Monday, May 27, 2013

Covering A LoveSong Right

from deviantart user jsladephotographs

 Music is a universal language. It can set your mood for any upcoming activity that you might be doing and even your current state of mind. And to think all it takes is a melody, rhythm, some fiddling of musical instruments and a meaningful lyric / message. They even say that making music is a lot like making love. Both satisfy your dominant needs, and that is of expression. Even in troubling and trying times women have it easy because they were given words as a way of expressing themselves. And what did God give men to
compensate? Music. And no other music category is on a playlist of an average male when in a mixed bag of emotions than a love song.


Now, one of the greatest modern love songs made by a musician/ band is The Cure's Lovesong. The Cure is an English alternative goth rock band in the 80's. Their presence and popularity helped people be aware of the gothic scene in the 80's. Besides "Lovesong", their other famous hits are "Let's Go to Bed", "Boys Don't Cry, "Friday I'm In Love" and "Killing An Arab". The Cure released several albums and is still active in the music scene, with band members changing but the vocalist still present  in the form of Robert Smith.

by deviantart user Stephane Burlot

Lovesong was released in their eighth studio album Disintegration in 1989. Robert Smith wrote the song as a wedding present for his long-time girlfriend and then fiancee Mary. It peaked at # 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it the band's best-selling single to date. A music video was made where the band played in a cave and Robert Smith was shown looking at what looks like a wedding ring in reference to the origin of the song during the start of the music video.

Check out the video below:



So famous was the song that it had several covers from different artists. Covers were usually done to give something new to an old song or to make the musician/band famous quickly. Whatever the case may be, here are some famous covers from the timeless song.

This is perhaps the most famous cover of Lovesong. Alternative rock band 311 gave a reggae mix to the song and was even featured on the romantic-comedy 50 First Dates starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.


                                 

Alternative rock band Death Cab for Cutie did a sad take to the song. Nothing really new, but listening to their take does make you feel a little bit sad. 

                                 

American Idol Season 12 winner Candice Glover performed the song during the Top 6 stint. She was applauded for her take on the song. 


Season 6 finalist Blake Lewis also did his take on the song, using the 311's version. 

                                           

Despite British singer Adele's credibility as a singer, her version of Lovesong, going the Bossa Nova route, was a poor attempt at the song. What's worse, a lot of people associate the song more with her version than The Cure's.

                                       

Dark Cabaret musician Voltaire gave a very memorable cover of the song, adding haunting piano and violin pieces, making it his own. 

                                     

There are also social-network-user-submitted covers as well. Youtube user Ein Astronaut gave his own take on the song as well, making a videosong on the famous video-sharing site. 


                                         

Famous alternative rock pianist Tori Amos did a cover as well. It was kind of noisy and a far departure from The Cure's vision of the song. 

                                        

American rock band Good Charlotte also did a memorable cover of the song. They mostly played it on a live audience. 

                                       

Another great cover was done by Japanese Electro-Pop Immi. It was difficult searching for it using Blogger's "Insert Video" option, so it is best finding it Youtube.

So there you have it. You can never keep a good song down, as they say. Check them all out, and hoping that you'll get a massive dose of LSS ( Last Song Syndrome ). Robert Smith sez thanks.

from deviantart user cherille


- "the king"


No comments: