Post 11:Covers Are Great. Aren't Covers Great? (Yes, Yes They Are)

Hey. You know what I love? Music. And I love when the artists that I love, love the music of other artists, and therefore proceed to produce covers of said beloved music, and then let me listen to it. It's lovely! Therefore, I wanted to talk a bit about covers, specifically rad covers that are great.

I talked about covers a little bit quite a while ago; in my post on folk music, I may have implied that basically every folk song from the 60's was originally by Bob Dylan. I'm going to go ahead and stand on that, and back it up with a couple of fantastic covers of his stuff. Specifically, Gun's N' Roses Knockin' On Heaven'sDoor (here's the original), and Hendrix's version of All Along The Watchtower (ditto). I mean, I don't even like GnR, and I still love Knockin' On Heaven's Door. And as far as All Along The Watchtower goes, I don't even know what to say. I realize not everyone likes listening to long jamming solos being played virtuoso-style, but I don't see how anyone can hate on this song. It's just... so good at being what it is, even if you don't like it you still have to appreciate it. Personally I'd recommend loving it instead of appreciating it, but I'm not your mom. You should listen to it, though. (also, as a side note: while I was looking up links I found a live cover Jimi did of Like a Rolling Stone, and it's awesome. It's very long and meandering, and overall I prefer the original, but this is still a really good version, well worth listening to).

Next up is something newer and not by Dylan, for once. I'm pretty fond of Mumford and Sons (particularly Winter Winds, which is a fantastic song in every way), and it turns out they've done some rock solid covers! My personal favorite is actually from Disney's Robin Hood; they did a version of Not In Nottingham (original here), and gosh dang son. It is just ridankulous. They have also done a cover of The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel, also fantastic, although I wouldn't exactly describe it as ridankulous. To be fair, that's mostly because The Boxer is a really depressing, beautiful song, and that would just enormously inappropriate.

Moving on, here are two covers from bands that became famous through viral hits on Youtube, both of which I'm very fond of. Pomplamoose and Walk Off The Earth have both done a TON of fantastic covers, but I just wanted to highlight a favorite from each of them. I think Pomplamoose' cover of Aerosmith's Don't Wanna Miss A Thing (original) was the first song of theirs I heard, and it's still one of my favorites. Who knew wall of sound vocals sung in a minor key could be so appealing? As far as Walk Off The Earth goes, they've made a silly number of great covers, but one of my favorites is Ice Cream, which was apparently originally by Sarah Maclachlan. I have no idea who she is, but I really like at least one of her songs, when it's covered by a different band in a different style. Still, she has good lyrics.

I would also feel remiss if I failed to mention Cee-Lo Green's cover of No One's Gonna Love You, originally by Band of Horses. I like the original, but comparing it with the cover is like comparing skim milk with heavy whipping cream. Literally, the experience is very similar; one is watery and almost translucent, one is so thick that drinking it straight is almost a physical impossibility, not to mention kind of disgusting. The one you should listen to depends on your mood. If you're feeling slightly strung out and don't really want to gin up the energy to string yourself back together, consider the original. If you want to get keyed up with a love ballad that may actually have more hair on it's chest than Band of Horses does on all its combined chins (for the record, that's quite a lot), go with Cee-Lo. You won't regret it.

Lastly, I have recently discovered that apparently there's a thing where modern bands do shimmery, super synth heavy covers of 80's pop, and I LOVE IT. In particular, I'm thinking of two songs: a version of the Jackson Five's I Want You Back (original) by Discovery, and a version of Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (original) by a band called STRFKR (fun fact: their original name was way less socially acceptable, but they changed it last year when they kept mysteriously not getting any popular notice. I'll let you figure out what it was on your own; it will not be difficult). I love both of these songs, and I really like shimmery synth, and both of these covers are great. Seriously, listen to them and be enriched.

  And even more lastly, here's a bonus song (with an awesome music video to accompany it, no less)! Goldfishes song We Come Together is... I'm not sure, exactly. It's possible to swing to, albeit it very aggressively,  and it might be considered electro-swing (a genre that holds a very soft spot in my heart, which will have to wait for another day), but I don't think it is exactly. Regardless, it is a great song, and it has a music video where an animated band rescues a princess by fighting a group of evil cats through an 8-bit world. If you can't love that, we need to talk.