When Bands ‘Cover’ Their Own Songs

Readers of my blog will be familiar with ‘Covers Wars‘ when bands battle against each other playing different versions of the same song. But what do we call it when the original artist performs their own material in a new way? Is that still a ‘cover’? Technically, no, but these versions are still exciting.

Fall Out Boy

During Fall Out Boy‘s hiatus, frontman Patrick Stump purposely avoided performing his band’s material as a solo artist. However, now that Fall Out Boy have returned, he appears more than happy to air FOB material alone – well, almost alone. He recently sung their comeback anthem ‘My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)‘ with country-pop starlet Taylor Swift.

Paramore

Paramore have performed many acoustic versions, but it’s their rooftop rendition of ‘Decode‘ that is probably the best known. The Twilight track was stripped of its rock edge leaving just its melody to be belted out across the London skyline. With almost 70,000 YouTube hits, it’s certainly popular but is it better than the original?

My Chemical Romance

Moved by the major Japanese earthquake in 2011 as well as their fans’ efforts to help those affected by the tragedy, My Chemical Romance re-recorded ‘Sing‘ as ‘#SINGItForJapan‘ and released it as a charity single. Not only did the song raise much-needed funds for charity, it’s also a beautiful arrangement in its own right.

Yellowcard

In honour of their platinum album ‘Ocean Avenue‘s tenth anniversary, Yellowcard re-recorded the album acoustically. The new version is now available to pre-order and will officially drop on August 13th. As a further celebration of its birthday, Yellowcard will also embark on a very special ‘Ocean Avenue Acoustic‘ tour with Geoff Rickly of Thursday.

Kids In Glass Houses

Over their career, Kids In Glass Houses have regularly recorded stripped back versions of their most popular songs. However, with their upcoming release ‘Peace‘, they’ve taken that idea even further with a ‘downbeat’ version of the entire album accompanying every pre-order. As a teaser, the downbeat version of their new single ‘Drive‘ is now available as a B-Side which you can listen to here.

Which of these ‘covers’ is your favourite?