Tag: Simon And Garfunkel

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100 best covers: #34 First Aid Kit “America”

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I’ve written a few words on these pages already about First Aid Kit, the indie folk duo of Swedish sisters, Johanna and Klara Söderberg. I got into them shortly after the release of their second album, 2012’s “The lion’s roar”*, loving their stripped back sound and vocal harmonies, reminiscent of the folk music my parents had me listening to in childhood. I followed the duo very closely for next few years and one of the many things I noted about them was how active they were in posting cover songs they performed on YouTube. They really seemed to love putting their own spin on tracks that inspired them. In fact, it was their take on Fleet Foxes’ “Tiger mountain peasant song” that first got them international notice in the first place back in 2008. Over years they’ve posted covers of well known songs by Kate Bush, Kenny Rogers, The Kinks, Bob Dylan, and Black Sabbath**, and they even recorded a whole album of covers in tribute to their hero Leonard Cohen.

It completely makes sense then that First Aid Kit would eventually get around to a song by Simon and Garfunkel, another notable folk duo known for their harmonies. Given their penchant for reworking famous tracks, though, it’s interesting that they chose “America”, a song that was originally released as a b-side to single, “For Emily, whenever I may find her”. It was, of course, re-released as the A-side a few months later, perhaps the theme of young lovers hitchhiking across America resonated with their fans. The original was later introduced to whole new generation of fans when Cameron Crowe famously used it in his film “Almost famous”. Word has it that the Söderberg sisters first performed “America” at a ceremony honouring Paul Simon in 2012 and at the end, he gave them a standing ovation. So it shouldn’t have caused any surprise when they recorded a version and released it shortly after their third album, the magnificent “Stay gold”.

The original recording by Simon and Garfunkel starts with harmonized humming over acoustic strumming and the odd flourish and rim shot. Paul Simon is on lead and Art Garfunkel joins in halfway through, creating the harmonies that they are so known for doing. The song builds slowly so that by the end it almost feels symphonic, complete with crashing cymbals and a harpsichord outro. First Aid Kit’s cover is similar in structure but the harmonies are there, right from the beginning, and the sisters trade lines throughout. And this version feels a lot more melancholic in mood, even when it builds towards a climax just like the original. It’s like Johanna and Klara are looking back sadly rather than fondly, as Paul and Art were doing, more regret for what was missed than joy for what was experienced.

I love both versions and sentiments, appreciating both sides of the same story. However, I feel like edge belongs to Simon and Garfunkel on this one.

Cover:

Original:

*”Emmylou” from that album appeared at number three on my Best tunes of 2012 list.

**Their cover of “War pigs” is dynamite and probably belongs on this list of great covers as well.

For the rest of the 100 best covers list, click here.

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100 best covers: #41 The Lemonheads “Mrs. Robinson”

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By all accounts, the Lemonheads’ frontman and driving force, Evan Dando, hated the original version of the song “Mrs. Robinson”, almost as much as he disliked its author. You got the feeling he was heavily leaned on by the ‘powers that be’ to record the cover to go along with the 25th anniversary release of “The Graduate” on home video cassette. He must’ve really blown a gasket when it was tacked on to the end of the track listing on later rereleases of his band’s now classic 1992 album, “It’s a shame about Ray”.

So it’s amusing that this was likely many listeners gateway to the band. It certainly was mine. I distinctly remember recording the video during one of my Friday night CityLimits viewing sessions and falling for the update of a song I knew from my parents’ oldie radio station listening in the car. From there, I recorded the video for the aforementioned album’s title track based on name recognition and of course, I’ve already told the story on these pages on how showing these two videos to my aunt landed me a copy of the CD for Christmas. So yeah, I’ve got a history with the song.

I later developed an appreciation for NYC-based folk rock duo, Simon & Garfunkel who wrote and performed the original. Parts of it were written before the filming of “The graduate”, were shared with its filmmaker, and these appeared in the final film cut. Versions of these snippets appeared on the soundtrack but the actual full-fledged song wasn’t released until a year later as a single and appeared on the band’s fourth album, “Bookends”.

The Lemonheads’ cover has got raunchier guitars than the original acoustic finger picking and instead of the lilting harmonizing on the iconic do-de-do-do-do-do-do intro, it is Evan Dando’s solo, half hearted mimicry. Theirs is about twenty seconds shorter than the orginal but that’s probably more due to its sped up pacing. Indeed, the song is all there but the tone is very different. It rocks and rolls more and yet, it has been often criticized for being a lazy cover. And that may be so, but I couldn’t help myself but to fall hard for it, and that love hasn’t waned in the least in the 30+ years since its release.

(If you hadn’t guessed, I prefer the cover to the original here.)

Cover:

Original:

For the rest of the 100 best covers list, click here.

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100 best covers: #79 Mumford And Sons “The boxer”

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Here’s one that might incite comments. Or maybe it’ll just incite vitriol. I usually finish these posts with the question of which you prefer, the cover or the original, but I’m pretty I sure I know the answer to this one already.

Mumford and Sons brought back the banjo in a big way in the late 2000s. It feels like the centre around which their platinum-selling debut album, “Sigh no more”, crowded, but really, they used a lot of non-traditional rock instruments to build their sound. I really liked the debut when I first heard it (still do, really) and because I don’t often listen to commercial radio, didn’t realize that it made them a household name until I saw a part of their set at Osheaga in 2013. Already by this time, though, the typical backlash that accompanies a meteoric rise had begun to set in. There really is a lot of hate out there for them. I’m not sure I completely understand it. However, I will say that with each successive album I’ve become more and more ambivalent, especially after they dispensed with their trademark sound on their third record and started to head down the vanilla pop road, hot on the trails of Coldplay.

They covered Simon & Garfunkel’s classic folk pop tune, “The boxer”, just before they remade themselves, and released it as a bonus track on the deluxe edition of their 2012 sophomore release, “Babel”. This is a tune I have known and loved since high school and can remember singing the words along with my classmates on the bus trip back from a particular weekend winter retreat. Though Simon & Garfunkel were usually on the quieter side of folk, this was a jauntier number and when I saw that Mumford had covered it, I thought I would enjoy it even before I had heard it.

The instrumentation is different but the feel is very much in the same vein, the banjo, resonator guitar, and even Marcus Mumford’s vocals lending the tune some uplifting sadness. And it is just as easy to sing along with on that “la la lie” chorus.

So though I won’t bother asking the question, I will say that at least Paul Simon must have approved of this cover, given that he appeared on it, along with resonator guitar legend Jerry Douglas.

The cover:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAl-vZsswb4

The original:

For the rest of the 100 best covers list, click here.