In Praise of Cover Songs

I happened to hear a cover song on the radio the other day, by some band the couldn’t write a hit, or their instruments manage to play. My first thought was to just shake my head, and wish they had just left it alone, then thought it everyone had done that, would these songs by anyone be known? Think of the songs that don’t get covered, that are a hit for just a short time, how many thousands fall in this camp, doomed never more to come to our minds? Yet every so often one stands out, and we come back again and again, because it speaks to use way deep down, what it is to be women or men. It’s the cover bands that keep them fresh, plumbs their depths so the people can see the genius of the original, why it deserves immortality; enriching the whole of the culture, with constructs that even time can’t break, tying the present to those before, an eternal connection it makes. And honestly, it’s a lot of fun trying to guess what songs are of worth, which of them will still be listened to when our great-grandchildren walk this Earth. Who will become the next Hank Williams, Stephen Foster, or Irving Berlin? What tunes will the weird kids listen to for solace because they don’t fit in. Heck without covers ol’ Beethoven would not be something most people hear, orchestras cover that curmudgeon, and the music still brings folks to tears. They’re giant symphonic cover bands that preserve masterpieces through time, I’m glad they do because can you imagine a world without the 9th? So go cover any song you want, from Led Zeppelin to Frank Sinatra, if you like it so much it has worth regardless of your band’s many flaws, If it were not for the cover bands, most would not know these songs in the least, through them the best will rise to the top, they’ll reveal the timeless masterpiece.