Rewriting covers

[TokyoPortrait]

Hi.

No worries. I don’t think I saw the first / original.

Pax/
Dean

 

[drmordo]

If I am 'doing' a cover, that generally means I am recording it, which I like to do sometimes to experiment in the studio.

When I pick a song to record, it is almost always a song that I consider a flawed but great song, and I try to fix the flaws.

So I might rewrite some of the lyrics or move them around, or I might take a part that I consider a chorus and insert it earlier in the song. Nothing is really off the table, I do whatever makes the song better IMO.

Probly my fav is "Cold Rain" by Screaming Trees. I always thought it was an amazing song that was assembled wrong. So I 'fixed' it with multiple tweaks. First and foremost, it always felt like a cover of a Beatles song, so I took it back to that.

Cold Rain by DrMordo

The original:



I also am very proud of this version of U2's "In God's Country". The original is a stone classic IMO, but simplified it a bit and I tweaked the solo and last verse to move the song into slightly different territory.

In God's Country by DrMordo

The original:

 

[4pickupguy]

I love giving songs the “substitutions” treatment. I wish I could go full Dirty Loops treatment on them… I’m just not that clever…

 

[drmordo]

Probly the most radical reworkings I have done are these two songs by a obscure punk band called Swingset. The guy writes amazing songs and lyrics that are IMO hamstrung by the punk genre. So I did a couple. I may very well end up recording more.

Starts with a bad word - it's a punk song!

Ghosts by DrMordo

Another one:

Fire and Rescue

The originals are both linked here:

Swingset

 

[Lucius Paisley]

Not my arrangement.

 

[ReverendRevolver]

My grunge band reworked most of our covers, typically with a bit quicker tempo and a few swapped words.
Later bands haven't done it as much, but it's fun.

I always liked covers like Jello Biafra doing plastic Jesus, Dead Kennedys doing I fought the law, etc.
But my personal Forte regarding the topic was punk versions of pop songs. That's we're loads of fun is.
I've also tried rockabilly tinged version of You by bad religion.
All covers being spot on is kind of boring.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Probly the most radical reworkings I have done are these two songs by a obscure punk band called Swingset. The guy writes amazing songs and lyrics that are IMO hamstrung by the punk genre. So I did a couple. I may very well end up recording more.

Starts with a bad word - it's a punk song!

Ghosts by DrMordo

Another one:

Fire and Rescue

The originals are both linked here:

Swingset

Nice work!

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

My grunge band reworked most of our covers, typically with a bit quicker tempo and a few swapped words.

The approved Dropkick Murphys method.

Later bands haven't done it as much, but it's fun.

I always liked covers like Jello Biafra doing plastic Jesus, Dead Kennedys doing I fought the law, etc.
But my personal Forte regarding the topic was punk versions of pop songs. That's we're loads of fun is.
I've also tried rockabilly tinged version of You by bad religion.
All covers being spot on is kind of boring.

There was a terrific local power trio here call the Kopterz. Their specialty was full-tilt Beatles covers with ample distortion and no sparing of the dBs. Lots of fun.

 

[HootOwlDude]

Yup, I hear you.

On the other hand, the way I figure it, by the time I'm through with the cover, it sometimes is my own song.

Here's an old-time nonsense tune I turned into scat and play funky Delta-style. Still recognizable, yet mine-all-mine:

Two little babies sitting in bed,
one half-alive, the other half-dead.
Send for the doctor, doctor said,
"Give those babies some short'nin' bread."

Get out the skillet! Get out the lead!
Mix up a mess o' that short'nin' bread.
Butter it up, and scarf it down,
best damn dinner in the whole damn town.

I don't care what the police said,
I'd rob a bank for that short'nin' bread.
Feelin' blue? Seein' red?
What you need's a taste of that short'nin' bread.

Collared greens, rice and beans,
holes in the pockets of my old blue jeans.
Tell Aunt Nell and Uncle Ned,
'cause they're layin' dead for some short'nin' bread.

I come home, half-past one,
ain't no tellin' what Mama done.
I go out, half-past two,
ain't no tellin' what Papa might do.

Cross my heart and hope to die,
can't get the truth from a can of lye.
Cross my eyes and hope to live,
can't get whiskey from a rusty sieve.

I don't care what the preacher said,
throw down my Bible for short'nin' bread.
Nine-Oh-Nine runnin' right on time,
it's a gol-durn shame, but it ain't no crime!

Moses standin' on the Red Sea shore
wacking that water with a two-by-four.
Up pops Pharaoh. Whatcha gonna do?
Give him a taste of home cooking, too.

[Scat scat scat scat] What I say?
[Scat scat scat scat] the whole damn day.
[Scat scat scat scat] Sing that song
[Scat scat scat scat] all night long.

Mama's little baby loves [Scat scat scat scat],
Mama's little baby loves [Scat scat scat scat].
Mama's little baby loves [Scat scat scat scat],
Mama's little baby loves [Scat scat scat scat].

I dig it, man!

 

[bowman]

I have a friend and band mate who writes that way sometimes. He’ll take a song he likes and write completely new lyrics to it. Then he takes his new story - which already has a nice flow and good meter since it was written to a structured song - and he writes new music to that. He’s come up with a couple of decent tunes doing it that way.
When I do covers, which is pretty much every time I play, I don’t change lyrics or chords really, but I most certainly change the feel of the tune to reflect how I think it should be. That could mean tempo, different vocal style, instrument choices - anything, really. The hard part of writing a good song has already been done, I just polish it up into a shiny new thing.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I have a friend and band mate who writes that way sometimes. He’ll take a song he likes and write completely new lyrics to it. Then he takes his new story - which already has a nice flow and good meter since it was written to a structured song - and he writes new music to that. He’s come up with a couple of decent tunes doing it that way.

In the words of Tommy "Roach" Chong: I've done that, man!

You take a song you like. You give it new lyrics. You take the lyrics and give 'em new chords and a new melody. Simple!

Similar: Take an old blues tune and:

- keep the first verse sort of intact, but rewrite the rest.

- change the chords and style: Delta to swing, major to minor, open G to drop D, Johnson bottlenecking to Travis picking, whatever.

- keep the title.

You now have your own official version of a classic!

Some I play regularly: Aberdeen Mississippi Blues, Black Mountain Blues, Catfish Blues, Kokomo Blues, Mean Ol' Frisco, Short'nin' Bread.

When I do covers, which is pretty much every time I play, I don’t change lyrics or chords really, but I most certainly change the feel of the tune to reflect how I think it should be. That could mean tempo, different vocal style, instrument choices - anything, really. The hard part of writing a good song has already been done, I just polish it up into a shiny new thing.

Yup. Some songs are already a done deal. I play "You Never Can Tell" almost every gig. I'm so crazy about the way Chuck did it, I'd hate to kill the spirit.