Life's Soundtrack - Covers

Photo by Clare B from the Inspiration Studio Flickr Group.  

Doesn't it take your breath away?

The idea for today's post came when I received an email that made my geeky, music-loving soul's week, but before I get to the email I have to back up a bit.  Last week I discovered a beautiful cover of the eighties classic, "Take On Me" by Runar Eff and shared it on my blog.  Based on the comments, I wasn't the only one who loved his version.  A couple of days later, Runar Eff commented thanking us for listening and loving his song, the fact that he took the time to drop us a note filled me with glee, and had me thinking about cover songs and how much I sometimes I love them.

This week we're going to build a playlist full of amazing cover songs.  Covers come in all shapes and sizes.  Sometimes they are similar to the original and other times they take the song in a new and wondrous direction, and let's be honest, occasionally they just should have been left in the recording studio.

My favorite song of all time, Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah"only became magical for me when I heard the Jeff Buckley version and then k.d. lang's version.  While Mr. Cohen is an amazing songwriter, it took these two amazing vocalists to make the song the song heavenly to my ears, the versions aren't dramatically different, the true beauty and variation comes from the unique voice and interpretation of the singers.  A recent example of a cover that went in a new direction is Dierks Bentley, who this year took the classic U2 rock song, "Pride (in the Name of Love)" and turned it into a bluegrass version, nothing like the original, but amazing!  As much as I think U2's version is perfect, I love Dierks' version for being different and awesome.

Let's kick this week's list off with both versions of Hallelujah and just for fun, let me know which one you prefer.  We've discussed the magic of k.d.'s version before, but I'm interested in what you think after listening to both.  I'm also curious to know if you like covers to sound similar to the original or if you prefer when they go in a totally different direction.

Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)
k.d. lang - Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)
Dierks Bently - Pride (In the Name of Love) (U2)
The Corrs - When the Stars Go Blue (Ryan Adams)
Ryan Adams - Wonderwall (Oasis)
Adele - Make You Feel My Love (Bob Dylan)
Sarah McLachlan - River (Joni Mitchell)
Sugarland, Little Big Town & Jake Owen - Life in Northern Town (The Dream Academy)
Runar Eff - Take On Me (A-Ha)

I can't thank you enough for putting together such an awesome collection of songs to sing me home.  I've been playing them all week as I clean up the apartment and pack my bags.  I think the consensus is that Michael Buble's "Home" is one of the best.  For those of you new here, to listen to the playlist, simply click on the play button on the embedded player below.  The songs will play one after the other.



Don't forget to comment and share your favorite cover songs, I can't wait to hear what you come up with this week; based on what we've done in the past it is going to be amazing.

Happy Listening
Jamie
Lyrical Journey