“Paranoid” was Black Sabbath‘s biggest hit and, hilariously, it makes them a one-hit wonder in the UK (they never had a Top 4 hit in the US). I honestly thought “War Pigs” or “Iron Man” would have eclipsed it in popularity over the years but “Paranoid” remains far and away both their most covered song and their most streamed song.
Sometimes I wonder, as a non-musician, if covering such a famous song feel the weight of history, both the history of the original and weight of the covers. “Paranoid,” like so many other songs, has become a much more popular cover in the 21st century than it ever was in the 20th. As with so many other songs, there are now many different covers that there isn’t really a standard version any more – there are string quartet covers and jazz covers and video game music covers.
Savages were a British post-punk revival band led by a French singer active during the teens. It’s the 10th anniversary of their second and final album, Adore Life, this year and they’ve added some bonus tracks recorded for it. One is a cover of “Paranoid.” There must have been bigger plans for the cover at the time because there’s an accompanying video of the band seemingly playing it live (to no audience).
Lead singer Jehnny Beth plays the famous riff on piano but this is full band performance. Guitarist Gemma Thompson only briefly plays the riff and does play a guitar solo (doubled by the piano) but mostly she adds noisy background. The whole band breaks out for a moment in the middle, reminding us all this was one of the most aggressive rock songs of its era. But mostly it’s a moody lower intensity cover about one of the more famous songs about depression.
Check it out:
