Song Versions

July 14th, 2004

Filed under:
Music

Song Versions

As regular readers know, I dig the music, and I dig the statistics. As a result, I dig the statistics about my music. I recently wondered what songs I have the most versions of. Thanks to iTunes’s very fine search functionality, 3 and a half minutes later, I was able to generate this list (with original songwriters, I think):

Sweet Jane – Velvet Underground – 13 versions
Little Wing – Jimi Hendrix – 7 versions
I Shall Be Released – Bob Dylan – 6 versions
Powderfinger – Neil Young – 6 versions
Sympathy for the Devil – Rolling Stones – 4 versions
Angel from Mongtomery – John Prine – 4 versions
Blackbird – Paul McCartney – 4 versions
Crossroads – Robert Johnson? – 4 versions
Don’t Let It Bring You Down – Neil Young – 4 versions

“Sweet Jane” is a bit unfair, because I actually have 9 versions by the Cowboy Junkies, and 4 other versions. The same goes for “Powderfinger”, where I’ve got the Junkies doing it 4 different ways and Neil doing it twice. The other songs, however, are pretty much one version per band.

Why do I have so many versions of the same song? Good question. Different covers of a really good song teach us a lot about the band playing it and the song itself. For example, is “Powderfinger” a song of rebellion (as Neil Young seems to play it) or a song of mourning, as the Junkies play it. Are the Corrs a spawn of the devil for covering “Little Wing”? Probably, but I’ve still got the MP3.

Comments: 6 Responses so far

Devon
July 14th, 2004
12:34 pm

I seriously hope you have the Weeping Tile version of “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” .. it’s fantastic.

Darren
July 14th, 2004
1:38 pm

I do, and it is.

bunty
July 15th, 2004
3:49 pm

“Powderfinger” – a song of rebellion? Please elaborate.

Darren
July 15th, 2004
4:01 pm

Bunty: Well, that’s kind of poorly-phrased. It’s a much angrier song when Neil sings it. When he sings “Red means run, son, numbers add up to nothing”, you’re not sure if he’s going to run or not. When the Cowboy Junkies sing it, it’s a sad song of loss.

That said, I definitely think it’s a song about rebelling (perhaps fruitlessly) against authority. “there’s a white boat comin’ up the river, with a big red beacon, and a flag, and a man on the rail” definitely sounds like a Coast Guard cutter, or another type of government boat. The song always reminded me of the stand-offs between First Nations people and police which can turn bloody.