Like perhaps you, I did not know “Torn” was a cover even though we here at Cover Me wrote about it 8 years ago. Ednaswap, the original artist, actually recorded two versions, one in 1995 and drastically slowed down one in 1997 for a different album on a different label. Between those two versions, there were two pop covers in Scandinavia, the first in Danish and and the second in English (performed by a Norwegian). So it was clear to the Danish and Norwegians before Natalie Imbruglia got her hands on it that this song had pop potential. Imbruglia’s version sticks closer to the Ednaswap’s original version than the second version but is clearly influenced by the poppier covers from Scandinavia as well. It’s sort of a hybrid, with one foot in the original and one foot in the pop covers.Continue reading »
You may have heard of Brittany Broski from her viral kombucha reaction meme or her podcast the Brittany Report. Recently, the internet personality launched a YouTube account called Brittany Broski Music with a cover of Harry Styles’s “Adore You.” Broski rose to fame through her personality and internet meme culture, but clips of her powerful singing voice have been present throughout her career in social media, so her move into music is not entirely unexpected.Continue reading »
Neil Young wrote his best-selling album Harvest while convalescing from a back issue on his brand new ranch in northern California. When he purchased the ranch, the care-taking couple stayed on to tend it for him. Famously, he wrote “Old Man” about the husband of the couple. The song was the second single from the album, his second Top 5 hit in a row and one of only 3 Top 5 hits he ever had in the US.
Stephen Marley is one of Bob Marley’s many children and one of four who used to make up the Melody Makers. As you might imagine about a cover by a Marley, Stephen’s version is a reggae version. But he keeps some of the country elements of the original, most notably the pedal-steel guitar—not an instrument you expect in a reggae music. For the first 10 seconds, before Marley’s voice comes in, it’s prominent enough you think it might be country.Continue reading »
Musora is a music education channel based out of the Greater Vancouver Area in Canada with a number of YouTube channels. Some of their channels have featured musicians performing famous songs. Recently, the main channel has started a series where musicians have to cover a song in their own style and they don’t know what it is ahead of time. We here at Cover Me have written up one other Musora spontaneous cover.
The most recent episode features self-described emo/pop-punk/post-hardcore band Good Terms taking on Blondie’s “Call Me.” “Call Me” was actually written by Giorgio Moroder for American Gigolo, and lead singer Debbie Harry wrote lyrics to it once she was brought in. Blondie then performed the song and it became one of their biggest hits.
From the very opening, it is clear that Good Terms understand the purpose of the Musora challenge. Gone is any hint of Moroder’s electronic disco – from the very beginning it is post-hardcore guitars and drums. Lead singer Brian McShea follows the vocal melody but sings much more in an emo style to begin with.
For the chorus there’s a bit of a break and then a rhythm that is almost 3rd wave ska. There’s another little breakdown before the real show begins: during the second verse Good Terms go full screamo as bassist Geo Botelho briefly takes over the vocals. The chorus is the same as the first but then the bridge is completely transformed into a full post-hardcore/scream breakdown.
It works extremely well and it’s all the more impressive that they just did it on the spot. The full performance starts around 10:58 but it’s fun to watch them working it out too:
“I’m Like a Bird,” Nelly Furtado‘s breakout single from her debut album, was actually a bigger hit in the US than in her home country of Canada, but it made a big enough of an impression that fellow Canadians Good Kid, from the other side of the country, chose to cover “I’m Like a Bird” for The Juno Sessions, a series of Canadian bands covering Juno-winning hits from previous years. Good Kid are an indie rock band from Toronto who have been putting out music for a decade but who were just kids when “I’m Like a Bird” first came out.Continue reading »
Rihanna’s twenty-fourth top ten hit, “Stay,” seems to be a popular cover for male singers. Now, it’s her most popular song for anyone to cover but it does get covered a fair amount by guys and bands with guys as the lead singer. Some of that has to do with it being a duet with a man sure, but one reason might be how spare the song is compared to her other big hits.Continue reading »
