this trend to cover pop songs but make them acoustic and sad. There’s a wealth of examples. Honestly, anything by Sleeping at Last is a good example of this.

This is not totally a hard a fast rule, and there are still some covers that fall into this category that I really enjoy. But in general, this trope has been way overused and now slowing a peppy song down doesn’t really add anything new.

Cover Bands with Kitschy Genres

This rule is very similar to the one above but about cover bands that do kitschy things with their songs. You know that Postmodern Jukebox? Basically, none of those make the cut. They’re cute. They’re sometimes fun to listen to. But they’re not particularly interesting to me. They all exist just to be clever and one the first listen that’s true but not after 100 songs.

A Few Standouts

Those are my rough guidelines and basically what I find exciting about cover songs. It’s really hard for me to narrow down to my top favorites. But I thought I’d share a few and some reasons why I love them.

He Hit Me by Grizzly Bear
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Upon doing research for this, I just discovered that this song was written by Carol King and Gerry Goffin. I did know that this was a Phil Spector Wall of Sound production and given the theme of the song, it makes the lyrics just that much more brutal. The original version, which is performed by the Crystals, isn’t exactly upbeat in the way that other Wall of Sound songs are (He’s a Rebel or Be My Baby) but it certainly is ambiguous in tone. If the lyrics were different, the tone of the song might feel like a love ballad.

I find the Grizzly Bear version utterly haunting. It’s dark, ominous, brutal, and accurately represents the true nature of the lyrics. It feels weird that I should love this cover so much and maybe love is the wrong word to use. But I always come back to this song. I just can’t get over the harshness of it.

This Magic Moment by Lou Reed
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When I think of This Magic Moment by The Drifters, I think of this scene in the 1993 movie The Sandlot. The version by The Drifters is probably one of my favorite songs. I always intend to do it at karaoke but always chicken out but that’s another matter.

I heard this Lou Reed version when I watched an episode of the show Abstract: The Art of Design on Netflix. Although, I guess this song was featured on the soundtrack to Lost Highway, because somehow everything comes back to David Lynch. Point being, this cover really captures the essence of how a cover song should be unique in style and genre. If you had only heard the Lou Reed version, could you have ever imagined that there would be a 1960s R&B version and vice versa? I think when I first heard this rendition, I thought “that song is familiar, but I can’t place it.” And that’s exactly how I want a cover song to make me feel.

Can’t Take My Eyes off of You by Lauryn Hill
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I have a lot to say about Lauryn Hill and this album in general. This album is probably the one I most associate with my childhood. I have a very specific memory of sitting in our grey Previa in the parking lot of the medical center where my pediatrician’s office was, listening to this song. Which is just another way of saying that we listened to this album a lot when I was a kid. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is undoubtedly one of the best albums ever made.

But at the end, as a bonus track is this cover of Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You. Honestly, I probably heard this version before I ever heard the Four Seasons version. And because of that, the Lauryn Hill version will probably always be my favorite.

Blister in the Sun by Nouvelle Vague
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Nouvelle Vague has a lot of great covers and from what I can tell, they are essentially a cover band, which kind of breaks one of my rules. But I make an exception here because I think several of their covers are standouts. In particular their version of Heart of Glass is one of my favorites. I almost added that to this list but instead I wanted to talk about Blister in the Sun.

The Nouvelle Vague version of Blister in the Sun was featured in the movie Bridesmaids (but yes, I did in fact know about it before then!) But turning a folk punk song into bossa nova: I just love to see it.

Wild World by Joanna Wang
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I’m honestly not really sure how I found this cover of the song. But that’s kind of history now because I’m absolutely obsessed with this version. I listen to it more than the Cat Stevens version. I think I love the gender bender reversal on this song. When Cat Stevens says,

“But if you want to leave take good care
Hope you have a lot of nice things to wear”

It sounds kind of mean and sexist. But when Joanna Wang sings it, it sounds empowering. Maybe that’s a double standard but I’m standing by it.

And yes, Joanna Wang has done many cover songs, but I don’t consider her a kitsch cover artist, so I’m letting this pass again.

First Cut Is the Deepest by Norma Fraser
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Okay, so I feel like tracking down the original to this song is hard. When I think of this song, I think of the Sheryl Crow version from 2003. However, I was listening to some of my records not too long ago and discovered that Rod Stewart has a version on his 1976 album A Night on the Town. Ah yes, this must be the original I thought! I didn’t do any research into this after I heard it. Then, this Norma Fraser version came up on a Spotify Weekly (damn, those things are good) and I wanted to know more. Turns out the Norma Fraser version came out in 1967. Wow, is this the original, you may ask. Nope! The original was written by our dear old friend Cat Stevens in 1967 and released by P.P Arnold that same year.

Anyways, this is a beautiful song, no matter who sings it and I am partial to this Norma Fraser version because I have increasingly fallen in love with Jamaican genres of music and how they shape each other and have been shaped by other genres. For example, rocksteady was heavily influenced by American rock, which then led to reggae and eventually dancehall.

Covers I’m Still Searching For

I told you that I go hunting for covers. Occasionally, I think of a song that I think is primed to be covered in a unique way and I go looking for interesting versions and not so surprisingly, I can’t always find my perfect cover version. Here are a few examples and if you know about any perfect covers of these songs, please send them my way.

Just Died in Your Arms Tonight

I had a strong “I don’t like 80s music” phase and even though there’s a lot of 80s music I do genuinely like, I still kind of have a weird thing about it. But I really love this song, euphemism and all. But for some reason, I got it in my head that there should be a perfect cover of this song. A rendition that does something really unique. I think I found something pretty close when I came across this version but honestly, I’m still looking.

Everybody’s Talkin’

So, I technically have a cover by Weyes Blood of this song on my playlist, but it borders on “just make it sad.” I really love the original and I think when I heard the Weyes Blood version I felt like it left a lot to be desired. So, I’m still searching for the perfect cover of this one.

Update: while writing this I discovered this Bill Withers version and it’s pretty damn close to what I had in mind.

Different Drum

I’ve recently become obsessed with this song. Don’t ask me why. (Also, did you know that Linda Ronstadt dated Jerry Brown and she is the one who coined calling him Moonbeam?) Anyways, I haven’t been searching for long and it looks like there are a ton of versions of this song that I now need to comb through to find one that hits all the right notes for me. I’ll update my playlist accordingly

Fan Favorites

What’s your favorite cover song? I posted this question on my Instagram. These are some of the responses I got.

• Passionfruit by Yaeji
• Same Drugs by MisterWives
• Slow Show by Coeur de Pirate
• Harmony Hall by Swtichfoot
• I Can’t Get No Satisfaction by Cat Powers
• The Whole of the Law by Yo La Tengo
• Whole Wide World by the Bahamas
• Valerie by Amy Winehouse by Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse
• Changes by Charles Bradley

The Playlist

Here is the famed playlist. Enjoy.