'stop me,' by mark ronson & daniel merriweather
'running up that hill,' by chromatics
'pretty in pink,' by purplespace
it's been a couple of weeks since i've thrown up some cover versions, so here are few to whet ye olde appetite. the first, 'stop me,' is a cover of the smiths' classic, 'stop me if you think you've heard this one before.' it's a great version, but at the same time i revere the smiths so much that part of me feels they shouldn't be covered, no matter how well-intentioned and no matter how successful a particular cover might be. let's face it, the smiths are holy. they are untouchable. do you want someone covering the smiths? hmmm. but having said that, if someone is going to cover the smiths, it better be great. thankfully, mark ronson's version resembles the original only in the melody. as he often does, ronson turns 'stop me if you think you've heard this one before' into a a great motown-inspired. daniel merritweather also does a nice job invoking the mozfather without aping him entirely.
the second is chromatics icy cover of the kate bush classic [i also heartily recommend placebo's version]. if nothing else, it's a testament to the quality of the original that it translates so well into so many different styles. i love this version.
lastly, purplespace continues the trend of covering classic 80s songs. i'm still not entirely sure how i feel about this trend, but i don't see it ending anytime soon. part of me feels like it's cheating to announce yourself to the world by recording someone else's song. is that harsh? purplespace's version is of the psychedelic furs' classis essentially non-essential, doesn't really bring anything new to the table, but it is a competent, well-produced version that stays true to the original. there's no shame in that. [i couldn't find a decent picture of purplespace, so you'll have to go without]. i'm sure it will drift into obscurity before too long, so enjoy it while you can.
what do you all think of covers? good thing? bad thing? speak your mind....
��� mark ronson & daniel merriweather: stop me [original version] [smiths cover] / video
��� chromatics: running up that hill [kate bush cover]
��� purplespace: pretty in pink [psychedelic furs cover]
SONG OF THE DAY (#198)
Tuesday, September 25, 2007 | Posted by matt lohrke at 8:00 AM
Labels: mp3, song of the day
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3 shout outs:
I concur with your The Smiths comments. And when I happened to see the Mark Ronson & Daniel Merriweather version on VH1, I almost burnt myself with the iron I was so distracted by his voice and the horns. It was awesome! Love all three. Thank you.
they played it on VH1? wow. that's surprising. but groovy.
A good cover is almost always bound to make me happy. I like when some songs are kicked out of obscurity and made better than they were in the first place. Hey, it happens.
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