Song of the Day: Cold War Kids, “Long As I Can See the Light”

Song of the Day posts one cool cover every morning. Catch up on past installments here.

The Cold War Kids covering Creedence Clearwater Revival is like Coldplay covering U2, Lady Gaga covering Madonna, or John Mayer covering Eric Clapton. Every aspect of their sound indicates the Kids hold John Fogerty and CCR in some esteem, so you wonder if a cover can make the leap beyond mere reverence.

It can. The Kids have been playing “Long As I Can See the Light” on tour for a little while now, but this performance at Rolling Stone HQ strips the band down a organ-fueled trio. Nathan Willett’s cracking falsetto can bring new emotion to even the most obvious choice.

Also, does anyone know what type of guitar Willett’s playing? Its diminutive stature makes it look a little silly, but Tom Waits played the same one on David Letterman a few years back, so it must have something going for it.

Check out more Cold War Kids at their website or MySpace.