I'll start with the "soul added" with Architecture in Helsinki's Heart it Races being covered by Dr. Dog
All Along the Watchtower is the ultimate cover. Calling me a boomer only makes me more correct.
Dylan said: "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way ... Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."
I like Dylan's harmonica lick but everything else in the hendrix version is way better
Whole New Level: Johnny Cash's Version of Hurt
I genuinely thought the cover version was the original for the longest time.
Original: Nine Inch Nails
Fun fact Trent Reznor said that Hurt “wasn’t really my song anymore” after listening to that cover
That's fair. I have a certain nostalgia for Cash's music and love his last few albums of covers. For me, I love this version because the idea of an old man reminiscing on all those he's hurt and the pain he's caused throughout his life has a certain powerful aspect to it. Especially one who led the sort of life like Cash's full of addiction. Knowing he recorded it just before his death is the icing on the cake.
I think so. A quote from an article about the song - "The musician was suffering from autonomic neuropathy brought on by diabetes and by the time he recorded Hurt, his health was failing."
Julien Baker's cover of Accident Prone by Jawbreaker I would put this in successful genre swap, I feel like that undersells it but I don't think the original version is soulless in anyway.
Also Phoebe Bridger's cover of You Missed my Heart goes in the Whole New Level category cause Mark Kozelek is a piece of shit and I refuse to acknowledge he wrote the song.
Soviet march cover, i dont know which category it belongs to, it sounds the same but has much better lyrics
Rock and Rollers figured out they could make twice the money if they held writing credits. Boomers then became obsessed with the "authenticity" of the band that writes its own material. We could live in a world where poetry is free and we share many songs.
These days pop artists pay “proven hit makers” who use the common pop song chords on everything to write their songs and then change some of the lyrics to get a writing credit and thus a higher cut of the song royalties.
thats why songwriters have developed a saying about this practice “change a word, get a third”
Yep. We're living under a copyright regime designed for sheet music and player piano rolls.
At least for a while, blatant referentiality and riff stealing is a cornerstone of modern punk. Not a complaint, it's been part of the territory since the 90s. There's an entire subgenre dedicated to kinda sounding like Discharge.
Yeah, it makes for a stale scene at times too. Especially when an artist threatens musical exploration
Eh, I'd that's what I cared about I'd listen to prog. Punk bands that try to evolve musically almost always end out awful.
also I have an interview with Bret Easton Ellis somewhere in my archive where he talks about the idea of “art being free” and anyone being able to write, publish and even perform whether they have an education or not (he’s talking specifically about the alt-lit scene and punk) and he gets really angry about it, saying “as if thats anything but a terrible thing”
I can't decide if this is an Equaler or a Whole New Level.
When You Were Mine - Prince - Amazing jam with raw production which adds to the charm.
When You Were Mine - Cyndi Lauper - Production cleaned up, clearly a love letter to the original, she doesn't change the pronouns making it a gay anthem IMO (very on brand for her). I can't decide which I like better but both are fucking amazing and you're missing out if you haven't jammed to this.
I'm leaning towards Equaler, because Cyndi Lauper's cover doesn't really transcend the original you feel me?
I did have to think about it for a minute because it is a good cover.
Yep for sure. It doesn't really try to change the original much - just make it shine.
successful genre swamp:
bonnie tyler’s “holding out for a hero” covered by Frou Frou on the Shrek 2 soundtrack.
Successful Genre Swap: Screaming Females cover of Shake It Off
Soul Added: Shatner's cover of Common People by Pulp . It's actually good and I unironically prefer it to the original.
If you play Pulp's original version for your rich friend who's slumming it, they may come away thinking it's a lovely little bit of fun you're poking at them, if you play Shatner's cover, they'll come away thinking that you hate their fucking guts...making it the far superior version.
Fun fact my most successful tinder profile photo was one taken next to Marissa from Screaming Females
Bella Ciao: beautiful italian folk song.
Genre swap: Boikot's cover.
Baby One More Time by Britney Spears
Baby One More Time by Slothrust
This one is solidly soul added, it’s not just a genre swap, especially cause the original has the blues rhythm in its bones, but the cover doesn’t make me forget that Britney sang it first.
Barrett's Privateers by Stan Rogers - the original.
Barrett's Privateers by The Irish Descendants - a whole new level. Beautiful.
Valerie by Amy Winehouse was actually a whole new level cover of the original version by the Zutons, which everyone has forgotten even existed
My Therapist: A more soulful cover of Maneater by Hall and Oates doesn't exist - it can't hurt you
