For this post, I want to take a look at cover songs. I want to show you five cover songs performed by Christian rock bands. Just in case you don’t know what a cover song is, I will give you the official definition. According to the Free Dictionary, a cover song is “a recording of a song that was first recorded or made popular by somebody else.”
The first cover song I want to share with you is Ordinary World by Duran Duran. Red performed a version of this song on their second album, Innocence and Instinct. Interestingly enough, when the band first started working on the cover version, they didn’t even want to put it on their record. “The reason we started arranging it was just for something we would do live. But the label pushed for it and we said that is fine put it on the record but just don’t make it a single. So the label just pretty much thought it should be on the record so I think we met in the middle,” said former Red guitarist Jasen Rauch. Not only did Red put this song on the album, they also recorded a music video for it.
This next song is probably the most interesting and odd choice for a cover song. Hit Me Baby One More Time was originally recorded by Britney Spears. In 2009, the Christian metal group, August Burns Red, decided to do a cover of the song for the compilation album Punk Goes Pop 2. When I first heard about August Burns Red doing a cover of Britney Spears, I was really skeptical about how it would turn out. But surprisingly, August Burns Red released a really good cover song.
Third, is the song Free Fallin by Tom Petty. The Almost recorded a cover version of this classic rock song in 2010 for the compilation album Punk Goes Classic Rock. I have to say, this could be my all time favorite cover. The Almost adds a more upbeat style to this song, and I absolutely love it!
This next song is a cover of Eye of the Tiger. Originally performed by Survivor, this song was featured on the Rocky III soundtrack. MercyMe performs a cover of this song for their youtube videos entitled the Cover Tune Grab Bag. Besides this song, MercyMe has also covered songs such as Thriller, Dead or Alive, Ice Ice Baby, Stayin Alive, and Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. This cover version is really funny take on the original song.
The final song is Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2. This song was covered by the Christian hard rock group Pillar. Pillar released this song on the limited edition of Where Do We Go From Here and the album In the Name of Love. I was also skeptical about a cover version of this song because I love the original by U2. But, all in all, Pillar does a great job on this song.
I know that some people do not agree or even like cover songs. For me, I love cover songs when done right, and I also hate cover songs when they actually embarrass the original artist. I wanted to share some videos of bands paying homage to some of their favorite artists (or maybe least favorite in August Burns Red’s case). I think these covers definitely do the original songs justice. I hope you have enjoyed this look at Christian rock cover songs.
