I love covers. I love it when artists interpret a song in their way. No, not the American Idol kind.
My favorite radio show is on BBC Radio 1, called Live Lounge hosted by Jo Whiley. Jo invites artists to sing one of their songs and a song by a different artist, often someone from a completely different genre. All live, complete with coughing, messed up lyrics and chords.
Great stuff. A lot of the songs are on YouTube but there are also three CD collections out.
Some of my favorites:
The Script covers Eminem’s Lose Yourself. Astig! Go white boy! Teka, white din pala si Eminem.
Stereophonics does my favorite song, Foo Fighters’ The Best of You. Too cool for words.
James Morrison does my favorite band of the moment, Kings of Leon’s Sex on Fire.
John Legend gives a deep rendition of Lauryn Hill’s extraordinary Ex-Factor.
I gained new respect for OneRepublic (inaantok ako sa kanila) with their version of Duffy’s Mercy. I like how he’s reading the lyrics off of his phone.
Other great covers:
-The Killers are always covered, such as All These Things That I’ve Done (by Matt Willis) and Smile Like You Mean It (by the fantastic David Gray);
-Alicia Keys’ version of The Fray’s How to Save a Life gave Jo Whiley goosebumps;
-The Gossip does a crazy version of Careless Whisper;
-Indie band Bat for Lashes does a moody take on Kings of Leon’s Use Somebody;
-Folk rock KT Tunstall does a fun cover of Missy Elliott’s Get Ur Freak On;
-Lee Ryan does a boy band-like rendition of The Best of You, but I like it anyway;
-Corinne Bailey Rae does JT in Sexyback;
-30 Seconds to Mars does Kanye West’s Stronger;
-My favorite mash-ups are indie bands doing pop songs, like Keane’s Dirrtylicious, Mystery Jets’ Bleeding Love, and Elbow’s 1 Thing, It’s hilarious, but respectable.
Of course not all the covers are good; some are disastrous and stupid. And scary. Check out Charlotte Church’s cover of Let Me Love You (by Mario) and Marilyn Manson’s cover of What Goes Around Comes Around (by JT).
