David Byrne has dropped his new monthly playlist to fans via his newsletter. This month Byrne takes covers and gives them their due.
Here’s a playlist of songs covered by unexpected artists who step outside their usual genre for material and then personalize it. Often, their interpretation gives the song a new meaning…and sometimes the cover is the version we associate with the song, even though the song may have been recorded and released previously by the artist who wrote it.
Tune into the radio player over at his site for selections like the Seu Jorge version of David Bowie‘s classic “Life on Mars?” and stay for the Scissor Sisters version of Pink Floyd‘s “Comfortably Numb.”
For a lot of the artists on this playlist I suspect that their reason for covering someone elses song was not to ride the fast track to sales and success, but to show another side of themselves and to escape, briefly, from whatever it is they might be expected to do….they often do this by covering songs you might not think they’d like….this often gives the song a new meaning..we hear an overfamiliar tune with fresh ears
Habina Rachid – Taha
Me Siento Feliz – Los Ecos
Everybody Knows – Sigrid
What The World Needs Now – Cat Power
Love is Strange – Wings
Get out of Town – Caetano Veloso
Gimme Shelter – Patti Smith
Everybody Wants To Rule The World – Patti Smith
A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall – Bryan Ferry
On a Roll – Ashley O
Africa – Hackney Colliery Band
Give Me Your Love (Love Song) – Lambchop
What Was It You Wanted – Willie Nelson
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door – The Persuasions
I still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For – The Persuasions
Hurt – Johnny Cash
Superstar – Sonic Youth
Life on Mars? – Seu Jorge
The Man Who Sold The World – Nirvana
Friday I’m In Love – Yo La Tengo
Comfortably Numb – Scissor Sisters
Common People – William Shatner
Hey Ya – live – Obadiah Parker
