Everyone’s doing covers these days. Most of the time I cringe visibly, sometimes at the forced, imitated inflections of voice, sometimes at the lack of originality, sometimes at the overexertion of artistic license, but often because I will never again be able to listen to a song I once enjoyed without a terrible rip-off of it echoing in the back of my mind. A copy of the I’m Not There soundtrack recently made its way into my hands, begging a listen or two, although I am usually wary of Dylan covers. I liked it well enough, generally; it had its gems and its duds for me–but that’s not important, although I always find my own musical opinion important. The point is, it made me think about covers–and Bob Dylan covers specifically. And for the love of Bob, I felt the need to discuss my favorite Dylan covers with all of you.
#4. Lay Lady Lay – Magnet & Gemma Hayes
Although it’s something I would likely do, don’t discount this cover because it appears on the Mr. and Mrs. Smith soundtrack. It’s good. Naturally, it’s more produced than Dylan’s version, featuring strings and horns and whatnot, but it’s not totally dissimilar (or beyond recognition like uh.. Ministry’s version of this song, for instance). Magnet’s take on it was original enough to be memorable, though, turning it into a sultry duet, rather than one man’s attempted smooth operating in order to peel some panties. As beautifully as Dylan can pull that off, this version’s worth a listen. You can find it and some other nice little Norwegian Magnet tunes at his myspace.
#3. Ring Them Bells – Sufjan Stevens
I’m hesitant to say too much about this one because the song pretty much speaks for itself. It’s one of those absolutely delightfully whimsical track you’d expect from Sufjan Stevens. Tempo changes, sweet harmonies, a wide range of instruments, dynamics, dramatics, etc.–all the hallmarks of Sufjan. He made “Ring Them Bells” his own, but not in the way that makes me die on the inside while listening to it. Give it a listen at the I’m Not There Soundtrack myspace.
#2. Simple Twist of Fate – Jeff Tweedy
This song is one of the covers to appear on I’m Not There. I was less worried about Jeff Tweedy’s take on the song (I like both him and Wilco very much) and more worried about any cover of this song in general, it being my favorite song on Blood On the Tracks and all. However, I should have had more faith in Tweedy; his rendition of this song makes it difficult for me to place it at #2, as it would be worthy of #1, if not for the fact that I’m thoroughly enamored with #1 and have been long enough for it to reach 367 plays on iTunes. Tweedy not only does the song justice, but, if I may be so bold as to suggest such a thing, makes an even more poignant and beautiful version than Dylan. Excuse me for my heresy. Vocally, he does mimic Dylan somewhat, but he brings a different sort of tone to the song. He also replaces the harmonica, which (excuse the heresy again) I always found nice but a little out of place in this song, for violin. I believe you can only find this version on the I’m Not There soundtrack, but you can listen to it, along with three of my other favorites from the soundtrack, online here.
#1. Oh Sister – Andrew Bird
I will say this confidently without apologizing for the heresy: this version simply outdoes Dylan’s. Those who know me know my undying love for Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist and whistler extraordinaire Andrew Bird–and hear of it far too often, I’m sure. I love his voice and his whistling and his violin playing and all of them are beautifully on display here, complemented by the lovely harmonies of Nora O’Connor, whose voice may have been made just for singing with Bird. To put it into terms that all you math nerds out there can understand, this song comes seriously close to that elusive asymptote of musical perfection. It also features one of the most beautiful instrumental sections I’ve ever heard starting around 3 minutes and 40 seconds in. It’s the best of Bob and Bird and it’s brilliant. I command you to listen to it immediately at Andrew Bird’s myspace or on the new Soldier On EP; then I command you go out and get your hands on Andrew Bird’s entire catalogue, because he’s just that mind-blowingly incredible.
Feel free to leave your favorite Dylan covers in the comments; I’m always open to musical suggestions–but make sure they’re good, otherwise I will judge you.
