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Song of the Day #5,201: ‘Brændt’ – Lis Sørensen

I’m closing out these three weeks of “covers you didn’t know were covers” with a trip into the ‘Torn’ extended musical universe.

Most of us know today’s Song of the Day as ‘Torn,’ the 1997 pop song by Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia. It was a huge hit in both the UK and the U.S., though it was initially kept off the Billboard Hot 100 due to a rule that didn’t allow songs to chart unless they had been released as physical singles. That rule changed late in the song’s popularity, and it managed to reach #42 for a couple of weeks.

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Song of the Day #5,200: ‘(Love’s) Ring of Fire’ – Anita Carter

The first three songs featured this week originated with men but were popularized by women. Today’s song is the opposite.

June Carter, soon to be June Carter Cash, wrote ‘Ring of Fire’ with Merle Kilgore in 1963, using the song’s central image as a metaphor for falling in love. But rather than give the song to her husband-to-be, she gave it to her sister, folk singer Anita Carter.

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Song of the Day #5,199: ‘Kitty’ – Racey

Here’s another case of a late 70s song by a man turning into an early 80s hit by a woman. In this case, swapping the genders in the lyrics also led to a title change for the song.

‘Mickey’ was released in 1982 by American singer Toni Basil, reaching #1 in the United States and cementing the 39-year-old as a classic one-hit wonder. Basil’s career as a choreographer is far more interesting, including co-directing videos for Talking Heads and serving as choreographer on such films as American Graffiti, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Legally Blonde, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

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Song of the Day #5,198: ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’ – Robert Hazard

This next example of an unlikely cover is a little hard to swallow. Can it really be that Cyndi Lauper’s 1983 girl-power anthem was actually first written and recorded by a man?

Indeed it was. Singer-songwriter Robert Hazard wrote the song in 1979 and recorded this demo, though he opted not to put the track on his 1982 self-titled EP. Lauper worked with Hazard to rewrite some of the lyrics from a woman’s perspective and put her own musical stamp on the song. Her debut single, it became a worldwide hit and reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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Song of the Day #5,197: ‘Valerie’ – The Zutons

I’m enjoying the ‘Songs You Didn’t Know Were Covers’ series so much I’ve decided to stretch it into a third week. I like the idea of “discovering” a new song that isn’t quite new. It’s like meeting an alternate universe version of an old friend.

Today’s song is best known as a 2007 recording by Amy Winehouse for the Mark Ronson album Version. As the album’s title suggests, it features cover versions of songs given a retro makeover in Ronson’s favored Motown style.

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