Bands need to add own creative edge to cover songs

Imitation is said to be the most sincere form of flattery. But
in the arena of cover songs, imitation can be a source of
annoyance.

This feeling becomes magnified when the cover sounds similar to
the original and dominates the radio airwaves. What pops into my
mind first is the new 311 cover of the classic The Cure tune
“Lovesong” that’s been polluting the KROQ
airwaves. It’s also made its way onto the “50 First
Dates” soundtrack.

The new version is, quite frankly, the same as the old one, with
a reggae drum beat inserted haphazardly in the background. It is a
relief they didn’t highly synthesize the singer’s voice
as they seem to in their older singles, but his nasally squeal does
Robert Smith zero justice. The original has a certain intensity of
longing, but this new one just seems too long, dragging on forever.
The Cure conjures up dark images reminiscent of a Tim Burton movie,
but 311 does nothing more than provide imagery of a bunch of pot
smoking surfers

What makes a good cover is a new, creative twist on a classic
song. One of the best covers done recently is the Foo Fighters
cover of Prince’s “Darling Nikki.” It is a rock
twist on a pop classic, complete with Dave Grohl’s throaty
screams and rocking breakdown. You can still recognize the intro,
but the tempo is sped up slightly to make it a little more of a
rock song than the dirty sex ballad that was Prince’s
original.

Besides superior musicianship, there is another factor that
makes the new “Darling Nikki” so much better than the
new “Lovesong”: “Darling Nikki” sounds like
a Foo Fighters song. If you had never heard Prince’s
original, you would be none the wiser. The new
“Lovesong” however, sounds nothing like a 311 song. If
a fan had not heard the The Cure version, they might contemplate
the new direction the band is taking, because it doesn’t
sound like 311 at all.

The Ataris had a similar problem with their “Boys of
Summer” cover. Sure, it catapulted the band onto the radio
and into our ears, but changing “˜Deadhead’ to
“˜Black Flag’ can hardly compensate for the lack of
overall imagination with the song. Don’t get me wrong, I like
The Ataris as much as the next girl, but hearing that song
constantly made me curse Don Henley’s existence more than
usual.

A cover of a well known classic can definitely be good for a
band, but releasing a version that sounds just like the original as
a single is cowardly. People already know the words and the beat,
so it has a pretty good chance of catching on. Bands need to take
risks. Creativity is what made the songs popular in the first
place, either add your own signature to the song or don’t do
a cover at all.

Seasoned veterans of the music industry could benefit from doing
covers, but newbies should stick to their own stuff and establish
themselves before trying to re-record a classic.

E-mail Marras your favorite cover song at
[email protected].