So, True Faith by New Order has been covered by George Michael then. I'm purposely trying to avoid it as most people have had negative views on it and I do not want to spoil my views on the original. Yes it intentions are to raise money for Comic Relief, even though as fatmancunian states, it is a serious cover, rather than a comical one. Matthew Rudd raises a valid point about actually being allowed to dislike it, even though it is a charity single. We have been trained to think that we should buy them, even though they aren't musically brilliant.
The negative views towards this track got me thinking about other cover songs in near and distant past. Were there many that were actually any good? As I was struggling to come up with many, I put the question out to Twitter. Surprisingly, I was wrong.
There are a number of good covers out there including I Second That Emotion by Japan, Burning Down The House by Nillson and Crying In The Rain by A-Ha. Some of the tracks mentioned I mistakingly took them for original tracks, Wherever I Lay My Hat and Love of The Common People by Paul Young for example. I put my lack of knowledge down to not being old enough to remember the originals.
There are a plethora of bad covers too and it isn't hard to think of them. How's about Love Is All Around by Wet Wet Wet, Here's Where the Story Ends by Tin Tin Out, Srawberry Fields Forever by Candy Flip an Baker Street by Undercover?
What is it that makes or breaks a cover song then?
The most iconic covers tend to be complete reworkings of the original tracks, think Jeff Buckleys version of Hallelujah. In covering Leonard Cohens original, he has actually managed to switch the song into a different genre, and not done a bad job of it neither.
The other key factor to note is making the correct choice in a song to cover. Should this track be covered or not is the question that needs asking every time.
To be frank there are a number of tracks that shouldn't be covered. Some of these have actually been recorded. True Faith falls into this category. God knows what possessed Depeche Mode to allow The Saturdays to cover Just Can't Get Enough. This being the latest in cover songs from the past that have switched genres but for me aren't even a patch on the original. Did The Saturdays actually think it was a good idea to folow in the footsteps of Girls Aloud, who covered a staggering four tracks?!
To finish off, I'd thought I'd leave you with one of my favourite covers. This in fact switched genres and proved to be sucessful. Also, it is an excellent track performed live as I saw here.
If you wish to add to this list of good and bad covers, please feel free.
