Tuesday, May 08, 2007
From the iTunes Playlist:
Being glued to a computer for the last couple of weeks, typing outlines endlessly and lamenting my general condition, I learned a few things: (a) on-air QVC mishaps are priceless when you're sick of real estate transactions, (b) I can study to music after all, and (c) I have a lot of cover songs for some reason. With this last point I decided to compile a Top 10 list since that seems to be quite the common practice nowadays. (see, e.g., the Top 20 Most Embarrassing Pop-Star Moments Ever Caught on Tape.) Procrastination? Why, yes. How observant.
Top 10 Cover Songs on My Playlist Right Now:
10. Comfortably Numb. Van Morrison singing David Gilmour's vocals. You may remember this rendition from The Departed soundtrack.
9. Dancin' in the Streets. The Grateful Dead. Cover of Martha & the Vandellas' original (not David Bowie & Mick Jagger). I do believe Jerry Garcia called this the hippie anthem. Makes sense. friggin' damn dirty hippies and their twirlin and flowers and rainbows. (don't forget the hairy pits.)
8. Iron Man. The Bad Plus. Behold one of most recognizable riffs in music. Now imagine it on a jazz piano.
7. Money. Easy Star All-Stars. The second Floyd song to make the list, all dubbed out and irie. That's not the sound of a cash register in the beginning...
6. Stir it Up. Dispatch. These fellow Midd alums threw a Marley classic into the middle of their own Outloud. Great live track.
5. The Times They are A-Changin'. The Beach Boys. From the Party! disc, the Boys actually recorded it at....well, a party. You can hear people singing and carrying on in the background.
4. Cross-eyed & Painless. Phish. Nothing beats the original but this ain't a bad imitation. Funny thing is--there actually were thousands of cross-eyed and/or painless hippies at Big Cypress when they played it.
3. Oh Me. Nirvana. Meat Puppets classic; Unplugged masterpiece. Technically, this is only a quasi-cover since the MPs were up on stage with Kurt Go-Bang et al, but I'll allow it.
2. Love Song. 311. At times I almost think this version is better than the Cure's.
1. Queen Bitch. Seu Jorge. Team Zissou. Suffraggette City is a close second, but I'm limiting the list to one song per cover band/artist.
Just to note: I also excluded traditional folk songs (e.g., Little Sadie by Crooked Still) and songs not played by their writers (e.g., Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler, originally recorded by Cab Calloway, but covered wonderfully by Ella Fitzgerald).
One more exam to go. Stitch out.
