Sweet Odes: Five Awesome Cover Tunes That Reimagine the Original
For my maiden Medium post, I wanted to write about a subject that is near and dear to my heart.
Cover tunes.
Specifically, I wanted to pay homage to a few of my favorites. But, before I begin, I want to lay out what makes a cover song super lame…actually covering it.
If the ears of a hungry listener want to hear all of the characteristics that make up an original song — the cadence, the rhythm, the singer’s tone, the mood, etc — then why not just listen to the original version, right?
A truly great cover takes a song and infuses it with new life, whether by sheer creative alchemy or by capturing its essence using a completely different genre.
Some of these originals were sleepers, some already bonafide classics. Here are five covers that take songs to transcendent new heights.
1) “Remember, Walking in the Sand”
You member!?
OK, admittedly, this version is more along the lines of the original. But Boston’s own gang of rock-and-roll bloodhounds give this ballad a gritty veneer.
The “oh no. Oh-no-no-no-no” can be heard sampled on social media as well as peppered throughout many a minor league baseball game.
The Original: The Shangri-Las
The Cover: Aerosmith
2) “Y Ahora Quien?”
You would be hard-pressed to find a cover that is as completely inverted as this one. Only the lyrics are similar.
The Original: Marc Anthony
The Cover: Chico Trujillo
3) “Where is My Mind?”
From an angsty 90s anthem to a piano lullaby. Gotta love an instrumental rendition.
The Original: The Pixies
The Cover: Maxence Cyrin
4) “Heartbeats”
Many learned of this early 2000s banger from its acoustic cover.
The Original: The Knife
The Cover: José González
5) “Suzanne”
Note the obvious mood delta between these two versions.
The Original: Leonard Cohen
The Cover: Nina Simone
What’s your favorite cover?
MV
