One Last Stab At Covers

I'm out of semi-wise things to say about covers. Really, I don't think I had that much to say about them in the first place; it's pretty obvious that really successful covers need to do one thing: transcend. Think about the really great covers and you'll know what I mean; in a lot of cases, people don't even know they're covers.

So I'll just throw a couple of songs at you and see if they stick.

First, here's Gipsy Kings' "Hotel California". I don't necessarily think it's the greatest cover song ever--it doesn't transcend the original, in my opinion--but since the song was used in "The Big Lebowski", the video uses footage from the movie. John Turturro as Jesus is worth the price of admission.



Second, because it's Insert Winter Holiday Here, here's one of my favorite versions of "Sleigh Ride." I suppose it doesn't really count as a cover, but oh well.



Finally, since we've had a lot of bluegrass-style covers, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Dolly Parton's version of Collective Soul's "Shine". (I was gonna put up her "Stairway", but I don't like it as much as this, and I couldn't find it on YouTube.) Like the Hayseed Dixie cover from the other day, Dolly and her band turn the song on its ear and put in some great instrumental breaks where there really weren't any.