Cover songs. I love them, I think it is a wonderful way for an artist to pay tribute to another artist they respect. Sometimes it is better in my opinion for a cover to stay true to the original, other times perfect to do something completely unique and different. Let us take a look at twenty I can listen to over and over, once again inspired by “Music Listography” from Lisa Nola:
Rage Against the Machine (Bruce Springsteen) – “The Ghost of Tom Joad”. The first time I heard this is when I saw Rage live at Mesa Amphitheatre on the Evil Empire tour. I freaked out when I heard their rendition of this classic folk rock song from The Boss. Rage made it all their own and for me is one of their most intense songs in their catalog.
Cowboy Junkies (The Velvet Underground) – “Sweet Jane”. I don’t know if what I read is true that Lou Reed said this cover of “Sweet Jane” by Cowboy Junkies is his favorite. All I know is this rendition is truly gorgeous, so good. Those guitars coupled with those vocals create a stunning song.
Mercury Machine (The Chameleons) – “Swamp Thing (live)”. I shot this video at the 2022 Made in Manchester Festival in Dukenfield. I have posted about Mercury Machine a lot so you know how much I love this band. This cover of one of the most beloved songs from The Chameleons is absolutely fantastic. Yes, the banner for The Musings is from the same festival. 🙂
Agent Orange (Jefferson Airplane) – “Somebody to Love”. Really hard to pick one cover from my favorite punk rock band but I always go back to this classic, what an amazing, rocking tune! Agent Orange cranked up the surf on this psychedelic classic from Jefferson Airplane, a highlight of the When You Least Expect It EP. A mainstay of their live gigs all these years later, the guitar work from Mike Palm is just classic and those drums are just booming!
The Dickies (Moody Blues) – “Nights in White Satin”. The Dickies are another old school punk rock band who released a slew of great covers so once again, tough to pick just one. For me the way they completely changed the tempo and atmosphere of this Moody Blues track is what makes this one my favorites from the band; the Dickies took a love song where the band was accompanied by an orchestra and transformed it into something fun that would make the people in the slam pit lose their minds.
R.E.M. (Pylon) – “Crazy”. The Dead Letter Office album from R.E.M. was so cool (even though my friends in high school almost ruined it by playing it on an endless loop) and contained a lot of great covers. This classic from fellow Athens band Pylon was the first track on the album and my favorite, so melodic and Stipe’s vocals were as always so mysterious. Great track.
The Damned (Love) – “Alone Again Or”. I had been a fan of The Damned for quite some time so this cover came out of nowhere for me. I loved it then and still do, love the guitar work and Dave Vanian’s vocals are fantastic. I love the southwest flair to the music, totally different than the frenetic punk rock and goth punk I was used to from the band.
X (The Wild Ones) – “Wild Thing”. Yeah I should post a clip of X playing this cover but I love this scene from “Major League” so much that I couldn’t resist. Billy Zoom wailed on the axe (as always) on this cover and Exene was in prime form on vocals, creating a mind-blowing tune that was intense enough to rock an entire baseball stadium. Sorry Rachel Phelps, I love this fucking song!
Bow Wow Wow (The Strangeloves) – “I Want Candy”. Oh what a wonderful and fun song this is! The music is so good, great guitars and some of the coolest work on the drums ever (that era and part of the world delivered a lot of music with killer drums). Annabella’s vocals were the sweet complement to the jungle rhythms the band put down on record.
Social Distortion (The Rolling Stones) – “Under My Thumb (live)”. Early Social Distortion delivered some of my favorite punk rock ever and this cover of the classic from the Stones is a definite highlight. The pit would explode when they played this back in the day for good reason, Social D took a melodic rock and roll tune, kept the pop hooks but revved up the tempo and intensity to create a punk rock classic.
Minor Threat (Wire) – “12XU (live)”. Holy cow! The fact an already shredding tune from Wire was made even more intense courtesy of Minor Threat makes this cover an all-time favorite. 100mph thrash coupled with Ian’s unmistakable vocals (and the “Flex Your Head” line thrown in for good measure) were the highlight of Dischord’s Flex Your Head compilation, at least for this listener. Good lord what a song.
J.F.A. (Vince Guaraldi) – “Charlie Brown (live)”. I think I read in an old fanzine that this song “would bring a smile to a corpse.” Great characterization of a great song. I love how the coolest skate punk band ever plays an instrumental song on the piano in concert and it not only works, the song many times creates one of the most frenetic pits during their shows. It is still one of my all-time favorite songs from J.F.A..
Pixies (The Jesus and Mary Chain) – “Head On (live)”. The third album from The Jesus and Mary Chain did not do much for me. Pixies took “Head On” from that record, took the intensity and volume to 11 and created a monster cover. The screams from Black Francis were in full effect on the track, good stuff.
Red Hot Chili Peppers (Stevie Wonder) – “Higher Ground”. I almost went with their cover of Hendrix but man, this version of “Higher Ground” is so good and so much fun! The Chili Peppers kept the funk of the original from Stevie Wonder, added plenty of rock and roll and even some punk rock to the mix to create a brand new tune that is both pop friendly and smokes at the same time.
The Father Figures (J.F.A.) – “Skateboard/We Know You Suck”. The irony of a band where the guitarist is covering two songs from a band he was the bassist in when it was made is so punk rock and cool, you have to love this! I like the fact this is slowed down to better discern the vocals and fully capture the lyrics, the music is spot on (of course, it’s The Father Figures!) and as a cover it does what it should, pay proper respect to a great original. Splendid work gentlemen!
Julien Baker (Frightened Rabbit) – “The Modern Leper”. I was really unsure about listening to the Tiny Changes compilation when it was released. Buying it was a no-brainer but the death of Scott Hutchison is to this day so painful for me that the idea of listening to covers of music from their second album (I don’t even like mentioning the name of it because of the memories) was difficult to swallow. Tell you what though – this track from Julien Baker may be even more emotional than the original, it is simply stupendous and her near wailing at the end moves me to tears. What a tune folks.
Helmet (Gang of Four) – “In the Ditch”. Seriously, Helmet took the intensity of one of the greatest bands ever in Gang of Four and pushed that needle even further. “In the Ditch” is one of my favorites from the Solid Gold album, love how Helmet 100% stayed true to the original in terms of tempo, vocals and the screeching guitars that immediately made me think of Andy Gill. Tell you what though, for me bassist Dave Case is what really makes this song special, his booming bass is so fricken powerful, I love it!
Obadiah Parker (Outkast) – “Hey Ya”. What a great cover! First of all, listen to the original from Outkast and focus on the bright and giddy tempo, then play this amazing acoustic version from Obadiah Parker and focus on the lyrics. What a difference! This version is so good and so beautiful, which completely hides the sad theme of the tune. It works amazingly well!
Gary Jules (Tears for Fears) – “Mad World”. There are several good covers of one of the best tracks from Tears For Fears but this one from Gary Jules is unbelievable. His vocal delivery almost cries in anguish and the fact there is only a piano accompanying him makes the tone of the song that much more beautiful and intense at the same time. I was floored when I heard this the first time, still am when I play it today.
Eddie Vedder, Mike McCready and G. E. Smith (Bob Dylan) – “Masters of War (live)”. This is one hell of an end to this list. Rarely will I say a cover blows an original away but that is the case here folks. This live version of Dylan’s “Master of War” was done early in Pearl Jam‘s career and I remember watching this performance on television. I was mesmerized, completely shocked with just how calm Eddie Vedder looked while singing yet delivering the vocals in one of the most stunning and ferocious manners I have ever seen. The way he would hold those notes for several seconds numerous times throughout the song was insane. Best of all, when they were done he just kind of shrugs his shoulders like what happened was not a big deal, not realizing he had just delivered one of the most incredible live performances ever. Wow. I mean seriously, WOW!
Damn … that is a great playlist folks, some killer covers here! Hope you enjoyed these as much as I enjoyed putting this playlist together! Sláinte!
The Musings of Frank Gallardo 