Allison's Cover Songs

Wow.



Wow.

I expected our lists to overlap A LOT more... This is going to be interesting.

I love covers. And I don't think I could be any more eloquent than Evan was in his post about the nature of covers. So, I just have my list. I'll also post YouTube videos when I can find them. Some of these might be harder to track down than those we listed for The Saddest Songs.

I like to call mine: Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Too!
1. The Shins - We Will Become Silhouettes - 3:01
(original by The Postal Service)
The Shins version of this song made it impossible for me to listen to the original version. It sounds like a song The Shins should have written. Their more organic cover trumps the bippidy-boppidy original, which now sounds like too too much for a song so simply fantastic.


2. Jim Sturgess - I've Just Seen a Face - 1:51
(original by The Beatles)
I might be one of the only people on the planet who will admit to loving Across the Universe. A musical based on Beatles songs used to tell the story of the tumultuous '60s? Hmmmm. Okay, throw in one of the cutest Brits I've ever seen and have him sing this song in a bowling alley... Now we're talking! I can't help but sing along when it comes on.


3. Ted Leo - Dirty Old Town - 2:47
(original by The Dubliners)
Just a straight-up cover of "Dirty Old Town" with a lot more rock-edge. It's incredible to me what one guy and one electric guitar can do on stage. Ted Leo is the king of awesome covers in my mind: I had to fight with myself about which one to include. Special mentions go to "Six Months in a Leaky Boat" (original by Split Enz) and "Maps/Since U Been Gone" (originals by Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Kelly Clarkson).
The video is a live version, but the one I like is on Tell Balgeary, Balgury is Dead.


4. She & Him - You Really Got a Hold On Me - 3:59
(original by The Miracles)
Oh that Zooey. Cute as a button. There's no way that this cover is better than the original, but it's so earnest and honest that I have to include it.
(Again, this is live, not the album version.)


5. Owen - Femme Fatale - 3:35
(original by The Velvet Underground)
Here's a simple equation for you to consider:
Owen (Allison's idea of Perfect Boy) + a song about Edie Sedgwick (Allison's idea of Perfect Girl) = Perfection. I nearly crapped my pants the first time I heard this cover. Could the world align any more perfectly for me?
(Live again - on the album At Home with Owen.)


6. The Last Town Chorus - Modern Love - 4:27
(original by David Bowie)
I first heard this cover live when The Last Town Chorus opened for The Weakerthans in Boston. She took a dance-your-face-off song (and one I had danced my face off to just two nights prior to hearing her version) and made it hauntingly beautiful. Oh - and she gets mega bonus points for having been born and raised in Pittsburgh.


7. Sun Kil Moon - The Ocean Breathes Salty - 4:33
(original by Modest Mouse)
I've always been "eh" when it comes to Modest Mouse. I like a handful of their tunes, but that's the extent. Like The Shins above, Sun Kil Moon totally killed any chance the Modest Mouse version of "The Ocean Breathes Salty" ever had of being listened to by me again. (WHEW - that sentence! Intense.)


8. Iron & Wine - Such Great Heights - 4:13
(original by The Postal Service)
Poor Postal Service... (Well, not exactly - see below to #11.) This is just hands-down better than the original. It's perfect. The original is still good; Iron & Wine did nothing to ruin it for me. But this version makes a little more sense.


9. Galaxie 500 - Ceremony - 5:57
(original by Joy Division/New Order)
"Ceremony" is one of my favorite songs of all time. I get super nervous when I see a band try to cover a Joy Division song, because I think it's pretty impossible to do Ian Curtis any justice (see: The Killers AWFUL take on "Shadowplay"). But Galaxie 500 does a nice job here.
This is a live version. You can find the track on the album On Fire. As an added bonus (?) I'll include The Killers version. WARNING: IF YOU HAVE ANY AFFINITY FOR JOY DIVISION, THIS IS GOING TO MAKE YOU WANT TO JUMP OFF A BRIDGE. BUT, I GUESS IF YOU HAVE THAT AFFINITY FOR JOY DIVISION, YOU MIGHT ALREADY HAVE BRIDGE-JUMPING TENDENCIES.


This is also not the real video for the song. If you want to see something that will truly make you vom in your mouth, search for "The Killers Shadowplay" on YouTube and watch the first video. The idea that the members of Joy Division would sit down to watch The Killers butcher one of their best tracks makes my stomach churn.

10. Jimmy Eat World - Spangle - 4:38
(original by The Wedding Present)
I don't know why I wasn't thinking of this song for The Saddest Songs mix. This is quite the sad song. It's the only track on Singles that I ever listen to. I think it was a sign of what direction Jimmy Eat World was going to go in with Clarity. I heard the JEW version before The Wedding Present one. I do not like The Wedding Present one. Nicely done, JEW.
I can't find a video for this whole song, but this one overlays "Spangle" with the suicide scene in The Rules of Attraction. Fitting. Find it on Singles.


11. The Postal Service - Against All Odds - 3:50
(original by Phil Collins)
A great Phil Collins song. (All Phil Collins songs are great. Life lesson!) A fine cover by a group I keep shafting by adoring the covers of their songs. I approve. (And I like it when it kicks in around 1:22.)


12. Mandy Moore - Drop the Pilot - 3:43
(original by Joan Armatrading)
Because when else am I going to be able to put a Mandy Moore song on a mix? She's my guiltiest of pleasures! She did a whole album of covers a few years ago, and this was definitely my favorite. (Warning to Evan: You want the jazz cover included? You better believe this is my greatest bargaining chip.)


13. Ben Folds Five - She Don't Use Jelly - 4:11
(original by The Flaming Lips)
Nothing much to say here, just a fun cover of an already fun song.


14. The Get Up Kids - Alec Eiffel - 3:02
(original by The Pixies)
Again, good cover of an already good song. I can't find a video for it, so you'll have to find it on Eudora.

15. The Futureheads - Hounds of Love - 3:03
(original by Kate Bush)
I probably listened to this Futureheads record a dozen times before I realized this was a cover of KATE BUSH. Talk about a complete 180! Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh! I'll include the Kate Bush version for hilarious comparison's sake.



16. Mates of State - These Days - 3:33
(original by Nico)
This song is amazing. Whether it's Nico's version or Mates of States', it's such a great song. I love their take on it.


17. Editors - Orange Crush - 4:17
(original by REM)
This is just a solid cover. People think the singer for The Editors sounds like Michael Stipe. I'd like to think they recorded this to disprove that theory.


18. LCD Soundsystem - No Love Lost - 3:40
(original by Joy Division)
Similar to the Galaxie 500 cover of Ceremony, LCD Soundsystem does justice to "No Love Lost." KILLERS: ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION TO THIS? IT'S CALLED HOW NOT TO RUIN THINGS. (This is a live version, and it's pretty crappy. The album version = much better.)


19. Youth Group - Forever Young - 4:30
(original by Alphaville)
If The OC did nothing else, it provided me with this cover of "Forever Young." (And Adam Brody.)


What I know: This is going to be an epic battle. Our lists are pretty much polar opposites. Here goes nothing!