Alright, look alive because there are still a few links in here the old way, look for the text in different colors, but I have finally decided to embed the videos too. So don't be alarmed and have some fun
So I originally intended this to be about those cool moments
in music when an artist busts in and does a few lines of a different song. Those unexpected live moments that are just
so cool. I started compiling my list and researching, but it turns out that
people don’t keep track of them, and I mean there are a few to show off but
what I ended up really discovering is how many great artists cover other songs.
So the original thing
that I was looking for, was like John Mayer’s Your Body is a Wonderland, if you
can sit through the awkward solo, you are rewarded with a few lines of someone
else’s work. I think it’s worth it. The other one that came to mind was MxPx’s
cover of (I’m Gonna Be) 500 Miles, the premise right off the bat is great and
then the surprise they throw in at the end just kick’s it up a notch! Last but not least in the category of hidden
surprises is Smoking Popes song On the Shoulder, it seems that whenever they do
this live they mix it up a little near the breakdown. So the version that I linked you to is the
one I am used to, but there are plenty of other options if you search for them.
So that was what I was looking for, just a quick snippet of
something else, a cool bridge or whatever. I never thought I would find some of
the cool gems that I found. I honestly am sad that I didn’t know about some of
these. So I am excited to share them with you, and maybe you have heard a few
of them, maybe not, but these are some great covers by some great people.
I will start it off with Vampire Weekend’s cover of Blurred
Lines, yep you read that right. I mean I guess cover versions of this were to
be expected, I mean it was the hottest song of the summer and all. I guess I
was just surprised that Vampire Weekend took up the helm. They do great justice
to the song, and actually in my humbled opinion it is better than the original.
Now let me reiterate that thought, I loved the original, I thought it was a
great song. It was fun, hip and simple. But on top of that I love Vampire
Weekend, when I wasn’t listening to Blurred Lines, then Diane Young was on
repeat all summer. So it was the combination of the two that had me hooked, and
like I said it is a pretty true to form cover.
Well I mean, just check it out.
Ok, now check this out.
Bill Cosby doing a cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. I had no idea this existed. I had to look
into it, and apparently Cosby made a few singing albums. Now I have heard some
of his old stuff and of course I loved the TV show, but somehow I had gone
through 31 years of life without being informed that Bill Cosby had sung. On top of it I love The Beatles, so anyone
covering a Beatles song gets in my good graces. This is just Cosby scream-rapping
his way through Paul’s lines, but it manages to sound pretty cool.
So I am going to take a few steps back to when I was in high
school. I got the Beastie Boys anthology c.d. it had one of the craziest cover
songs on it that I had ever heard. Nestled somewhere between Brass Monkey and
Intergalactic was a live version of Biz Markie doing a cover of Elton John’s
Bennie and the Jets. I was in awe the first time I heard it, in fact I am not
sure I liked it right away, but I have grown into an absolute fondness of it.
Biz has his trademark voice and he attempts at singing, and the song has a
plain funness to it. He softly mumbles
through the verses before singing the choruses. You can’t help but get hooked
into it.
Ok, now for a moment that has always been a guilty pleasure
of mine. I watched the OC live every
night, only having to record one episode, and that was because of the birth of
my child. The OC always had great music and it introduced a lot of cool bands.
But it was in season 1 when Anna left that the music team gave us Nada Surf’s
cover of OMD song If You Leave. Now if you have never heard of OMD I don’t
blame you, this was their biggest hit, but if you love 80’s movies you would
know this song. The song played at the
end of Pretty in Pink. Also, maybe you have never heard of Nada Surf, they were
a great “alternative” band of the mid-nineties, their song Popular was just
that. But this cover song is so beautiful, yes I cried when it was on TV, but
the moment was heartfelt and the song fit in perfectly.
Ok, so the final cover song that I love and will tell you
about is Jimmy Eat World’s cover of Taylor Swift’s song We are Never Ever
Getting Back Together. So anyone that
knows me would know that Taylor Swift is not on my normal playlist. I don’t
think she is horrible, but I like everyone else just wish she would find a
perfect relationship and start writing some happy songs. However if you have followed along I got into
the “emo” scene in my late teen years, and bands like Jimmy Eat World that
blurred the emo/pop punk line were high on my list. You may remember the song The Middle. So for some odd reason this works for me. And
it works well.
So there are a few of my current favorite cover songs. I tried to stay diverse and offer a little
bit for everyone, otherwise it could have just ended up as a list of my
favorite covers by weezer. So I hope you
enjoy and learn a little. Let me know if
I left anything off.
PS the runners up
were; The Fray covering Ace of Base’s The Sign, Alanis Morisette doing The
Black Eyed Peas hit My Humps, weezer doing The Weight originally by The Band
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