G Flip and Teddy Swims Both Cover Taylor Swift’s ‘Cruel Summer’

This week Australian ABC’s Like a Version gave us Aussie Rocker G Flip covering Taylor Swift’s track “Cruel Summer,” while US country star Teddy Swims took on the trending song in the UK’s BBC Live Lounge. Both the Live Lounge and Like a Version are staples of this website in terms of providing covers for us to talk about,  but it’s rare that we get two different artists covering the same song in the same time period.

For the sake of analogy, if we consider Taylor Swift’s version the ‘middle’ of the spectrum of emotion about a casual relationship that’s potentially turning into something more serious, then Teddy Swims and G Flip take their covers in different directions.

G Flip has a full string section help them turn up the reckless elements of the track. We may be feeling deeper things for this person, and that’s probably not good for us, but we’re going to do it anyway. An electronic element is kept with the synths, but the sound fills your ears over the chorus, with the band and string section nearly competing with each other to be heard. For the bridge, G Flip gets back behind the drumkit to pick up the pace of the track, almost simulating our racing thoughts and heartbeat as we return to our feelings that are eating away at us.

In contrast, Teddy Swim’s version leans into the emotive aspects of the track. This is the same relationship, but now we’re very much in our heartbroken yearning mode. Swim’s voice is full and reflective, offset with a gentle piano accenting softer melodic moments, before a full band join him for the chorus. It’s fractionally slower, with the rock sound swelling during the bridge as he really lets rip with his melancholy and restrained frustration.