Adele has made quite a splash with her new album, 21, topping the charts on two continents and capturing the attention of both young and old listeners.
She’s even reached my wife, who seldom has time for new music. So we got the CD, and it has spent most of its time in my wife’s car. I’ve heard it once, and I liked what I heard, especially lead single ‘Rolling in the Deep.’
Another song that made a big impression on me is today’s SOTD, a cover of The Cure’s ‘Lovesong.’ I enjoy her sultry take on the pop confection enough to have it launch a new theme week.
Actually, it will be a theme two-week (biweek? how do you refer to a two-week period in a concise fashion? Obviously not like this.). This week and next, I will feature covers by women of songs first popularized by men.
Guest blogger Amy shared a great example with Shawn Colvin’s take on The Police’s ‘Every Little Thing (He) Does is Magic’ and the songs I feature will be in that spirit.
A great cover turns a song into something new while maintaining the essence of the original. Adele does that in spades here. Her gritty vocals play off of the jazzy guitar and strings and transform an 80s staple into something timeless. This might just be my favorite of all the songs I’ll feature over the next couple of weeks.
You make me feel like I am home again
Whenever I’m alone with you
You make me feel like I am whole again
Whenever I’m alone with you
You make me feel like I am young again
Whenever I’m alone with you
You make me feel like I am fun again
However far away I will always love you
However long I stay I will always love you
Whatever words I say I will always love you
I will always love you
Whenever I’m alone with you
You make me feel like I am free again
Whenever I’m alone with you
You make me feel like I am clean again
However far away I will always love you
However long I stay I will always love you
Whatever words I say I will always love you
I will always love you
Meet Me In Montauk 
I like this quite a lot, but I’m not familiar with the original version. Suggestion for this theme bi-week (?): post the original song with the cover.
Anyway, I like this theme..I would be hard pressed to come up with 10 covers done by females of male artists (at least not without the aid of a Google search). Did these all come easily to you?
Here’s the original:
Yes, I came up with about eight off the top of my head when I first considered this theme week, then poked around and found an additional six or seven contenders.
Thanks for posting the original. I find the cover to be a dramatic improvement. Adele’s voice, along with the instrumentation, warm this song right up.
Wow, I just love her voice and the way she does this song!
I, too, have been loving Adele recently. I’ve been reading more about her new album (and its predecessor) than actually listening to it, but I’ve loved everything I’ve ever heard. This song is no exception.
As for your theme week, I dig it. As an American Idol fan, I often find that the most striking moments that occur on the show are when a male contestant performs a song usually performed by a woman or vice versa. Something about the switch up enables the singer to bring something new to the arrangement and not be compared to the original.
In the spirit of my traditional contribution to this blog, I may have to add an AI link each of these days 🙂
First, I’ll give you Hayley’s very brave cover of “Rolling in the Deep” (brave just b./c it’s quite rare for an artist to cover a song currently on the charts)
She does a great job and the one I’m currently hope takes the whole thing (esp. since they’ve been stacking the deck against her from the start)
Looking forward to this theme. Should be fun.