Cover songs once had a simple playbook: Artists would faithfully rerecord a song—note for note and word for word. They might modernize the instrumentation. If they were feeling radical, they’d punch up the vocals a bit.
Now it’s hard to say what a cover is anymore. If Ariana Grande turns “My Favorite Things” into “7 Rings,” does that qualify? When Drake says he’s “Way 2 Sexy,” is he covering Right Said Fred?
The recent chart success of “Fast Car”—country star Luke Combs’ very traditional take on Tracy Chapman’s folk classic—has reinvigorated interest in cover songs. Sometimes, isn’t just remaking the song as-is enough?
Join Chris Molanphy as he explains the chart considerations and artistic motivations that rebooted the cover song, and whether a straight-up remake will ever top the Hot 100 again. We’re long past the days of “Twist and Shout,” “Venus” and “I’ll Be There.”
Podcast production by Olivia Briley.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Slow Burn: Gays Against Briggs - Ep. 2: Defend Our Children
Outward: The Trans History of the 1936 Olympics with Michael Waters
John Dickerson’s Navel Gazing: Time Travel Via an Assortment of Journal Entries
Outward: Behind the Scenes of ‘Gays Against Briggs’ with Christina Cauterucci
Slow Burn: Gays Against Briggs - Ep. 1: A Hotbed of Homosexuality
Hear Me Out: Colonialism Never Ended
John Dickerson’s Navel Gazing: Moving in New York Twenty Years After September 11th.
Gabfest Reads: Why Americans Care About Animals
John Dickerson’s Navel Gazing: The Sneaky Pitfalls of the To-Do List
Amicus: How Originalism Ate The Law: The Trap
A Word: Between the World and Us
Outward: Queering the Map with Lucas LaRochelle
John Dickerson’s Navel Gazing: Remembering Early 1990s New York
Amicus: How Originalism Ate the Law: The Trick
Outward: Mary & George's LGBTQ Historical Drama
Hear Me Out: Student Protests Can Backfire (Badly)
John Dickerson’s Navel Gazing: The Power of Four Numbers
Hit Parade: We Want It That Way Edition Part 2
Hear Me Out: Third Parties Are Saving Democracy
John Dickerson’s Navel Gazing: Remembering George and Defending the Morning
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Slow Burn
Slate Debates
What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Decoder Ring
The Gist