The Covers' Story
Tales about covers across generations, timelines and directly mined from the past to current times.
Lazy Afternoons. Little Pleasures. Little Help from Friends.
Weekday afternoons during high school, a phase my mind wanders into during lazy afternoons. Nothing much happened, yet every moment seemed eventful. Little pleasures: a simple lunch, a single cot under the fan and a colour television with a remote, yet not more than 12 channels. And on that 21” colour television played some series that were so engaging and entertaining. Especially, The Wonder Years, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Small Wonder, to name a few. Amongst the three, what still stands out for me is The Wonder Years and its title track by Joe Crocker, which is a cover of The Beatles’ song – ‘With a Little Help from my friends’.
Whenever I listen to this song, my sentiments echo this line from Andy in the series finale episode of The Office:
“I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days
before you’ve actually left them.”
By now you must’ve already guessed the topic of this post. That’s right I will be covering (okay excuse the pun please), some songs that outdid the originals when covered by other artists. This is purely based on my preference, so if you beg to differ, you’re free to voice your opinion in the comments.
A Pandemic. A Playlist. A Favourite Pastime
(which was initially a chore).
I’m sure it wasn’t just me and many here would relate to this phase. I don’t wish to remind you of the dark times but only wish to share the silver lining of this time. Moreover, this is no attempt to mask that phase or spread any propaganda by stating whatever happened was for the best. It was a shitty time, but music amongst other things kept my boat afloat. In other words, this is more or less, being grateful for the blessings in disguise. Or, as Abba sang it – ‘Thank you for the music’.
At a time when all were supposed to stay locked up, some volunteered to crash and bang vessels to ward off the heebie-jeebies. A few, perhaps like you and me, chose to listen to music mostly, while doing the chores. For me, washing dishes was my most therapeutic pastime. My wife would get annoyed (or like my son says – innoyed) by the time I picked a playlist. This was in fact the time when I truly had the time to mindfully listen to songs, time, time and again. And when I chose to delve deeper, I discovered artists performing covers of some popular and some least known songs. This by itself became a playlist I would revisit to see how uniquely and differently one would interpret another’s work. Also, this was also a way to get introduced to new songs. All thanks to YouTube and its algorithm.
Why Covers?
So what makes one go and listen to covers of old songs? Why listen to the same-old, same-old, when there are so many artistes both old and new releasing singles and albums, round the clock? Before I get to the point of view of — us, the listeners, here’s why perhaps many artists do covers. While there are many reasons like paying homage, being inspired and to some extent imitation — there’s also this need for acceptance from the audience. Especially, the newbies who wish to engage and connect with the audience.
Imagine you’re at a pub or you’re listening to music based on reccos from Spotify or YouTube, there’s this time your mind goes numb to whatever new that you might chance upon. But then, there’s this sudden flip for a few seconds. You ears tend to lean in, your shoulders begin to move, your fingers drum on the table or your hand swings to mimic a few strum, and then your feet begins to tap ( can this be called muscle memory?). There’s something familiar, yet new that’s caught your attention. And the world around you comes to a screeching halt. You pause or you slow down from whatever you were doing and give in to what’s playing. You look towards the band if you’re at some place/venue or you gaze at the device you’re listening from to see who is playing. That, my friend, is their All-Access Pass to your mind space. In other words, it’s like visiting a newly opened cafe or restaurant that serves an unique menu/ cuisine, however they do have a few usuals that cater to those who don’t want to take risks.
My Tip for the Day (which nobody asked for):
Choose Chicken Fried Rice whenever you visit a new restaurant in India without reading any reviews or don’t trust the place. It’s one dish that seldom goes wrong. Or, if you’re a vegetarian, Dal Kichchdi or Sweet Corn Soup.
Why Listen to Covers?
Now back to the question - why we listen to covers? Well, in my case it’s mostly for familiarity once again, and it’s seeking comfort in the known. Something you have adored and gone back to repeatedly while growing up has been presented or repackaged in an interesting way. While this new version can either be good or bad, we will now stick to only the versions that are good and occasionally better than the original. Is that a disapproval I sense on your face? Personally, for me, I prefer Bob Dylan’s songs as covers. But again, that’s just me. And I won’t be mentioning any of his songs in this post. Perhaps, with all due respect to his song writing and his skill to pick the right words and weave them together, I will dedicate one separate post for him some other day.
An Ode. A Reinterpretation. A Teary Ending.
Some call it a cover, while I choose to call them reinterpretation. And I don’t recall where I heard or read this “Reinterpretation is evolution”. In other words, it repackages the same content to appeal to a different audience. And to elucidate this better, I wish to once again talk about a song I’ve already written about.
“Starry Starry Night” by Lianne La Havas is a cover of a classic – “Vincent” by Don McClean. While Don did tell the story of Van Gogh and his work, which is still celebrated – what Lianne did with this rendition was bring a lot of soul to the movie “Loving Vincent”. Lianne took the metaphorical baton from Don and ran that last mile in the movie. The melancholy one would feel at the end of the movie is perfectly complemented in this version as the end credits roll. For the tears that are summered at the corner of your eye — she helps in easing them down your face. To get the exact effect, may I please request you watch the movie and then the song.
Some Visual Relief
To further illustrate my case of listening to covers, may I present to you a few reinterpretations by Picasso (a bit pixelated, so kindly adjust).
The art you see (above) are recreations of a masterpiece (below) titled Las Meninas (The Ladies-in-waiting), which is a 1656 painting by Diego Velazquez. In fact, in 1957, Picasso went on a spree making several playful inscriptions and variations of this masterpiece. And the best part, both Picasso’s variations and the Original by Velazquez hang under the same roof just a few yards away from each other.
The Fear of Flying. A Love Note. And a Wish List.
During one such days in the pandemic, I bumped into “Pancakes for Dinner”. However, I’m thankful to the algorithms and social media for bringing me the cover performed by Malavika MS (singer/songwriter) first. There were days, this played on loop.
It’s a cover of the song from Lizzy McAlpine’s 2020 album titled “Give me a Minute”. What stood out the most for me in this cover was how it flowed so well from start to finish in one go. And while it remained true to the original, Malavika manages to bring in her own vocals as backing too, and adds more resonance to the yearning or desire expressed. Also, just a guitar for accompaniment complements the whole performance.
While you listen to this cover, do listen to the below shared version too, if you haven’t. It’s one of the few songs where an expression like “What the Hell?!” is placed like a sparkle on a tucked diamond in a coal mine. It just blinds you from seeing it as a mildly vulgar idiom, and look beyond to consider what she wishes to confess.
Two Distant Timelines. A Virtual Duet. One Wonderful World.
While the first thought that could come to your mind is Late Louis Armstrong’s version, this one has a timeless story to narrate. A bond that transcends the barriers of time, life and death.
Katie Melua was a relatively new talent in the year 2003, when her album “Call Off the Search” debuted in the UK and the song “The Closest Thing to Crazy” was a instant hit. More importantly, one of her biggest inspirations was Eva Cassidy. In fact, Katie had written a song about her called “Faraway Voice”. Sadly, they both never met. Eva had passed away in the year 1996 due to Melanoma. However, in 2007, a "virtual duet" was created by bringing together Katie Melua's vocals with a recording of Eva Cassidy's. Thus, proving the point “What a Wonderful World”.
Whenever you find the time, do check out other covers by Eva Cassidy. Most of them are live recordings. The one shared here, which is a cover of Sting’s classic, is my personal favourite, because this also doubled as a lullaby for my son during the pandemic. And till date, it’s at the top of the playlist, which we play to him at nights.
Soulful Covers vs. (AI Generated) Sloppy Covers
Before I end this post, let me tell you I might just come up with a sequel to this post since there are so many more reccos. That said, I wish to bring to your notice this abomination that’s happening in the name of making covers. I have been reading up and coming across this via many articles. However, this is something that happened quite recently and I got to know about it from the Instagram page of a rising talent and latest sensation in the Kannada film industry (South India) aka Sandalwood, Sumedh K. The recently released song titled “Tulasi” is a major hit and is trending on social media.
At the same time, you see other content creators using this to promote their page/channel or accounts, or whatever you may call it. What’s worse, is making a cover version with AI. Also, adding a disclaimer “This version is ai generated parody for entertainment purposes only. No disrespect to the original artists.”
Well, if this was done with the consent of the original creator then perhaps, it’s okay. Or, let’s say the creator is no more, and the artist is paying homage to the original creator by reinterpreting the work with consent from their estate or label, or if it’s available in public domain (which was in the case of Picasso and his reinterpretation of Vasquez’s work). More importantly, if the work is recreated with H.I. (Human Intelligence) and with the consent as mentioned earlier, then maybe it’s an exception. But, when you recreate or generate with the help of A.I., regardless of creating it by engineering the prompt or modifying the original, thus making it a derivative work, seems unethical and demeans the effort and creativity of the original artist. More so, I’m all for democratising the creation of music or any form of art, but what has happened lately in the name of content creation undermines the cornerstones of evolution viz., artistry and creativity. I will get back to this topic, maybe in a later post.
For further reading: AI Slop Is Flooding Streaming—and Musicians Are Fighting Back
A Pop Hit Song. A Viral Metal Version. And a Phony Story.
Hope the previous segment didn’t digress too much or get too heavy. So, as some comic relief, here we circle back to my high school days. Well, actually this was during my early college days when there was this metal cover version of Britney Spear’s “Hit Me Baby One More Time” that went viral. Fact: This was way before even the term viral was coined I guess. Anyway, this was a time I was slowly getting acquainted to Rock, Heavy Metal and their variants — then one day a friend brings this Type O’ Negative’s (so-called) tribute to Britney on an MP3 CD. For a band with a reputation like that to do a cover like this was unheard of. However, it was freely available on Napster, BearShare and Limewire ( do look this up to find out what it was), and that was reason enough for it to go widely popular. Needless to say, I was amongst the many who fell for this prank until yesterday. Now, as I was doing my due diligence, while keying this, is when I got to know, it was a fake cover all along.
Unrequited Love. A Disappointment. And a Timeless Classic, Translated.
Well, this will be the last one for sure, until I return with a sequel. The first time I chanced upon this song was when my wife and I were watching the movie - Diana.
Perhaps, you could watch the below scene first and this features the original sung by Jacques Brel.
This song is featured at the most apt time and not really a spoiler here though, after sometime they mutually break up. And at that time, this song lingers with that heavy feeling one can’t really name. After many years, I came across this song once again, but this was while randomly browsing. This left a way bigger impact when Barbara Streisand narrated an anecdote and how a disappointment led her to come up with this cover. I won’t say much, perhaps it’s better to hear it from Barbara herself.
Bonus: Since we are on the topic of unrequited love already, I’m squeezing this last one here. It’s a cover of Tom Wait’s - Martha. While Tom Waits’ original is undeniably good, Lisa takes it several notches up with her voice that’s like skimming pebbles across a placid lake. Reach for your best earphone, if you may, and indulge. Truth be told, this applies to all the covers/reccos I’ve shared so far.
<If you’ve come this far, thank you for your time and patience. I truly appreciate it.
And before I forget, is there a cover song you wish to recommend to my readers?
Feel free to suggest in the comments.>
Note: I don’t know if the the old playlist is still on the other OTT platform after I unsubscribed. Only a part of the collection shared here I’m putting together on Apple Music, presently, since not all these tracks are available there. Yet.
If you wish to have the link, please DM.
#acnotes
What an interesting topic - I have few faves of my own I prefer as much if not more than the originals. Mia Lund's version of "Unbreakable" vs the original.
Just yesterday, I was watching this movie by Abbas Kiarostami - Certified Copy. It probably would fall in mumblecore genre - dialogue driven. Goes into deep discussions about what's the value of original vs a copy. So, all the more interesting to see this post.
There's so much more here though - for example, the bit about AI. I wonder what is it that you do not like about the AI generated covers - the quality of them, or the possibility that they did not get consent from the original creators or the possibility that they are trying to profit from that un-consented copy?
Because, these 3 are different issues. Because, we do like the algorithms "searching and surfacing" for us. You say - "I’m thankful to the algorithms and social media for bringing me the cover performed by Malavika MS (singer/songwriter) first. There were days, this played on loop."
Why do we not like them creating for us? Would be interesting to sit with it sometime over coffee may be :)
I also love the connection between the Las Meninas and Picasso. When I saw the original I cried. It was so big and has taken up so much creative space in my mind that I was blown away. But as I have sat with each of Picasso’s versions over the years I feel that I am not alone in that awe. That he too felt incredibly moved by the sheer presence of that painting.