Don’t Cover Your Ears: The Best Cover Songs
Background: Cover songs are an important way for aspiring songwriters to figure out their identity, before they begin writing their own songs. It is hard for us to imagine, but the Beatles and Bob Dylan both started off recording cover songs, before getting deep into songwriting. Back in the early 60s, this was not always done to try to find a style. Dylan knew he wanted to be like Woody Guthrie, and the Beatles wanted to be like Buddy Holly. Fun fact, the Beatles actually named their band because Holly’s band was named The Crickets. Plus, the singer-songwriter revival within rock n roll had not taken off (I say revival because you had people like Woody Guthrie in the dustbowl era, and many jazz and blues musicians who wrote their own material. Though standards now, writing and composing your own work was a common practice among those genres). However, as the music industry moved into turning art into money making enterprises, it was common to have staff writers, and even have staff writers for labels, and multiple acts cut the same song, to see who would have a hit with it. Here, though, we are going to look at bands who covered songs deep in their career, when they already had a good discography of originals. For our purposes, we will also define “cover” as a song that the original artist made famous first, rather than one a songwriting team wrote and another person cut. For your purposes as the reader, I hope this does one or more of the following for you:
I hope if you’re a gigging songwriter, you find these arrangements helpful. Just because someone at your bar gig wants to hear “Wagon Wheel,” that doesn’t mean you have to play it the same way they’ve always heard it.
I hope that if you’re stuck in your own writing, these covers (or the idea of covering a song, or re-interpreting another song) re-energizes you to write, in the way they did for Dylan in the 90s and 2010s.
If you’re at the point in your career where your fans only want to hear your originals, I hope this leads you to want to add a “wild card” to your set – a song that isn’t your song or your hit, and people therefore are blown away by you covering it.
“One” by Johnny Cash (originally recorded by U2)
Lyrically: “One” talks about the fracturing of a relationship, but a lot of people hear the line, “We’re one, but we’re not the same” and immediately think of compromise. Yet if you really dive into the lyrics, you can see this is an incredibly bitter song. In the first verse, asking if his ex-lover is having an easier time because she can blame him for everything. The second verse asks if he “Left a bad taste in your mouth” and asserts she acts “Like she never had love” (even though he gladly gave it to her.) My favorite line comes in the third verse when he asks if she’s “Come here to play Jesus to the lepers in your head.” This is a beautiful song, but not one to be played at weddings, like a lot of people do.
Melodically: The Johnny Cash version uses the same chords as the U2 version, but is decidedly slower and more melancholy. The verses use A min, D maj, F maj, and G maj, while the chorus uses C, Am, F, and C. The bridge uses C, Am, C, Am, C, G, F, and C.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus structure. When I talked about “The House That Built Me” by Miranda Lambert, I cited this song as being a bridge you hardly even noticed, because it transitions so smoothly. And even in the slower Johnny Cash version of the song, I stand by that statement. You go from the aforementioned power of the third verse’s last line, straight into “You say, ‘Love is a temple, love’s the higher law. Love is a temple, love’s the higher law. You ask me to enter, and then you make me crawl. But I can’t keep holding on to what you got, when all you’ve got is hurt.” Then it transitions smoothly into the third chorus, without a solo. Speaking of choruses, each chorus’ lyrics change each time, getting progressively angrier until the last chorus, where he re-asserts that they “Get to carry each other.”
On a personal note, this is one of the songs that got me paying attention to bridges. One of the first times I heard it was in a class and my teacher told us to pay attention to how the melody of the U2 version contrasted its dark lyrics. When I heard the Johnny Cash version for the first time, it rectified that contrast, though I still think the U2 version is great. Both versions are linked below.
2. “All Along the Watchtower” by Dave Matthews Band
Background: As a songwriter, I’m a huge fan of making sure people know who wrote the original, especially if the original was written by Bob Dylan. Even Dylan, though, after Hendrix recorded his version, tried to play it like Jimi did. But Dave Matthews’ cover, done live at Red Rocks, blew me away the first time I heard it, and in fact, was the cover that inspired me to learn it on guitar.
Lyrically: Though Dylan has historically been silent over the meanings of his songs, “All Along the Watchtower” is widely regarded as a tale about being unable to escape the woes of life. Released about a year after his motorcycle incident, it talks about a joker telling a thief that “There must be some kind of way out of here,” and saying that he “Can’t get no relief.” But the thief counters saying that although the people they’re observing “Feel life is but a joke,” they know better, because they have already had near death experiences, so they must focus on getting out of their current predicament.
Melodically: This song uses three chords throughout: Am, G, and F, and in both the Hendrix and Dave Matthews Band versions, this lends itself very well to jamming. Included on this live recording is Dave Matthews on acoustic guitar and vocals, Carter Beauford on drums and percussion, LeiRoi Moore on saxophone, Boyd Tinsley on violin, and Stefan Lassard on bass. Tim Reynolds plays lead guitar on the track.
Structurally: This song follows a verse, verse, solo, verse, outro format. The simplicity of “All Along the Watchtower,” as it appears on John Wesley Harding, is what makes the story in the lyrics as compelling as it is. However, the complexity of the Dave Matthews Band version is what makes it work so well. It starts off with just acoustic guitar, then the percussion kicks in. The saxophone briefly comes in, before the violin takes over and jams along with Dave. Contrary to Hendrix’s searing guitar, Tim Reynolds’ solo has a more mysterious tone to it. That fits well with the beginning of the song, with Dave’s vocals isolated along with his acoustic guitar. Then, after the solo is over, the story is able to finish over the other instruments, coming to a momentous end.
Both the original Dylan and Dave Matthews Band “All Along the Watchtower” are embedded below.
3. “Yo Viviré” by Celia Cruz (Originally by Gloria Gaynor)
Background: I was somewhat late to the party hearing Cake’s cover of “I Will Survive,” and that version is the one that inspired me and gave me the green light to learn the song on guitar. However, when I was in Spain, I heard a very familiar tune while at a party. I paused for a second, and then said, “Holy crap, that’s ‘I Will Survive’ in Spanish! So, on the topic of Covers, but not the most famous ones you’ve heard, I bring you, “Yo Viviré” by Celia Cruz!
Lyrically: We hopefully all know the gist of “I Will Survive,” where an ex comes by and the singer says he won’t be able to come right in and have things go back to normal. So rather than dissecting a song we already know, I’ll spend the lyric section talking about things that are different in translation. First, “Yo viviré” translates to “I will live,” but at the very end, she does say, “Yo sobreviviré,” which is the literal translation of “I Will Survive.” In the chorus of the English version, she says, “As long as I know how to love, I know I’ll be alive,” while in the chorus of the Spanish version, she says, “Mientras pase una comparsa con mi rumba cantaré,” which translates to “While I pass along with my group, singing.” In other words, she’ll be joyous without him, so him coming back into her life isn’t going to make anything better. The second verse mirrors the first one pretty closely. In the English version, she starts by saying, “It took all the strength I had not to fall apart.” In the Spanish version, she says, “Cuántos amigos que dejé y cuántas lágrimas lloré, yo viviré para volverlos a encontrar,” which is translates to, “All the friends I left behind, and all the tears that I cried, I will survive, to return to find them.”
Melodically: This song has a calypso vibe, distinguished by the marimba that appears throughout. Both cover versions I have heard of this song (not counting live covers), are radically different: Cake’s cover version is acoustically-driven, and more focused on the cockiness behind the lyrics, while Cruz’s version is more focused on surviving through dancing—which is consistent with many Spanish language songs.
Structurally: The song follows a verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, solo, pre-chorus, chorus format, just like the original.
“Yo Viviré” is embedded below, as is the original by Gloria Gaynor
4. “Eclipse Total Del Amor” by Yuridia
Background: This was another one I discovered while I was in Spain. I believe it was on Tu Cara Me Suena (Your Face Sounds Familiar,) a karaoke competition where celebrities would sing songs in either Spanish or English and dress up like the singer in the original music video. If you dig this, I’d also check out “No Rompas Más Mi Pobre Corazón,” which is the Spanish version of “Achy Breaky Heart” that we never knew we needed. I chose this one, because the lyrics more closely resemble the original than in the Billy Ray Cyrus cover.
Lyrically: The big similarity between the English version and the Spanish one that we did not see in “Yo Viviré” is in the hook. When we think about “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” we almost immediately think of the line “Turn around,” in the verses. It doesn’t translate literally (because “Dé la vuelta” would not fit rhythmically,) but instead, she says, “Mírame,” (which means “Look at me.”) Chances are, if you want someone to turn around, you also want them to look at you. Similarly, the next English line is “Every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you’re never comin’ ‘round,” while the Spanish version says, “De vez en cuando siento que me estás olvidando y que no regresarás,” which translates to “Every now and then I feel like you’re forgetting me and that you won’t return.” Pretty close on that one. The chorus in English says, “And I need you more than ever,” while the Spanish version says, “Y esta noche quiero más,” (translates to “And tonight I want you more.”) Of course the title also translates word for word, even if those words are reversed a little in the title.
Melodically: The song uses the chords A#min, G#, A#min, and G#, in the intro, while the verses use A#m, C#, B, E, and A. The chorus uses Fm, C#, D#, G#, Fm, C#, D#, and G#. The ending (which you know as “Once upon a time I was falling in love, now I’m only falling apart. Nothing I can say, total eclipse of the heart,”) uses G#, Fm, C, C#, D#, G#, D#, and G#. Instrumentally, like the original, its main instrument is piano, followed by drums, bass, and electric guitar, starting off calm but vocally desperate in the verses, then building to a fuller sound in the pre-chorus and chorus. It follows this pattern until the ending, which brings back the calm piano.
Structurally: This song follows a verse, pre-chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, ending format. In a previous blog, I mentioned songs like “Dream On,” “Don’t Stop Believin’,” and “Hold My Hand,” which used the pre-chorus to build even more tension, by not singing the chorus immediately after. Very different songs, but again, it’s all about building tension.
“Eclipse Total Del Amor” is embedded below, as is its original version by Bonnie Tyler.
