David Byrne shares mix of “unexpected” covers, with Ashley O, Sonic Youth & more

David Byrne has made another of his playlists, and this is one of “songs covered by unexpected artists,” ones where they “step outside their usual genre for material, and then personalize it.” It’s called ‘Under the Covers’ and it includes Patti Smith‘s covers of Tears For Fears’ “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” and The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter,’ Yo La Tengo‘s cover of The Cure’s “Friday I’m In Love,” Cat Power‘s cover of “What The World Needs Now,” Wings‘ cover of Mickey & Sylvia’s “Love Is Strange,” Lambchop‘s cover of Curtis Mayfield’s “Give Me Your Love (Love Song),” Sonic Youth‘s cover of Delaney and Bonnie’s “Superstar,” Seu Jorge‘s cover of David Bowie’s “Life On Mars?,” Nirvana‘s cover of David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World,” Johnny Cash‘s cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt,” and… Ashley O‘s “On A Roll”! (aka Miley Cyrus‘ cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Head Like A Hole”).

There’s a few others on there too, and you can check out the full tracklist below and listen to the full playlist here. Here’s Byrne’s full description:

Here is a playlist of songs covered by unexpected artists. They step outside their usual genre for material, and then personalize it. Often their interpretation gives the song a new meaning…and sometimes the cover is the version we associate with the song, even though the song may have been recorded and released previously by the artist who wrote it. One could argue that Aretha owns “respect” though Otis Redding recorded it first…and that Sinead O Connor’s version of “Nothing Compares to You” is the version of the Prince song that comes to most peoples minds.

For a lot of the artists on this playlist I suspect that their reason for covering someone elses song was not to ride the fast track to sales and success, but to show another side of themselves and to escape, briefly, from whatever it is they might be expected to do….they often do this by covering songs you might not think they’d like….this often gives the song a new meaning..we hear an overfamiliar tune with fresh ears

I can testify that covering a song outside of what might obviously be expected is liberating…I can allow myself to be sentimental in ways not very apparent in my own writing, I can make fairly direct political or social statements – also not easy for me. I can channel a different part of myself…so performing a cover changes both the singer and the song.

Tracklist
Habina Rachid Taha
Me Siento Feliz Los Ecos
Everybody Knows Sigrid
What The World Needs Now Cat Power
Love is Strange Wings
Get out of Town Caetano Veloso
Gimme Shelter Patti Smith
Everybody Wants To Rule The World Patti Smith
A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall Bryan Ferry
On a Roll Ashley O
Africa Hackney Colliery Band
Give Me Your Love (Love Song) Lambchop
What Was It You Wanted Willie Nelson
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door The Persuasions
I still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For The Persuasions
Hurt Johnny Cash
Superstar Sonic Youth
Life on Mars? Seu Jorge
The Man Who Sold The World Nirvana
Friday I’m In Love Yo La Tengo
Comfortably Numb Scissor Sisters
Common People William Shatner
Hey Ya – live Obadiah Parker