P&C does its best to bring you the best in pop gossip and news every week. Today, we bring you a few of our favorite indie/pop crossovers in the form of cover songs. Though the plethora of acoustic YouTube covers will be long forgotten in years to come, here are a few that sound just as original as…the original. Think Sinead O’Connor, not Prince.
Pop Knows Best
Avril Lavigne’s recent cover of Kesha’s “Tik Tok” got people talking. Though Avril is hardly known for sophisticated lyrics (have you heard “Girlfriend?”), she sounds a little silly singing about Diddy and whiskey. There’s no doubt Avril’s voice crushes Kesha’s, but a song like that deserves a little auto-tune, don’t you think?
Mandy Moore’s sweet spin on Rihanna’s “Umbrella” has garnered nearly 5 million views — almost five times as many views as Moore’s 2003 single “Have a Little Faith in Me.” The ex-popstar, who claims at the beginning of the video that she’s “not a big top 40 sort of listener,” certainly knows what she’s doing, eh?
Maroon 5 put their cover of Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You” on the deluxe version of their third studio album, “Hands All Over” last year. Front man Adam Levine rocks the vocals in the best way, almost making you forget that Keys ever sang it in the first place.
The ‘Indie’ bubble ‘Pops’
Guitar maven Kaki King shocked more than a few when she recorded her own version of Justin Timberlake’s “Lovestoned/I Think She Knows” on the indie cover album “Guilt by Association Vol. 2.” King’s simple voice makes the track that much more haunting, while removing herself from any Timberlake comparisons.
You can barely tell that Daniel Rossen’s version of “Too Little Too Late” was originally recorded by a tried-and-true pop singer named JoJo back in 2006. Rossen, of Grizzly Bear fame, took the cheesy yet catchy single and transformed it into a harmonious folk track. Who would have thought?
Singer Yael Naim took Britney Spears’ devilish 2004 hit “Toxic” and turned it into a creepily pretty song more suited for a wind-up teddy bear or a singing jewelry box than a night out on the town. Naim’s cover is absolutely dizzying.
Pop Goes Indie
British popstar Ellie Goulding wanted to cover Bon Iver’s “The Wolves” to see if it would stop her from crying every time she listened to the original. Her angelic voice puts a beautiful twist on the track. You can’t go wrong with either version — it’s absolutely moving.
The one and only Cee-Lo Green recorded a nearly unrecognizable cover of Band of Horses’ “No One’s Gonna Love You” that rocked YouTube with bangin’ beats and a bitchin’ video. Cee-Lo took the indie track and turned it into a montage of young love.
When John Mayer covered Radiohead back in 2004, Thom Yorke fans across the globe were cringing at the thought. Mayer surprised them all when he recorded a simple acoustic track that still gets sought out to this day.
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Allison Berger is a Philadelphia-based writer and a Pop music columnist for Reverb. Check out more of her writing
