Time for another post about music but this time about something a little happier: cover songs. It doesn’t get much better than coming across a well executed cover song, regardless of whether or not you even really cared for the original version of the song that much. As an aside, I’d like to point out that file-sharing systems are often the best place to find these covers many of which you’d just about be out of luck finding through more legitimate methods. In order for a cover to be truly great, it should both retain the best qualities given to it by the original artist while incorporating a feel entirely unique to the artist doing the cover. Nothing’s worse than a cover than tries to follow the original perfectly. Actually, I take that back. It seems that every pop-punk band in existance has some “ironic” cover of a cheesy 70’s or 80’s song that all follow the exact same formula. I’ll admit that some of them manage to be amusing, but for the most part I think they’re completely unnecessary. For reference, here are my top 5 10 (I just couldn’t stop) favorite cover songs (in no particular order):
Original artist: The Cure
Original artist: written by Cole Porter, performed by Frank Sinatra
Original artist: Devo
Original artist: Neil Young
Original artist – Leonard Cohen
Original artist: Eagles
Original artist: Ary Barroso
Original artist: Bonnie Prince Billy
Original artist: Eric’s Trip