I'm such a sucker for cover songs. There's just something intriguing about the way some bands or artists manage to make someone else's song their own. I think it's fairly rare, too. In my opinion merely playing through Louie Louie doesn't mean you're really covering it but then again, some bands have managed to breathe new life even into such a classic song. Like Black Flag, for instance [listen to their version on Youtube].
It's not necessary to change the song completely to make it your own, though. Now here's is something I find fascinating. On the latest Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan record Hawk there is a Townes Van Zandt cover called No Place To Fall. It's sung by Isobel and a young folksinger called Willy Mason, apparently because Lanegan didn't want to sing it at first. He seems to have changed his mind later on because lately he's been singing it live with Isobel.
A change of heart is not the fascinating part I was referring to, though. The interesting bit is how different those two versions, Lanegan's and Mason's, sound. Here they are, both acoustic and performed live with Isobel but still a million miles apart. Devil's in the details: the way you see the song and how you address the audience. And if you listen to the original version, it's totally different again.
And the original version:
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