In my never ending quest to bring you the best new songs of the past year, I was struck by one thing: there have been a lot of good cover songs lately. Since I'm not inclined to include covers in my list (Mates of State's Second Hand News in 2010 -- before I started posting the list here -- and Dwight Yoakam's Dim Lights, Thick Smoke are, I believe, the only exceptions) and because there are so many good new songs (and artists) this year, I decided to do a separate list for covers as an appetizer for this year's forthcoming favorite songs list.
So what makes for a good cover in my opinion? I'm not sure. I don't want a "remake" but I am admittedly sometimes am offended when a song strays too far from the original as well. I suppose the list itself speaks for what I'm looking for in a good cover -- and it does not necessarily include the requirement that I loved, or even liked, the original.
Two caveats about these songs: (1) one is not a cover but rather an "original"; and (2) I bent my rules a little and there are several that were released in 2017 (but for the most part I didn't hear them until 2019). Enjoy boys and girls!
1. I'm Goin' Down by Vampire Weekend.
"I pull you close now, baby, but when we kiss, I can feel a doubt
I remember back when we started
My kisses used to turn you inside out
I used to drive you to work in the morning
Friday night I'd drive you all around
You used to love to drive me wild, yeah
But lately girl you get your kicks from just driving me down
Down, down, down."
What do you get when you combine The Boss with one of my favorite indie bands? "That's gold, Jerry. Gold!" Apparently VW has covered this song in one form or another since 2010. But it's the stripped down version recorded for Spotify this year (for you fellow old folks, click words to take you there -- it's a link -- that's why it's orange) that got my attention and propelled it to the top of my covers list for 2019.
2. Dancing in the Dark by Lucy Dacus.
"Stay on the streets of this town
And they'll be carvin' you up alright
They say you gotta stay hungry
Hey baby, I'm just about starvin' tonight."
Yep, another Springsteen song at the top. Given my admiration for both The Boss and Lucy Dacus, it was inevitable that her cover of Dancing in the Dark would end up near the top of this list. This version is loyal to The Boss's original, but has a little extra something ... maybe it's the drums and the guitar. Or the female voice?
3. Love Yourself by Dashboard Confessional.
"For all the times that you rain on my parade
And all the clubs you get in using my name
You think you broke my heart, oh girl for goodness sake
You think I'm crying on my own well I ain't
...
My mama don't like you and she likes everyone."
Love Yourself by Dashboard Confessional. That's right, a Justin Beiber cover, you got a problem with that? To be fair, Ed Sheeran got a writing credit on it too. That last quoted line alone is worth the price of admission.
4. The Twist by Wintersleep.
"Lets pretend I'm attractive and then
You won't mind, you can twist for a while
It's the night, I can be who you like
And I'll quietly leave before it gets light."
The first of several songs on the list from "Tiny Changes" a collection of covers by various artists of Frightened Rabbit's The Midnight Organ Fight. Some of the covers fall a little flat for me, but others are a perfect celebration of Scott Hutchison and his music. This is one of my favorite Frightened Rabbit songs, particularly the above lyrics. Wintersleep turns Scott Hutchison's funny but sad version into an anthem that is every bit the equal of the original.
5. Manic Monday by Prince.
"Have to catch an early train
Got to be to work by nine.
And if I had an airplane
I still couldn't make it on time."
This is the "original" alluded to in my above - not actually a cover but Prince's version of a long-enjoyed song from the album "Originals." The Bangles, of course, recorded it first.
6. Whole Wide World by Cage The Elephant.
"When I was a young boy
My mama said to me
'There's only one girl in the world for you
And she probably lives in Tahiti.
I'd go the whole wide world
Go the whole wide world just to find her."
With a nod to Will Farrell in Stranger Than Fiction, this is probably my favorite cover of the Wreckless Eric original.
7. Old Old Fashioned by Josh Ritter,
"I'll turn off the TV
It's killing us, we never speak.
There's a radio in the corner
It's dying to make a scene."
Another song from the Tiny Changes album, this one re-imagines Frightened Rabbit's waltz across the carpet as a honky tonk stomp.
8. Dancing in the Moonlight (It's Caught Me in The Spotlight) by Alt-J.
"When I passed you in the doorway
And you took me with a glance
Should've been on that last bus home
But I asked you for a dance."
I like it when an artist can take a song and turn it into something different entirely (much like Aretha Franklin did to Otis Redding, or, to me anyway, The Band did to Springsteen with its rendition of "Atlantic City"). Here Alt-J turns Thin Lizzy's middling "Dancing in The Moonlight" into a lovely quiet ballad. And "it's alright, alright."
9. I Melt With You by Surfer Blood.
"I'll stop the world and melt with you
You've seen the difference and it's getting better all the time
There's nothing you and I won't do
I'll stop the world and melt with you."
One of my all time favorite early alternative (pop punk?) songs, Surfer Blood's cover is, to me, the right mix of faithfulness to the original and an update 37 (holy mackerel, 37???) years after it was first released.
10. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) by Big Head Todd and The Monsters (with John Popper).
"But now you're sad, your mama's mad
And your papa says he knows that I don't have any money
Oh your papa says he knows that I don't have any money
Oh your daddy says he knows that I don't have any money
Well, tell him this is his last chance
To get his daughter in a fine romance
'Cause a record company, Rosie, just gave me a big advance."
Along with the Frightened Rabbit theme throughout the list this is the other: The Boss. Big Head Todd and The Monsters' rendition of Rosalita (Come Out Tonight), with some help, from John Popper of Blues Traveler fame, still seems as rebellious and raucous as the original. But while the harmonica is nice, but I still miss Clarence's sax ...
11. My Backwards Walk by Manchester Orchestra.
"I'm working on my faults and cracks
Filling in the blanks and gaps
And when I write them out they don't make sense
I need you to pencil in the rest."
The final song of the list, and the final one from "Tiny Changes." Manchester Orchestra's version of My Backwards Walk is one of those that strikes the right chord(s) for me between homage and interpretation. Plus you can never grow tired of hearing Hutchison's plaintive line "you're the sh!t and I'm knee deep in it."
What do you get when you combine The Boss with one of my favorite indie bands? "That's gold, Jerry. Gold!" Apparently VW has covered this song in one form or another since 2010. But it's the stripped down version recorded for Spotify this year (for you fellow old folks, click words to take you there -- it's a link -- that's why it's orange) that got my attention and propelled it to the top of my covers list for 2019.
2. Dancing in the Dark by Lucy Dacus.
"Stay on the streets of this town
And they'll be carvin' you up alright
They say you gotta stay hungry
Hey baby, I'm just about starvin' tonight."
Yep, another Springsteen song at the top. Given my admiration for both The Boss and Lucy Dacus, it was inevitable that her cover of Dancing in the Dark would end up near the top of this list. This version is loyal to The Boss's original, but has a little extra something ... maybe it's the drums and the guitar. Or the female voice?
3. Love Yourself by Dashboard Confessional.
"For all the times that you rain on my parade
And all the clubs you get in using my name
You think you broke my heart, oh girl for goodness sake
You think I'm crying on my own well I ain't
...
My mama don't like you and she likes everyone."
Love Yourself by Dashboard Confessional. That's right, a Justin Beiber cover, you got a problem with that? To be fair, Ed Sheeran got a writing credit on it too. That last quoted line alone is worth the price of admission.
4. The Twist by Wintersleep.
"Lets pretend I'm attractive and then
You won't mind, you can twist for a while
It's the night, I can be who you like
And I'll quietly leave before it gets light."
The first of several songs on the list from "Tiny Changes" a collection of covers by various artists of Frightened Rabbit's The Midnight Organ Fight. Some of the covers fall a little flat for me, but others are a perfect celebration of Scott Hutchison and his music. This is one of my favorite Frightened Rabbit songs, particularly the above lyrics. Wintersleep turns Scott Hutchison's funny but sad version into an anthem that is every bit the equal of the original.
5. Manic Monday by Prince.
"Have to catch an early train
Got to be to work by nine.
And if I had an airplane
I still couldn't make it on time."
This is the "original" alluded to in my above - not actually a cover but Prince's version of a long-enjoyed song from the album "Originals." The Bangles, of course, recorded it first.
6. Whole Wide World by Cage The Elephant.
"When I was a young boy
My mama said to me
'There's only one girl in the world for you
And she probably lives in Tahiti.
I'd go the whole wide world
Go the whole wide world just to find her."
With a nod to Will Farrell in Stranger Than Fiction, this is probably my favorite cover of the Wreckless Eric original.
7. Old Old Fashioned by Josh Ritter,
"I'll turn off the TV
It's killing us, we never speak.
There's a radio in the corner
It's dying to make a scene."
Another song from the Tiny Changes album, this one re-imagines Frightened Rabbit's waltz across the carpet as a honky tonk stomp.
8. Dancing in the Moonlight (It's Caught Me in The Spotlight) by Alt-J.
"When I passed you in the doorway
And you took me with a glance
Should've been on that last bus home
But I asked you for a dance."
I like it when an artist can take a song and turn it into something different entirely (much like Aretha Franklin did to Otis Redding, or, to me anyway, The Band did to Springsteen with its rendition of "Atlantic City"). Here Alt-J turns Thin Lizzy's middling "Dancing in The Moonlight" into a lovely quiet ballad. And "it's alright, alright."
9. I Melt With You by Surfer Blood.
"I'll stop the world and melt with you
You've seen the difference and it's getting better all the time
There's nothing you and I won't do
I'll stop the world and melt with you."
10. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) by Big Head Todd and The Monsters (with John Popper).
"But now you're sad, your mama's mad
And your papa says he knows that I don't have any money
Oh your papa says he knows that I don't have any money
Oh your daddy says he knows that I don't have any money
Well, tell him this is his last chance
To get his daughter in a fine romance
'Cause a record company, Rosie, just gave me a big advance."
Along with the Frightened Rabbit theme throughout the list this is the other: The Boss. Big Head Todd and The Monsters' rendition of Rosalita (Come Out Tonight), with some help, from John Popper of Blues Traveler fame, still seems as rebellious and raucous as the original. But while the harmonica is nice, but I still miss Clarence's sax ...
11. My Backwards Walk by Manchester Orchestra.
"I'm working on my faults and cracks
Filling in the blanks and gaps
And when I write them out they don't make sense
I need you to pencil in the rest."
The final song of the list, and the final one from "Tiny Changes." Manchester Orchestra's version of My Backwards Walk is one of those that strikes the right chord(s) for me between homage and interpretation. Plus you can never grow tired of hearing Hutchison's plaintive line "you're the sh!t and I'm knee deep in it."
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