Classic Cover #1 - The Black Keys - 'Lonely Boy'

Classic Cover #1 - The Black Keys - 'Lonely Boy'

The world isn't a perfect place. Admiration of a legendary piece of music can lead one to pay tribute to it, and the results aren't always pretty. Looking back on it now, I'm pretty sure that my friends and I have left Kurt Cobain turning in his grave with our cover of 'Love Buzz' (itself a cover) that we performed at our school's debut Metalfest when we were fresh faced 15 year olds - that takes guts to admit, as I had the solo.

The original piece is usually so embedded in people's minds that any attempt to change it leads to fear, which leads to anger, which leads to hate, and then suffering (Yoda knew his bad cover versions for sure). We're seeing this most of the time with all the movie and television reboots that have become commonplace over the last few years.

However, like the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, occasionally a piece comes along that either stands up to or blows out of the water the original, and I felt it was time to celebrate some of these success stories. I'm not going to make you aware of any really famous covers, but when browsing through YouTube it's easy to come across things that others might miss. Some will be covers by well known artists that aren't well known covers in themselves, some will be from less well known bands, and some will be from amateurs who've found the perfect platform in YouTube.

For my first selection, I'd like to draw your attention to the duo of TwistedTim and LoopyLady11, and their acoustic version of 'Lonely Boy' by The Black Keys. First up, here's the original:

Uhhhhhhhhhh. It's bonafide modern classic, made all the better by one of the simplest and greatest music videos of all time. Don't try to hide it, you've all tried to copy the dancing, and I'm afraid to tell you that you'll just never be as cool as this guy.

Now, take a listen to the cover version:

First up, there are two damn fine voices singing there. I love TwistedTim's grungey-sounding style, and by love I mean I'm jealous that he does it naturally whereas I sound like I'm straining to lift the corpse of a recently deceased pregnant bovine with one finger. LoopyLady11 fits perfectly against it - not as harsh, but it's got enough of a gravelly undertone to leave me wanting to hear more, especially the little extra vocal line she sings at the very end of the song. That's what any good cover should have, a little something new that you remember and look forward to everytime you listen, which in this case is a perfect little melody not in the original. I also like the changed tempo from the original - you expect it of course because it's an acoustic cover, but in many ways I find it even more upbeat than the original.

I have to mention the video, which makes me giggle each time I watch it. They look like they had a right laugh filming it, especially all the funny little dance moves they throw in. I don't know if they tried to lift any of the moves from the video to the official song, but those three should team up. That's how you make a video.

It's not often your mind goes straight to the cover version instead of the original, but for the past week that's what I've been doing. Congratulations TwistedTim and LoopyLady11, you're my first 'Classic Cover' entry - now that's an award to be proud of for sure!