Nada Surf - Enjoy the Silence

Words like violence
Break the silence
Come crashing in
Into my little world
Painful to me
Pierce right through me
Can't you understand
Oh my little girl

All I ever wanted
All I ever needed
Is here in my arms
Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm

Vows are spoken
To be broken
Feelings are intense
Words are trivial
Pleasures remain
So does the pain
Words are meaningless
And forgettable

Written by one of my all-time favorite songwriters, for one of my all-time favorite albums, listening to "Enjoy the Silence" brings back layers of awesome memories for me. I generally can't stand Depeche Mode covers - they are either too faithful to the original but lack the soul, or else they are too re-imagined and therefore nothing that I love remains. So it is really saying something that this "nerd rock" band could cover DM in a way that I truly appreciate. They made this song their own without killing it's soul. I think it has something to do with what Keith said last time he posted a Nada Surf song: they make pleasant interesting. Which sounds like a backhanded compliment of some sort, but it's honest praise.

RIYL : Weezer, The Lemonheads, The Shins, Silversun Pickups

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Beach Slang - Anything Anything

I'll give you candy, give you diamonds, give you pills
I'll give you anything you want, hundred dollar bills
I'll even let you watch the shows you want to see
Because you'll marry me, marry me, marry me
Marry me, marry me, marry me

I think I've mentioned here before that Beach Slang is one of my favorites and I can't recommend their live show enough. The last time I saw them they did a few cover songs. My favorite was The Replacements "Can't Hardly Wait" or maybe "Alex Chilton" another Replacements classic, anyway, I'd probably have posted one of those if I could have found a released version. Still, this epic cover of Dramarama's classic will do just fine. They've got several cover EPs that are fantastic. If you're into great rock covers, check 'em out.

BONUS. Here they are live with Craig Finn (of The Hold Steady) being awesome.

RIYL: The Hold Steady, Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, Cloud Nothings

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Pet Shop Boys - Always On My Mind

Maybe I didn't treat you
Quite as good as I should have
Maybe I didn't love you
Quite as often as I should have
Little things, I should have said and done
I just never took the time...

You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind

Maybe I didn't hold you
All those lonely lonely times
And I guess I never told you
I'm so happy that your mine
If I made you feel second best
Well I'm sorry I was blind

You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind

Tell, tell me, tell me that your sweet love hasn't died
Give to me, give me one more chance
To keep you satisfied, satisfied
 

Already a cover when Elvis released it in 1972 to become one of his standout songs, then a gigantic hit for Willie Nelson in 1982, Wikipedia says there are over 300 released recordings of "Always On My Mind". My New Wave loving heart is absolutely sure there is no better cover of this lovelorn tune than this one by the Pet Shop Boys from 1987. It also happens to be the PSB's most-listened track on Spotify, although it's from their second-highest selling album, Introspective. (In 1993 the album Very overtook the top spot in PSB sales.) 

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Sarah McLachlan - Blackbird

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Black bird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free
Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night
Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night

A beautifully hopeful song about the American Civil Rights movement, "Blackbird" was released in 1968 as part of the iconic (but aren't they all) White Album by The Beatles, and has been covered at least 28 times (in recordings, so far). As covers go, I happen to be partial to Sarah's faithful version, made for the I Am Sam soundtrack in 2002, but I haven't listened to all of them. For one of Keith's favorite Beatles songs, we can go back to 1965 for "I've Just Seen a Face"... which he posted a cover of last year. 

RIYL: Natalie Merchant, Indigo Girls, Aimee Mann, Simon & Garfunkel

Futureheads - Hounds of Love

I found a fox
Caught by dogs
He let me take him in my hands

His little heart
It beats so fast
And I'm ashamed of running away

From nothing real
I just can't deal with this
But I'm still afraid to be there

Among your hounds of love
And feel your arms surround me
I've always been a coward
And never know what's good for me

It's all Kate Bush and covers over here! This past weekend Kerri and I got to talking about (and listening to) covers since she posted another Kate Bush track that also has a terrific cover song Friday. Placebo's version of "Running Up That Hill" is ace. In addition to being a terrific and original act, Placebo are pretty adept when it comes to covers. Through the course of that afternoon, we landed on the idea of doing a covers week, and here's our first song, from a band I've been longing to share on TMIS. It's probably not a coincidence that the song comes from Kate Bush and her landmark album.

Sunderland's Futureheads, who, back in 2004, released this amazing rendition of Kate Bush's "Hounds of Love". The rest of that debut album is classic indie dance/rock gold as well.

RIYL: Maximo Park, The Rakes, The Wombats, We Are Scientists

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