What makes a good cover?

By Ethan Goddard

When artists announce they’re releasing a cover of a song, I’ve learned to expect one of two things: 

1. The cover is a direct copy of the original song. Nothing makes it uniquely theirs, and is essentially nothing more than a recorded karaoke session. 
2. The artist takes creative liberty to make it uniquely theirs (for better or for worse). 

While the first option isn’t innately a bad thing, it does make me wonder what purpose the cover serves in that artist’s catalog. Does it feed into a bigger story portrayed on an album? Does the artist just like the song? If it doesn’t serve some kind of a purpose, or separate itself with different musical ideas, I find it floating in this weird in-between category. This is where I categorize Rihanna’s cover of Tame Impala’s “New Person, Same Old Mistakes.” The cover is by no means bad– in fact, it’s pretty good! But it isn’t because of anything that Rihanna does to enhance it. It was already a great song before, it’s just now being sung by another great singer. 

The second option is what excites me, regardless of how good or bad the actual cover is. This is where Xiu Xiu’s cover album fits in. The record explores a wide assortment of different songs and genres, but none of them sound like rip offs or direct copies of the original. For example, the group’s cover of “Dancing On My Own” by Robyn swaps out the glittery synth instrumental for an orchestral arrangement with punchy, borderline distorted 808s. The vocals enhance the haunting atmosphere, like the funeral of a once empowering song (in a good way). It may also be worth mentioning that Xiu Xiu is also responsible for one of my favorite covers of all time: “Falling,” originally sung by Julee Cruise for the hit TV show “Twin Peaks.” 

There is also a secret third option. The reason I didn’t list it above is because the odds of it happening are slim to none… not impossible though. That third option is when a cover song becomes just as, if not MORE known than the original. This typically is something that can only happen over time, so while I personally would put some of Xiu Xiu’s covers in this category, it may be too soon to tell (although you could make a case that their 2016 album “Xiu Xiu Plays The Music of Twin Peaks” is beginning to reach this status thanks to the cult following of Twin Peaks/David Lynch fans that have discovered it). Some of the best examples of this include Johnny Cash’s “Hurt” (originally a Nine Inch Nails song), Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” (originally an Otis Redding song), and my personal favorite, “It’s Oh So Quiet” by Bjork (originally sung by Betty Hutton). One of the reasons I want to highlight Bjork’s rendition is because it manages to sidestep the issues I mentioned earlier about the direct copy option. Nothing about the instrumental is innately different from the original, and delivery of the lyrics are relatively the same. The thing that makes her rendition so dang good is her energy. So while technically it’s still pretty much the same song, her delivery makes the track feel emotionally punchy, theatrical, and alive in a way the original doesn’t. 

I don’t write this with the intention of putting a specific BAD cover on blast (but if you were to twist my arm, I’d say Fergie’s “National Anthem” performance with no hesitation). I actually write this because I feel like the art of covers gets unjustified hate. And while there’s times when I totally understand it, and even question the existence of specific covers, there’s also plenty of times when an artist puts out a cover that later becomes one of my favorite songs in general! So if you’re looking to expand the idea of what cover songs can truly be, I’d encourage you to check out Xiu Xiu’s brand new record, along with any of the other tracks I mentioned above. It’s time we stop accepting boring covers from talented artists.