Welcome back to another installment of “Under Cover: Showdown Edition”. Last week’s feature was so much fun, I’ve decided to keep going with a slew of cover songs that also seem to outshine the original and take it to new realms of musical genius. I know what you’re thinking… how can great acts like Paul McCartney & Wings, Grateful Dead and the Meat Puppets ever be upstaged? Well, all it took was the innovation of latter-day rock legends Guns N’ Roses, Sublime and Nirvana to add an updated spin on classic goodass rock n’ roll. Who wins this week’s showdown? Let your ears decide!
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Paul McCartney & Wings (1973) Vs. Guns N’ Roses (1991): “Live and Let Die”
Is that a timpani I hear? This song is what I like to call a quintessential rock opera. It starts off sweetly with Paul Mccartney‘s earnest advice on how one must “live and let die” and that unforgettably layered Queen-like background vocal response of “You know you did, you know you did, you know you d-i-i-i-d.” But before you can chalk this number up to elevator music status, the music kicks in.  With the help of Wings, the song takes off in this frenzied flight of electric guitar, a blaring brass section, an upbeat tempo, and a dizzying array of percussive instruments likely to be found in high school orchestra class and marching band. Featured as the theme to the James Bond movie Live and Let Die, this orchestral breakdown is one of the most recognizable ones ever created. One minute it’s fast and up and away, next minute McCartney is gently cooing you to sleep.  Basically, this is track is the musical equivalent of manic depression… and it’s never sounded so good.
Leave it to Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses to sink his teeth into a big musical production of epic proportions. GNR takes McCartney’s version of “Live and Let Die” out of the driver’s seat, throws it out the car window, and drives over it with its high-octane electric guitar work and overwrought masculine energy, making McCartney’s rendition seem fit for a retirement home bingo party playlist. Screeching vocals? Check! Hard rock edge? Check! Snarl and attitude? Check and check! This cover song is better than the original and GNR have made this song their own entirely. In fact, it fits so seamlessly in their entire catalog that I bet classic rock neophytes don’t even know it’s not an original. I fucking love this song! Quite simply, it makes me want to turn it up real loudly and drive my car off a cliff in one last Thelma & Louise-like blaze of glory… but like, not.
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Grateful Dead (1974) Vs. Sublime (1992): “Scarlet Begonias”
Grateful Dead had a penchant for more than just teddy bear artwork. They also liked bestowing us with great jam band ditties about drugs, love, feeling good about life… and songs about pretty girls with scarlet begonias tucked into their hair that are beautiful enough to inspire a catchy little number. With piano, organs, twangy guitar riffs, and a mellow tempo, this is perfect summer BBQ music. The vocals are sweet and flow softly like an island breeze, the music makes you want to shake and sway like a 1960′s hippie, and this song takes you back to a simpler time in life. If ”Scarlet Begonias” doesn’t instantly relax you, maybe it’s time you switch to decaf my friend.
Never one to shy away from songs about sex, drugs, rock n’ roll, cheap beer, and good time, Sublime took this classic Dead song and added a little dub sensibility to it. It shares all the same feel-good elements as the original, as well as tempo, background vocals, the punchy organ-synth sound, yet with an updated 90s alternative spin. I’d even venture to say that I like this version better just because I didn’t grow up as a flower child of the 1960′s and find Sublime’s version more relatable. Maybe because they changed the lyrics to be about a man-eating woman who gets them in trouble with the police, haha. Or perhaps my favorite lyrics are the “A tight tye-dye dress she was a psychedelic mess / We toured to the north, south, east, and west / We sold some mushroom tea / We sold some ecstasy / We sold nitrous, opium, acid, heroin, and PCP.” But this could just be for sentimental college reasons because my friends and I used to try and see who could sing the “we sold nitrous, opium, acid, heroin, and PCP” lyric without messing up. Try for yourself, it’s damn near impossible to sing it as perfectly as the late, great Bradley Nowell.
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Meat Puppets (1984) Vs. Nirvana (1994): “Oh, Me”
What an odd little song, eh? Does lead singer Curt Kirkwood purposely sing off-key and in notes that don’t quite make sense? Could this song stand to have a quicker tempo? With twangy acoustic guitars and unintelligible lyrics, they almost seem to be slightly out of my scope of understanding. But don’t be quick to dismiss the Meat Puppets as one-hit wonders for penning “Backwater” because their talent lies mostly in their lyrical content. My favorite part is the chorus, which goes: “I can’t see the end of me / Oh, me / My whole expanse, I cannot see / I formulate infinity, and store it deep inside of me.” You don’t have to be an English major to appreciate something so stunning, thought-provoking and full of insight.
The Nirvana rendition is the classic example of a cover that sheds a brilliant light on a relatively unknown (to non-Meat Puppets fans, rather) song. The entire Nirvana Unplugged album was legendary in its own right in showcasing acoustic versions of many of their hit songs. But Kurt also featured a few covers of his favorite musicians, like David Bowie and the Meat Puppets, particularly “Lake Of Fire” and “Oh, Me”. Their stripped down version of an already acoustic number is so incredible that it floored me upon first listen and made me curious to hear how it stood against the original. Kurt Cobain‘s solemnly strained vocals tend to work better than Curt Kirkwood’s, hitting the notes in a way that is much more aurally pleasing. The tempo is a tad quicker, the guitars are twangier, and the background vocals groan in a way that definitely compliment Kurt. Even the lyrics read like something a confused and ever-poignant Cobain could have written in a past musical life… and perhaps he did and the Meat Puppets just didn’t know it. Or maybe they did?
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Another week, another musical showdown. Who wins, and who sins?
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