So I’m leaving this month’s playlist to the very end of the month. Again. This month, I’m doing some of my favourite cover versions of songs – some of which you may not realise were covers. Here’s the Spotify playlist.
- Natalie Imbruglia – “Torn”. This was Imbruglia’s debut single, and most well-known. If you haven’t seen David Aramand’s interpretive dance version, you should. Most people don’t realise that this was a cover and was originally sung in Danish.
- Rage of Light – “Lollipop (Candyman)”. British music fans may be less familiar with the original song by Aqua, as it was never released as a single in the UK. I really like this cover by Swiss heavy metal band Rage of Light.
- Mark Ronson featuring Amy Winehouse – “Valerie”. I’m sure Amy Winehouse would still be wowing us nowadays in different circumstances. She lent her vocals to this upbeat cover version of a song originally by the band The Zutons.
- Disturbed – “The Sound of Silence”. Disturbed have done some slower songs in the past (Darkness, for example) but this cover of the Simon & Garfunkel song is superb. I much prefer it to the original.
- Leona Lewis – “Run”. Originally Lewis sang this as part of BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge, but it was subsequently recorded for her album and became a number one single on downloads alone. It’s a cover of a Snow Patrol song, a band that I also like, and both versions stand up well.
- Aurora featuring Naimee Coleman – “Ordinary World”. This was originally by Duran Duran, but this trance cover version features vocals from Naimee Coleman which were allegedly recorded in one take. A more acoustic version appears on Aurora’s album, Dreaming.
- My Darkest Days – “Come Undone”. Come Undone is my favourite of Duran Duran’s songs, but this rock cover is also excellent.
- Bastille – “Of The Night”. This opens with lyrics from Snap’s ‘Rhythm is a Dancer’, but then switches to Corona’s ‘Rhythm of the Night’. I love Dan from Bastille’s voice and this takes Corona’s song in a different direction.
- Bowling for Soup – “1985”. This was a more well-known version of a song by the band SR-71, but both have different lyrics. There’s also “2002” by Davvn which uses the same melody but updates the lyrics.
- Kerry Ellis – “Defying Gravity”. This is the best known song from the musical Wicked, and whilst it was originally performed by Idina Menzel, Ellis has also played the role of Elphaba in London’s West End. This version was produced by Queen guitarist Brian May and makes it more of a rock anthem. This is one of my go-to pick-me-up songs.