Bob Dylan has two songs represented over the next couple of weeks, and so too does Mark Knopfler. First up is Mary Chapin Carpenter’s take on Dire Straits’ ‘The Bug,’ a hit track from their final album, 1991’s On Every Street.
Carpenter released her version of the song on her 1992 album Come On Come On, a fine work that also includes ten original compositions and her hit cover of Lucinda Williams’ ‘Passionate Kisses.’
This song is a good case study for the old “can anything be country?” argument. I’d classify the Dire Straits original as more of a blues rock track, but it’s really not all that different from Carpenter’s version, which is clearly country.