writer. singer/songwriter. techie geek. princess of random.

Sounds Eclectic: The Covers Project

Song #13 The Magic Numbers – Crazy in Love

Why I Picked It: You read it right.  Not Beyonce featuring Jay-Z.  The Magic Numbers.  This is from KCRW’s Sounds Eclectic The Covers Project.  I share this version whenever I can.

Why I Liked It: This is one of my favorite cover songs because it’s in such stark contrast to the beat-laden, hip-hop original.  The Magic Numbers playfully sing the iconic “oh oh oh” that open and fill in so much of the music you miss in the original with the use of different acoustic instruments.  I really believe this version gives a greater appreciation to the original.

But you can determine that yourself, listen at the Youtube Below:

-cct

Heartbeats from Jose Gonzalez's Veneer album

Song #11 Jose Gonzalez’s Heartbeats

Why I Picked It: I couldn’t think of anything today, but this was on my list of songs to feature.  Jose Gonzalez’s Heartbeats (from his Veneer album) is an acoustic guitar driven, slow down of the electropop original by The Knife.  I learned about the song in an episode of Bones entitled “The Salt in the Wounds” and is one of my favorite cover songs since.

Why I Like It:  If I had heard version by The Knife before Gonzalez’s I would say part of why I like it is the stark difference between the two, but that’s somewhat of an afterthought.  I like this song because the guitar and Gonzalez’s voice blends so well.  The guitar almost sounds like the steadiness of a heartbeat.  Lyrically this song is beautiful.  I think it’s a song about a love that didn’t last long:

One night of magic rush / The start a simple touch / One night to push and scream / And then relief

Ten days of perfect tunes / The colors red and blue / We had a promise made / We were in love

Because it was a love that couldn’t last long:

To call for hands of above
To lean on
Wouldn’t be good enough
For me, no

Below is a YouTube of Jose Gonzalez’s cover:

-cct

Vertical Horizon

Song #9 Vertical Horizon’s Everything You Want

Why I Picked It: I had a couple of songs rolling around in my head, but because the Buffy/Xander shipperdom I have long been affiliated with has picked up steam (unfortunately not for “yay, this shipperdom is actually gonna happen” reasons), I was reminded of a song that reminded me of the shipperdom: Vertical Horizon’s Everything You Want.  Side note about the B/X link, I am a semi-retired fanfic writer and helped founded the online B/X community.  You can laugh, but it’s been very good to me and my writing, and the B/X fanfic community is one of the best – though I might be bias.

Why I Like It: It captures the idea of unrequited romance so well – which for the most part in B/X shipperdom was the storyline.  A boy liked a girl who didn’t like him back.  As the character Angel was a prominent aspect of the series as Buffy’s love interest, there’s even a line about that: Listen and wait for the/Echoes of angels who won’t return.

What I like about the song is the idea that perhaps the “You” in the song realizes that this person is a great person and they should be interested in them, but they’re not.  And one of the best things about this song is perspective, because the last chorus is a change in subject and you realize that the singer IS that guy:

I am everything you want
I am everything you need
I am everything inside of you
That you wish you could be
I say all the right things
At exactly the right time
But I mean nothing to you and I don’t know why

As a song writer, I find it difficult to switch perspective and meaning easily without being really cheesy.  I find my song Invisible Girl really cheesy for that reason.  Don’t get me wrong, I like my song, but it doesn’t have the same finesse of chorus transition.

As this song reminded me of the premise for the fandom years ago, I find it funny how the song might still apply but with a switch in the “I” – that perhaps I can still find it applicable even in a major switch in storyline.  And I love that.

Ultimately, it’s just a great song. Check out the music video on Youtube.

-cct