Are there songs that should never be covered?

[mr gumby]

I can only think of one song that, now that both of the main participants are no more, I hope never gets covered, and that's Parisienne Walkways.

[Gnomicide]

Good Vibrations. God Only Knows. Wouldn't it Be Nice. In fact pretty much anything by The Beach Boys. Brian Wilson was annoyed that Lennon + McCartney got so many more covers than him, but his production + their vocals were so on point, there's pretty much nothing anyone can do to improve the originals.

Can anyone think of a Beach Boys cover that isn't an absolute murdering of the original? I can't.

Dave!!!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5GMoLENWsSk

[stuartbert two hats]

Dave!!!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5GMoLENWsSk

Actually, that's probably Brian Wilson's favourite cover. He often mentions it as one of his biggest musical regrets that it wasn't mixed more like the Roth version, with the 'girls' backing vocals louder.

[MrZigster]

I can only think of one song that, now that both of the main participants are no more, I hope never gets covered, and that's Parisienne Walkways.

Covered by every wannabe pub band with a wannabe guitar player every bloody weekend for about two damn decades 'round my small towns band circuit. I mean I know it's technically hard blues but it just got boring.

[midnight]

That is such a horrific idea I had to immediately google and listen. My God! I don't suppose I'll ever be able to quite forget seeing that, so cheers for those mental scars

Nothing wrong with covering the song though - Rodrigo y Gabriela did a pretty good on West Holts a few years back - the problem here is that SUBO seems entirely oblivious to the meaning of the lyrics she is singing to a degree that is vaguely unnerving. Symptomatic of X factor/BGT though - Alexandra burke didn't understand Hallelujah either

Having given it some thought following my earlier facetious comment, I'd say Wish You Where Here is probably a technically somewhat tricky song to cover (like quite a few Pink Floyd works that are more tracks than songs), but the sentiment is universal and can be applied by/to most people of a certain age, when you get to the stage where you know you have lost someone along the way and, apart from sadness, feel a certain amount of guilt/responsibility about it.

Then there are songs that are so deeply personal that it is really would be hard to cover them, John Lennon being a good example: Jealous Guy is easy to apply (although I can't stand Mr Ferry's version of it), but others have personal and political references that are really difficult to pick up on (God, Julia as already mentioned, Oh Yoko, several songs on Somewhere in New York City) - you'd have to change the lyrics quite radically.

I'm ok with covers, but it all depends on good and bad choices. I've had to google Alexandra Burke (never watched the X factor), and I cannot comment at all on whether she is any good as a singer, but if I understand the context correctly, she was given Hallelujah to sing as some kind of assignment for a competition when she was all of 19 years old? Is that right? That is a completely idiotic choice. I'm not surprised she threw a wobbly. It is a great song, but how can a 19 year old be expected to sing something like that with any conviction? Did they modify the lyrics for her? Reminds me of Mary Hopkins doing a cover of "Those were the days" when she was 18, or thereabouts. How can a teenager sing something like that? Makes no sense.

Btw, I think quite a few people simply like the first version they've ever heard of a song more than any other they come across later (unless it is so terrible that it puts them off the song forever, of course), not sure why that is, I've often had debates with music loving friends about this, we never came to a satisfying conclusion.

[TomViolence]

John Frusciante shouldn't have covered You and Whose Army

Edit: Also... this Warpaint/Daughter project sounds awful so far

Edited November 25, 2014 by TomViolence

[Avalon_Fields]

Good Vibrations. God Only Knows. Wouldn't it Be Nice. In fact pretty much anything by The Beach Boys. Brian Wilson was annoyed that Lennon + McCartney got so many more covers than him, but his production + their vocals were so on point, there's pretty much nothing anyone can do to improve the originals.

Can anyone think of a Beach Boys cover that isn't an absolute murdering of the original? I can't.

Yeah, I have one for you. Check out Todd Rundgren's 'Good Vibrations' (Off the 'Faithful' LP), as the title of the album suggests, it is amazingly close to the original (What the hell the point of that is a different matter, but it is impressive in so much as any mimicry can be)

[stuartbert two hats]

Yeah, I have one for you. Check out Todd Rundgren's 'Good Vibrations' (Off the 'Faithful' LP), as the title of the album suggests, it is amazingly close to the original (What the hell the point of that is a different matter, but it is impressive in so much as any mimicry can be)

I'm going to have to file this one under pointless, I'm afraid. It's a nice enough copy, but doesn't bring anything to the song.

EDIT: But I am enjoying the rest of the album

Edited November 25, 2014 by stuartbert two hats

[midnight]

What's technically tricky about it? Seems like a fairly straightforward song that Susan Boyle treated quite nicely and simply.

I think it's madness to suggest some songs shouldn't be covered.

Well, I think many Pink Floyd tracks are more like soundscapes (for lack of a better word) than traditional songs, and they tend to blend into each other (subject, tune and arrangement wise), so that would make it more difficult to filter a chunk out that you can turn into a cover. Just my opinion. I have no particular beef with Susan B (that was Ommadawn who objected). And I don't think any song is too special or precious to be covered, just that it helps if people put some thought into what they cover (or tell others to cover), and why. Let alone how.

As for my comment that some songs shouldn't be covered because they are best forgotten - I stand by that, although it is a bit off topic. I don't want to join forces with the self-appointed taste police, but still, I'd say the world is better off without a cover version resurrecting the Cheeky Song. Let alone a cover of this nauseating little ditty:

This actually was a number 1 hit in the US of A at some point in the 70s. And they say pop music is going downhill now?

Edited November 26, 2014 by midnight

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

I once heard the whole pub sing this (see below) after having had a visit from the local dealer;

Just to confirm - the boozer rendition was way ahead of the game.

[midnight]

He must have "dealt" with the whole pub?

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

He must have "dealt" with the whole pub?

He certainly had. It's not the only time I saw this happen. Another time it occurred during an England / Germany match (I think in the World Cup) which went to penalties. To cut a long story short, I dropped my mate off there, went home and ditched the car and got changed (out of the work clothes I still should have been in). I then went back to the pub and they were gone - it had only taken the bloke / pub about half an hour and they were off their heads. It so transpired that this dealer eventually ended up crying into my arm, because England lost. It was a most peculiar feeling having this happen, I can assure you.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

Not a cover, but if you restrict diversity you wouldn't get this;

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

Shite almighty, I never knew there was a second song on the video. You know that last bit - try to forget it ever happened - please. It's for your sakes, not mine, that I make this plea.

Keep smiling in the face of adversity.

[funksoulfever]

i dnt mind covers, but when someone makes a dance cover of a personal song i hate it.

for example zombie-by cranberries -who thought a song about the ira etc would be a great tune to dance too

annie lennox-why?--clearly apersonal song

mike and mechanics he living years-bout his father dying---why would ya remix that

general cover versions are always interesting to me to see how people see a song and how they can chnge it to something else with their own style.

[Ommadawn]

The point I was trying to make was that due to the very personal and poignant nature of the lyrics (to the members of the band), no-one could cover the song in the same way as the lyrics couldn't have quite the same meaning to them.

I doubt whether Susan Boyle has any experience of the descent into drug addiction and subsequent mental problems that afflicted Syd Barratt or the effect this had on the rest of the band and reflected at least in part in the lyrics (I may be wrong of course), but I get no feeling or passion from her version. She might just have been singing from the chinese takeaway menu.

Edited November 26, 2014 by Ommadawn

[midnight]

So you feel her cover version isn't very good. Or even terrible. That's fair enough.

But that is not the same as saying the song should never ever be covered? There might be people who have the relevant experience and feeling. Or others who'd just interpret it as an experience of friends or lovers lost, and missing them? Tbh, that is what I thought when I heard this song (the original) for the first time. Only years later did I read that it was about Syd. But knowing that didn't make me like the song more (or less) it just meant that I listened out for different references in it.

Once it's out of the bag, well, it's out of the bag. You can't easily stuff it back in, or tell people that they can only interpret it in a certain way, for better or worse. That's what happens when you make a piece of music (or any art, really) public.

Edited November 26, 2014 by midnight

[salvador wali]

Shite almighty, I never knew there was a second song on the video. You know that last bit - try to forget it ever happened - please. It's for your sakes, not mine, that I make this plea.

Keep smiling in the face of adversity.

You done a bad ting

[willutalk]

Nirvana Smells Like Team Spirit,

Heard it covered way too many times.

[CaledonianGonzo]

The point I was trying to make was that due to the very personal and poignant nature of the lyrics (to the members of the band), no-one could cover the song in the same way as the lyrics couldn't have quite the same meaning to them.

I doubt whether Susan Boyle has any experience of the descent into drug addiction and subsequent mental problems that afflicted Syd Barratt or the effect this had on the rest of the band and reflected at least in part in the lyrics (I may be wrong of course), but I get no feeling or passion from her version. She might just have been singing from the chinese takeaway menu.

What would be worse?

A faithfull, overly reverential version of Wish You Were Here recorded by an artist you dislike on point of principle?

Or a version of Wish You Were Here that omits the lyrics entirely so it's no longer even about Syd Barrett, but is just a melody?

Or one that distorts the melody so much that it's completely unrecognisable but keeps the lyrics and is still released in tribute to Barrett?

Or even one that rewrites the lyrics a bit so that you've got the familiar melody but it's about another subject entirely? Maybe even about how much they hate Syd Barrett...

[russycarps]

this thread has reminded me of metallicas horrific cover of nick caves loverman. Worst cover I've heard in many years. Why bother to cover a song if the end product is absolute dogshit? All they did was highlight their shortcomings.

[russycarps]

Apparently, Wish You Were Here isn't specifically about Syd.

Yep, it's all about roger waters as usual

[The Nal]

Great documentary here from 2012 on the album. Its not specifically about Syd at all apart from one line.

[5co77ie]

Syd Barrett songs are a good shout for songs that should not be covered, although Honey Love You, and Effervessing Elephant are regular rituals in this house.

I'm guessing Rolf Harris, and Gary Glitter covers are pretty thin on the ground these days

[Wooderson]