The times are tough now, just getting tougher. SbS 04.016.25 Newsletter 22

Music Question: Covers (Part 1).Next: My weekly new music radio show. Music League

Why Great Song Covers Stand Out: Reinventing Music

A great song cover doesn’t just replay a familiar tune—it reimagines it. Whether it’s a stripped-down acoustic version, a genre-bending twist, or a powerhouse vocal performance, the best covers bring something new to the table while honoring the original.  

But what makes a cover truly memorable? Is it the artist’s unique interpretation, the emotional delivery, or the fresh production? 

We’ll explore why some covers become classics (sometimes even surpassing the originals), while others fade into the background. 

Think about what makes Johnny Cash’s haunting Hurt to Whitney Houston’s explosive I Will Always Love You - amazing. Unforgettable.

We’ll break down what makes these renditions unforgettable.  

Because the best covers don’t just pay tribute—they make the song their own.

Hey Eric…want to start us off?

So what’s the secret sauce? A killer voice? Bold reinvention? Or just pure, unapologetic vibes? Let’s break down why some covers go harder than your morning coffee—and why others? Well… they belong in the “skip” pile.  

ERICK : I am fond of saying we are living in a golden age of music, and I think it is due to sharing platforms like YouTube, where covers by established artists and very talented nobodies who are on their way to being somebodies are thick on the ground. Often, that’s how I find my new favorite artists, like Maddison Cunningham, whose guitar is phenomenal and whose voice isn’t half bad, either. I learned about her from her covers of “In My Life” Madison Cunningham - In My Life (The Beatles Cover) and “Hold On” Madison Cunningham - Hold On (Tom Waits Cover). Her right hand is musical magic on that Tom Waits song. 

Chris: Bravo! Opening with not one, but “two: of my all-time favorites? As Prince once declared, 'Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life'—and with taste like yours, we might just enjoy the ride. Well played, maestro. 👏 - that’s my slow clap that gathers momentum with the crowd until it’s a rapturous thunder!

Erick: yeah, I guess if you’re gonna do a cover, it’s because it’s already a brilliant song. Add a ton of talent, and it’s difficult to miss. 

I think you nail it, Chris, when you say that the best covers make the song their own. My favorite covers switch genres up—they’ll take a country song and make it punk rock, the way Hüsker Dü’s covers “Love Is All Around,” the Mary Tyler Moore Show theme song, which was the B-side to their 1985 single, Makes No Sense at All: Husker Du - "Love Is All Around". Sonny Curtis, who wrote the song and also wrote “I Fought the Law,” had a hit with it on the country charts a few years earlier. But, listening to Hüsker Dü, you realize they heard a different song than most other people did. 

Chris: Oh I’m jumping all over Mr Mould’s band’s cover. I’ll call it: From Sunshine to Feedback: a fascinating example of how punk and alternative bands can transform a cheerful, sentimental tune into something entirely their own.

At first glance - a hardcore band covering a TV theme seems like a novelty, but Hüsker Dü’s take is more than just a punk deconstruction. It reflects their ability to find emotional depth in unexpected places. While the original is warm and reassuring, Hüsker Dü’s version sounds desperate. As if the band is clinging to optimism in the face of chaos. 

In the end, Hüsker Dü’s version proves that great songs can transcend their origins—whether it’s a sitcom theme or a punk anthem, "Love Is All Around" still delivers its message, just with a lot more distortion.

Erick: Amen and well put. Chris: Thanks man!

Chris: And for my first cover: Rap song turned into a bluegrass/banjo song filled with Slide guitars and foot-stomping rhythm. Check. Add a blistering guitar solo at the end. Check. Vocal that starts quite soft then builds into an explosive attack. Check. Chills. Check.

Any guesses? 

Kasey Chambers’ “Lose Yourself” 

She didn’t just “make it work” - she turned it into a raw, twang-infused anthem for underdogs everywhere. Stripping away the hip-hop bravado, her live version replaces 8 Mile’s grit with outlaw-country soul, swapping rapid-fire rhymes for aching vibrato. The result? A haunting, harmonica-laced rebellion that proves great songwriting transcends genre.  

In a 2017 interview with ABC Australia - Chambers laughs about the backlash “Some Eminem fans were pissed” but stands by the cover’s spirit “It’s a song about fighting for your dreams—that’s as country as it gets.”

Watch the crowd go from “Wait, what?” to “Holy balls, she’s nailing this” in real time.

A masterclass in artistic fearlessness. Chills.

Erick: Any chance to listen to Kasey Chambers is a good use of time. What a show!

I think I first learned that musicians loved to cover songs from other kinds of music when someone told me that Hank Williams Sr.’s signature song,” Lovesick Blues” was a cover of a Broadway tune. I mean, it was the 80s, I lived in Texas, and still the only reason I was interested in Williams was that he was a songwriter. THAT song was a Broadway cover? I went down to the library at Texas Tech to look it up—”go to the library to look it up” is even more dated than “B-side,” isn’t it?—and sure enough, the song was written by some Tin-Pan-Alley guys, almost twenty years before Williams made it his first #1 country single.

Chris: I love when that happens. You’re vibing with a song, thinking it’s an original - only to dig deeper and discover it’s a cover. But then the plot thickens: the version you thought was the original? Also a cover. Now you’re on a musical treasure hunt, tumbling down the rabbit hole of ‘Who sang this first?!’ It’s like uncovering secret layers in a song you never knew existed.

Song 2 for Chris Bro

Timbuk3 is often remembered as a one-hit wonder for their 1986 smash "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" a sardonic, synth-infused folk-rock tune that became an MTV staple. But for those who dig deeper, the husband-and-wife duo of Pat and Barbara K. MacDonald had far more to offer than just that one quirky anthem. Their music blended dark humor, social commentary, and minimalist arrangements—often just acoustic guitar, bass, and drum machines—creating a sound that was both raw and clever.  

Today’s theme is covers - as such - I present to you: Timbuk3’s take on "Born to Be Wild”. It’s a fascinating departure from Steppenwolf’s iconic, roaring anthem. Timbuk3’s version strips away the bombast, turning the song into a slow, eerie, almost apocalyptic blues shuffle.  

Pat MacDonald’s vocals are weary and world-worn, contrasting with the original’s rebellious energy. Barbara K.'s harmonies add a haunting layer, making it feel more like a cautionary tale than a freedom anthem. The arrangement is sparse—acoustic guitar, subtle percussion, and a creeping bassline—giving it a desolate, road-weary vibe.  

This cover perfectly encapsulates Timbuk3’s ability to subvert expectations. While Steppenwolf’s version is all about wild abandon, Timbuk3’s rendition feels like the morning after—exhausted, disillusioned, but still strangely compelling.  

If you only know them for "The Future’s So Bright" maybe dive deeper. You might just find one of the most underrated acts of the late '80s and early '90s.

I like this new version too.

Erick: Oh, Timbuk3, how I have missed thee. When I was at UT Austin, there was a bar called Hole in the Wall, and one night there was a band that was barely advertised and no one knew who they were before they started playing: Fred and Wilma. It was really Timbuk Three, who I guess wanted to play without the whole world coming down on them to play that one song. You can imagine the crowd’s surprise—and the rush to the pay phone to tell friends to get down there quick. Such good music!

Chris: I want that story. On so many levels. One, I never saw them live. Two, Just a brilliant Fake Name.

Erick: But how about Miles Davis—Miles Davis!—covering Cyndi Lauper’s hit, Time after Time? The jazz great loved the song. He recorded his cover in 1985, a year after it became Lauper’s first #1 single, and played it at concerts for the rest of his life. MILES DAVIS - Time After Time Now, I loved the song when I was a teen, but I began to love it even more when I started finally listening to jazz as an adult. Davis helped me see what was really cool about that song, and I think that’s why I like genre-switching so much.

Chris: Genre-hopping like a caffeinated Shakespeare!" As the Bard himself wrote, "All the world's a stage" and this cover pirouettes across it with reckless brilliance—one minute tragedy, the next farce, and somehow, against all odds, it works. Glorious chaos.  

Erick: I have been trying to get the bands I’ve played in to cover The Kinks’ “Lola” as a country song since 1985. Just picture it: “I met her in a honkytonk in San Antonio…” Oh, we’ve played it once or twice in rehearsals, but you’ll never find a recording of it… which brings me to Taylor Swift.

I love The 1975, as many, many other people do, but they can’t touch Taylor Swift for popularity. So imagine their good fortune when Taylor Swift showed up as a special guest in between sets of their concert in London in December, 2023, and did two acoustic songs, one of hers and one a cover of their song, “The City.” Anti-Hero & The City (cover) - Taylor Swift - Acoustic set at The 1975 concert, London 12/01/23 [4K] Hearing the people in the concert go apeshit and sing along makes me very happy. After the videos of the surprise appearance hit the social sharing sites, the 1975 saw a boost in streaming of their song The 1975 - The City (Official Video), as Swifties who didn’t know it already started “finding out.” So I suppose they and Matt Healy, especially, were very happy, too. For more than one reason.

Chris: Adding Ryan Adam’s Full Taylor album 

Erick: Oh, that’s brilliant.I love categorizing, but I usually try to avoid the ranking debates, like those in that John Cusack movie, High Fidelity. But sometimes, the covers in the new genre are just better: Neil Diamond’s Red, Red Wine just isn’t as good as UB40’s cover. It’s entirely the arrangement in that case. Diamond’s feels yawn (no matter how much better his voice is) after listening to UB40. Probably not that controversial. Okay, let me be controversial: Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Voodoo Chile” Stevie Ray Vaughan ~Voodoo Child ~ Live From Austin T is better than Hendrix’s Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child (Slight Return) - Live, and it’s not because of the guitar but the band behind. Fight me.

Chris: When in doubt SRV. We just had the birthday of Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” from 1983 - which was an intro to the masses of the brilliance that is the heavy string player.

And Chris’s 3rd.

Placebo’s "Running Up That Hill" (Kate Bush Cover) – The Gritty, Gloomy Reinvention That Predated the Stranger Things Boom

Long before “Stranger Things” catapulted Kate Bush’s "Running Up That Hill" back into the cultural stratosphere (and onto TikTok playlists everywhere). Placebo delivered a haunting, gothic reinterpretation that stripped away the original’s synth-driven grandeur and replaced it with raw, brooding despair.  

Why It Works (So Damn Well). Brian Molko’s androgynous, trembling whisper turns Bush’s ethereal plea into something more desperate—like a confession in the dark. Droning guitars, a minimalist drum machine, and eerie reverb make it sound like it’s being played in an abandoned cathedral.  

A masterclass in how to own a cover—not by imitation, but by possession

There are soooo many more—I’m sure we'll get to the 'part 2 covers. In the wise words of Ron Swanson: "Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing."…So naturally, we’ll half-ass ALL of them. 

Next- where the vibes are high and the guitars are louder than my ex’s opinions. Let’s dive into a stacked lineup of tracks that’ll scratch every itch—whether you’re feeling wistful, wild, or just wanna scream into the void with style. Here we go! 

Fantastic Cat – "I Don’t Know Why". Kicking things off with some golden-hour Americana—Fantastic Cat’s ‘I Don’t Know Why’ is like a hug from an old friend who still owes you money. Harmonies so sweet, they’ll give you cavities. This one’s for anyone who’s ever stared at their phone wondering, ‘Why did I text them back?’  

Stereophonics – "Seems Like You Don’t Know Me". "Welsh rock legends Stereophonics coming in hot with ‘Seems Like You Don’t Know Me’—aka the anthem for every time you realize your partner’s got you confused with someone who actually has their life together. Kelly Jones’ voice could make a grocery list sound epic, and this? This is way better than a grocery list. 

Everyone Says Hi – "Somebody Somewhere". Dreamy, jangly, and just a little bit lost—‘Somebody Somewhere’ by Everyone Says Hi is for staring out bus windows and pretending your life’s a coming-of-age movie. Spoiler: The soundtrack slaps. 

Blondshell – "23’s A Baby". "Blondshell’s here to remind us that being 23 feels like wearing a Halloween costume labeled ‘Adult.’ ‘23’s A Baby’ is all grungey guitars and brutal honesty—like if Liz Phair and Courtney Barnett had a therapy session at a dive bar. 

Sleigh Bells – "Real Special Cool Thing". "Buckle up, because Sleigh Bells just dropped a sugar-coated grenade. ‘Real Special Cool Thing’ is what happens when pop and noise pollution have a love child. Play this at max volume and scare your neighbors—it’s what Alexis Krauss would want. 

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – "Deadstick". "Psychedelic chaos incoming! King Gizzard’s ‘Deadstick’ sounds like a UFO landing in a desert while the band jams on its hull. If you don’t air-guitar to this, are you even alive?  

My Morning Jacket – "Die For It". The sound of a heart wide open—big skies, bigger feelings, and a guitar solo that’ll melt your face clean off. Jim James is basically a rock ’n’ roll angel, and this is his sermon.  

The Backfires – "Turn Off The Lights" Let’s inject some garage-rock adrenaline straight into your veins. ‘Turn Off The Lights’ is for nights when you wanna burn the routine to the ground. Cue the air drums!

Afternoon in the Park – "Destination". Shoegaze so lush, you could plant a garden in it. Perfect for when you need to disappear into your headphones for three and a half minutes.  

Free Range – "Hardly". The musical equivalent of shrugging in a flannel shirt. Lo-fi, laid-back, and low-key genius. For when you can’t decide between a nap and a existential crisis.

Momma – "Welcome To My Blue Sky".’90s alt-rock nostalgia with a side of Gen-Z anxiety. Imagine The Smashing Pumpkins covering a diary entry. Spoiler: It rocks. 

The Bug Club – "Jealous Boy". Two minutes of spiky, witty punk that’ll make you wanna dance and/or reevaluate your life choices. Like if Pavement wrote a diss track for their pet goldfish.

Hannah Mazey – "I’ll Be Fine". The acoustic hug you need after a bad day. Quietly devastating, but in that ‘I’ll-get-through-this’ way. Keep tissues handy.

Sharp Pins – "If I Was Every Lonely" Serving up emo-tinged power pop with ‘If I Was Every Lonely.’ It’s like if your teenage mixtape grew up but kept all its angst. Play it loud and pine dramatically.

The Airport 77s – "If It’s On, I’m In". A power-pop rocket fueled by hooky guitars and reckless optimism. For when you’re ready to say ‘YES’ to bad decisions and great memories. 

In Waves – "Hands". Shoegaze for the soul—walls of sound, whispered confessions, and a melody that’ll haunt your shower thoughts. Turn it up and let it swallow you whole.

Dictator – "HL7". Closing out with Dictator’s ‘HL7’—a noise-punk tantrum that sounds like a modem fighting a chainsaw. Play this to clear the room (or find your people). Either way, chaos wins.  

That’s it for this ride, folks! From heartache to headbanging, we covered it all. Stay weird, stay listening, and remember: If you love someone hug them right now.

Thanks for listening to new music. Thanks for listening to NEXT.

Music League: The App That Turns Music Into a Game

1️⃣ Join a League – Thinking *Shaped By Sound* should start one.  

2️⃣ Submit Songs – Drop Spotify/Apple Music links based on fun weekly themes. 

3️⃣ Vote Anonymously – Rate tracks & roast (or praise) picks in the comments.  

4️⃣ Win Bragging Rights – Top songs earn points; champions get glory.  

Best part? It’s free (iOS/Android/web).  

Who’s in? Drop a comment—we have 10 already! Room for more. 🎶🔥

Thank you for reading/listening. 

Music is Life. Music is Magic. Live Music Is Good For Your Soul.

And remember if you love someone hug them right now.

And today's title comes from: Bruce Springsteen’s “Cover Me”. Quite on the nose…duh it’s about covers. So…Cover me! Plus live music is good for your soul. Did I mention that?

Enjoy it all and Embrace The Suck