Ray Padgett

Ray Padgett founded the blog Cover Me in 2007 and has run it ever since, growing it into the largest blog devoted to cover songs on the web. His music writing has appeared in the New Yorker, SPIN, MTV, Vice, Mojo, and more and he’s been interviewed as an expert on cover songs by NPR, the Wall Street Journal, and SiriusXM. He lives in Burlington, Vermont and also works as a publicist for Shore Fire Media. His book Cover Me: The Stories Behind the Greatest Cover Songs of All Time is out now. His 33 1/3 book on tribute albums and Leonard Cohen is out September 3, 2020. Find more info on him and the books here.

The Best Cover Songs of November 2023

 Posted by at 2:31 pm  No Responses »
Nov 302023
 
best cover songs
boygenius ft. Ye Vagabonds — The Parting Glass (Trad. cover)

Every year, Phoebe Bridgers releases a surprise cover around the holidays to benefit charity. This year, she brought in her boygenius bandmates as well as vocal group Ye Vagabonds to cover “The Parting Glass.” It’s a traditional Irish tune, but their version pays specific homage to Sinead O’Connor, who covered it in 2002. Sales benefit the Aisling Project, an after-school project working with children and young people growing up in a disadvantaged area of Dublin. The beneficiary was chosen by the estate of O’Connor, who died in July. Continue reading »

The Best Cover Songs of October 2023

 Posted by at 1:31 pm  No Responses »
Oct 312023
 
Deer Tick – Dancing In The Dark (Bruce Springsteen cover)

“For me, ‘Dancing in the Dark’ isn’t a song about romance, but instead a desperate plea to break out of some degraded, stagnant situation. The narrator is filled with angst, self doubt, and the only way out is to the sheer force of unwavering will power,” says Deer Tick guitarist/vocalist Ian O’Neil. “Bruce really shows us who he is on this one and it looks an awful lot like the rest of us.”

Die Sauerkrauts Polka Band — Now That’s What I Call Polka! (Weird Al cover)

There are a lot of Weird Al covers out there (okay, maybe not a lot, but more than you might think). This is new though. This band didn’t cover one of Weird Al’s parodies. They didn’t even cover a Weird Al original, like “Dare to Be Stupid.” They covered one of his polka medleys (a subject I interviewed Al about in Cover Me the book—excerpt at The AV Club). Meaning, they covered polka versions of hits by Miley Cyrus, One Direction, Gotye, and many more, all in a brisk medley. A very silly music video brings it home. Continue reading »

The Best Cover Songs of September 2023

 Posted by at 9:55 am  2 Responses »
Sep 292023
 
best cover songs
Al Green — Perfect Day (Lou Reed cover)

It’s been 15 years since the last Al Green album. Does “Perfect Day” signal the beginning of his comeback? Unclear — I thought so after his last single, another cover, and that was five years ago. But we can hope. “I loved Lou’s original ‘Perfect Day’—the song immediately puts you in a good mood,” Green explained. “We wanted to preserve that spirit, while adding our own sauce and style.” Continue reading »

JF Robitaille & Lail Arad Cover The Pretenders’ “I’ll Stand By You” Acoustically

 Posted by at 11:23 am  No Responses »
Sep 082023
 

The woozy harmonica and acoustic guitar that opens JF Robitaille & Lail Arad’s new release sounds like you’re about to hear an old Woody Guthrie tune. But it turns out to be a cover of The Pretenders’ not-at-all-acoustic 1994 hit “I’ll Stand By You,” out today on new LA-based covers label Vault of Heaven. Robitaille and Arad, who split their time between London and Montreal, beautifully harmonize on the ’90s power ballad like a Sonny and Cher tune. Continue reading »

The Best Cover Songs of August 2023

 Posted by at 12:00 pm  No Responses »
Aug 312023
 
Amanda Palmer and The Righteous Babes — The Last Day of our Acquaintance (Sinéad O’Connor cover)


You’re going to notice a theme here. We have the usual grab-bag included below (see “Best of the Rest”), but, for our featured covers up top, it’s all Sinéad. There were so many wonderful tributes performed, often in concert and always powerful and moving. Many did “Nothing Compares 2 U,” technically a Prince cover but really a Sinéad song now and forever, but others selected from elsewhere in her catalog. Of this one, which just came out Tuesday, Amanda Palmer wrote, “This song means a great deal to me, as does the artist who penned it, along with everything she still stands for.” A portion of the money from sales will be donated to The Irish Women’s Survivor Support Network. Continue reading »

Cole Gallagher Covers Springsteen Super-Deep Cut “Sugarland”

 Posted by at 3:08 pm  No Responses »
Aug 072023
 
cole gallagher

There are deep cuts, and then there are deep cuts. Sure, if you’re gonna pick a Bruce Springsteen song, “Wages of Sin” is a lot less obvious than “Glory Days.” But “Wages of Sin” is practically a greatest hit compared to the tune Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter Cole Gallagher dug up. It’s called “Sugarland.” A press release claims this is the first-ever cover of the tune—not many Springsteen songs you could say that about—and I can’t find much to disprove it. Well, aside from an 11-year old YouTube video with 188 views, but the release does say this is the first “official” cover. Certainly the only cover, or the only version period, you can stream on Spotify. Continue reading »

 Older Entries