18 December 2013 - Jason Aldean - Cowboy

I've been meaning to do a Jason Aldean post here since mid-summer. But I always found a way to put it off for no particular reason. Of course now that I'm temporarily (hopefully) without my Totally Covered list of prospective and past posts, I could only remember that I wanted to do a post of Jason Aldean covering...well...someone. I thought it might have been a Rascal Flatts song, but to be honest, I can't imagine posting a Rascal Flatts cover (although that may have explained why I didn't post it right away...nothing against them, they've had some fine songs over the years, but they aren't exactly my cup of country tea). I do know that it definitely wasn't this Kid Rock cover, because if it was, I'm sure I would have posted it the moment I found it. Please Note: You're going to have to turn the sound up on this live video, but it was the best version of it I could find.

16 December 2013 - The Swans - Love Will Tear Us Apart

So my laptop pretty much died last week. I was able to save most of my work files, my photos and some music (I should have saved WAY more music). In the mad rush to burn as many files onto DVD before the battery died, I somehow managed to forget my two most important reference documents: the list of my entire record/cd collection and most relevant to this site, Wicked Guilty Pleasures and Your New Favorite Song, my lists of all the videos we've posted, which also included about 20 potential covers for this site. Great. Right now, this Joy Division cover by The Swans is pretty much the only potential post I can remember. The Swans initially released "Love" as a 12" single and it eventually appeared on their Various Failures double disc compilation of their "not so best moments." I don't know, I kind of like it.

12 December 2013 - Anna Kendrick - Cups (Pitch Perfect's "When I'm Gone")

Yes, you are on the right blog.  This is Totally Covered, not Wicked Guilty Pleasures.

When I first heard this song:

1. I thought it was boring.
2. I thought the whole cup thing was stupid.

You aren't going to change my mind on #2, but my mind was recently changed on #1.  The song was written by A.P. Carter - you know, of the Carter Family - in 1931 and recorded by Carter Family.  Even this version - complete with cups - is a cover, done in 2009 by Lulu and the Lampshades.... in two part harmony.

But this version is simple and reminiscent more of the original than the 2009 cover.  (Or the cover by Anna Burden.....) The lyrics are heartbreaking, and Ms. Kendrick does them justice with her strong but simple rendition.



I still think the whole cup thing is stupid.  But in this context, I guess it's ok.  Here's the original scene from the movie.

10 December 2013 - The Pigs feat. John Williamson - Single Ladies

It ain't Beyonce.

It is a banjo/jaw harp version of her most recognizable song, however.  And it somehow works.  If you like bluegrass, maybe you should put a ring on this!

9 December 2013 - The Menzingers - Straight To Hell

Here's one of my favorite punk bands of today, playing a song by one of my favorite punk bands of all time. Check out this live video of The Menzingers playing The Clash's Straight To Hell. Admittedly, the sound quality here is a little bit dodgy (it was the best one I could find). The song also appears on their debut album A Lesson in the Abuse of Information Technology if you are interested in hearing the studio version.

4 December 2013 - 10,000 Maniacs - Peace Train

I was a huge 10,000 Maniacs fan back in their In My Tribe days which seems like a zillion years ago (26 to be exact). I used to play that record over and over for most of my high school and college years. Sadly, like many of those "back in the day albums," I rarely get a chance to listen to them that often because there's just too much new music that I MUST check out. I actually hadn't thought of this wonderful Cat Stevens cover in years, but someone mentioned it to me online recently and I couldn't resist listening to it again. And again. And again. You get the picture. I probably haven't seen the Peace Train video in 20 years. It still puts a smile on my face.

2 December 2013 - 30 Seconds to Mars - Stay

Here's a cool live video of 30 Seconds to Mars playing Rihanna's Stay at this year's iHeartRadio Music Festival. I fully expected them to let loose and totally rock out toward the end of the song, but instead they played it close to the original, and I must say it sounds pretty awesome.