cover it… or don’t?

First of all, dang! It has been more than a year since I have posted. I guess life is really preoccupied with other things, and there isn’t much time for the introspective blogger to pour out nonsensical musings on the daily anymore… at least not for this one. That being said, I have been thinking about this for a bit, and I wanted to sound off about it; cover songs.

Sometimes, a cover song is golden. Sometimes, it is the one you recognize, and it is the one that many people think of when you think of a particular song. Is it better than the original? Maybe! Is the cover more popular? Probably! Some notable examples include Whitney Houston’s cover of Dolly Parton’s I Will Always Love You, Aretha Franklin’s cover of Otis Redding’s Respect, and how could you forget Tina Turner’s cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Proud Mary? I could go on and on, and some of these songs have become the “standard” version that you think of when you think of a particular song. Other notable contemporary examples, include Natalie Imbruliga’s cover of Ednaswap’s Torn and Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse’s cover of Zuton’s Valerie; I honestly can’t say as I really “knew” the original, but instantly recognize the cover. Is that to say that the cover is better? Maybe (I have listed some GREAT covers)! That leads to my point in bringing this up… sometimes, it’s best NOT to cover a song.

As an artist, I feel like you need to ask yourself; can I do the song justice? Can I do it as good as or better than the original? Is my version just a fun little love song to the original, and will people really love it as much as I do? I feel like sometimes, the cover is probably just a fun little, “I love this song, and I can sing, so why not?”, and it really shows. Enter the “bad” cover song. Some times, you shouldn’t cover a song, just because you could, because to the listener, you really didn’t do it any justice, and nothing new or wonderful was brought to the table. Sometimes, the result is cringe-worthy. If you are a cover band, and it is fun show, then have at it; but if it is going on a record, or being released a single, I wonder what the motivation is to do (what I think is) a poor cover of a song.

I have a few examples:

Colbie Caillat’s cover of Roberta Flack’s Killing Me Softly With His Song. Now this is actually a cover of a cover, as far as I’m concerned, because most people think of the Fugees version when they think of this song. Not to pick on Colbie too much, but there is literally zero soul in this cover. It isn’t necessary, and I hear it more often than I should. This is a great example of how not to do a good cover.
Another prime example is Paris Hilton’s cover of Rod Stewart’s Do You Think I’m Sexy. The answer is a firm no on that one. There is nothing sexy about this cover, at all. One final of my least favorites, that was/is played TO DEATH on the radio not that long ago, is Ritt Momney’s cover of Corinne Bailey Rae’s Put Your Records On, which shows that sometimes, covering a song does nothing but take a good song, and make it really bad. This is a record that I do NOT want you to put on. It’s almost like they tried to do a half-assed, out-of-tune cover to make fun of the song, but I don’t know if there truly is irony or sarcasm here, or an attempt at something good; it’s difficult to tell. Either way, it is definitely one to skip.

Now, I know I am saying a lot as someone who cannot sing for themselves, so this is all a matter of opinion. There are tons of great songs out there, and cover them all you want; just do it justice! Add a little something, make it yours, give it life (think John Mayer’s live cover of Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’; THAT is a phenomenal cover)! Don’t just go through the motions, or make something that is just a filler track for your record. Again, just my two cents, but these bad covers made me think; what other covers are there that you can’t stand to hear? Sound off in the comments!