The other day Joshua Blankenship tweeted a link to Jamie Cullum’s cover of Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop The Music”. He was impressed by the cover. I had never heard of Jamie Cullum and I’m somewhat familiar with Rihanna’s catalogue (”Under my umbrella…ella…ella…eh…eh…eh), but I do enjoy cover songs when they’re done by an artist who’s music is substantially different from that of the original.
Watching Jamie’s version got me thinking about other cover songs I’ve heard that were equally impressive, especially for their creative interpretation. Here’s Jamie’s video for “Don’t Stop The Music” plus 3 others that I enjoy. I’d also love to hear of any that you enjoy, so leave me a comment.
“Don’t Stop The Music” – Jamie Cullum (original by Rihanna)
After hearing this song I’m inclined to check out more of Jamie’s stuff. I hear his style is jazzy, which is alright by me. Plus he’s British, so double bonus!
“Hey Ya” – Obadiah Parker (original by Outcast)
I love the fact that this is acoustic and sung by a guy who looks about as far removed from Andre 3000 as you could get. Obadiah (if that’s his name) sings this song with such heartfelt conviction that it truly feels like he’s the one who wrote this song to begin with.
“All is Full of Love ” – Death Cab for Cutie (Original by Björk)
This video is a fan-made video. There is a video of Death Cab performing this song live in 2001 (back when I saw them perform it in a total dive of a venue) but the quality is poor and I prefer this album version. Let it be know that I still prefer Björk’s original, but Death Cab’s cover is great, especially the drumbeat.
“Mad World” – Gary Jules (Original by Tears for Fears)
I became familiar with this song when I heard it used in Joseph Kosinski’s (who I’ve written about before) brilliantly directed video for Gears of War. It’s mood is melancholic, but paired with a beautiful video directed by Michel Gondry. When I first heard this song I didn’t know it was a cover, but recently found out that Tears for Fears wrote it in the 80’s. Their version is nowhere near as emotional and in my opinion total crap.
Some of my favorites up there; I adore cover songs – These might also be worth a listen for you:
“Crazy” by Nelly Furtado (original by Gnarls Barkley): http://bit.ly/nfcrazy (Grooveshark link)
“Heartless” by The Fray (original by Kanye West): http://bit.ly/heartlesscover (YT link)
Cheers!
I typically don’t care for cover songs, but Ann & Nancy Wilson’s cover of Led Zeppelin’s “The Battle of Evermore” is pretty good. (I know, old school stuff)
I absolutely love cover songs. I’ve heard a couple of the ones you posted, the Mad World cover was in Donnie Darko somewhere, which I’m surprised you haven’t seen actually. I’m ashamed to say though, that I always thought that Death Cab song was an original.
Here’s a couple of my favourites, you might find something you like too:
“Such Great Heights” by Ben Folds (original by The Postal Service): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSsB74HG7jo
“This Charming Man” by Death Cab for Cutie (original by The Smiths), it gets torn to pieces in the comments but I still like it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC5EaOcgx90
I also know of another cover of “Hey Ya” by The Vines, there are only pretty poor quality fan videos of it on youtube but as I don’t think there was ever a studio recording of it, I’ll link to the best one I’ve found: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTKn8bzlq-Y
I think I spent the best part of a day once at http://hypem.com/ after doing a search for “cover”. It’s an endless pursuit but there are some gems out there.
Here we go again.
Obadiah Parker is the name of the band from the ‘Hey Ya’ cover video you posted and the guy singing is named Mat Weddle. They have several other covers but that is probably their best and most well-known one.