To Cover Songs
Dear Covers,
We love you. No, we really do. We love songs, but even more than that, we love old songs rearranged in new ways.
Nirvana? Amazing band. Obviously. There’s no debate on that point. (If you want to debate that point in the comments, we accept no liability for the blood that will be shed.) Even better than Nirvana? Nirvana covers! Bring on Paul Anka’s Smells Like Teen Spirit or Sinead O’Connor’s All Apologies. We’ll take them any day. Of course, there’s a special place in Heaven reserved for The Polyphonic Spree’s Lithium, which is probably the best layer of irony upon irony upon chirpy pop song ever. We salute you.
But of course, not all covers are created equal. For example, we’re kind of sad about The Flaming Lips’ Bohemian Rhapsody. Don’t get us wrong. We love The Flaming Lips, and we love Bohemian Rhapsody, but together? Um, why? And once we heard the song, it confirmed all our worst fears: pointless.
Hey, Flaming Lips, what was wrong with the original Bohemian Rhapsody, huh? Not psychedelic enough for you? Not enough synth? Too much harmonizing? See, here’s the thing, Flaming Lips, covers only work when they add something new to the song. They fail when they’re more-or-less a note-for-note repeat. Around here, we don’t call that a cover, we call it karaoke. If Freddie Mercury weren’t dead, you’d probably have used his voice too.
If you want to know how to do a cover right, take a cue from our friend Sad Kermit over here. Not only does he sing some of our favorite songs, but he gives them a whole new spin, because he’s Kermit the Frog!! Kermit’s nasally frog voice singing lyrics like “I don’t belong here. I’m a creep.” is nothing short of genius.
The moral of the story here? If you’ve got something to add, cover it. If you don’t, go karaoke. You’ll be happier and so will we.
By Leonard H.
June 17th, 2008 | 01:26 am | Raves
6 Responses to “To Cover Songs”
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June 17th, 2008 at 1:31 am
When I was a teenager, my favorite album was one called “On the Cover” by MxPx. It’s simply a punk cover of a bunch of old songs like “Take On Me,” “Marie, Marie” and my personal fav “No Brain.”
Check it out if you like punk… and covers.
June 17th, 2008 at 1:32 am
Cover bands are cool, though, right? They’re not pretending to be anything but wannabes, so it works.
June 17th, 2008 at 1:34 am
The BEST cover band of all time is Infinity… a mostly-girl cover band of Journey. They sound EXACTLY like them and put on a kick-ass show. It’s uncanny.
June 17th, 2008 at 2:14 am
My favorite cover song is the Scissor Sisters version of “Comfortably Numb.” It’s a good one.
June 17th, 2008 at 2:19 am
That Kermit sh*t is HIGH-larious.
June 17th, 2008 at 4:36 am
Covers rule! I love the new Flaming Lips one too. Boooooo Rant Farm.