They Did It Their Way

Some of you already know of my ongoing project that I call "They Did It Their Way".

One day I noticed how many of my CDs contained cover tunes. Not just the popular ones, but more obscure ones and the more unusual ones. So I started collecting them for my iPod under the album title, "They Did It Their Way".

For example, Nina Hagen's cover of Sid Vicious's cover of "My Way" (her instrumentation is the same, she just sings it in German). Or anything by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (a punk band that only does covers). Or Dar Williams's version of "Comfortably Numb". And Elton John's version of "Pinball Wizard" could never qualify since it appeared on the pop charts.

Recent finds for the "They Did It Their Way" project:

Sarah McLachlan - Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff Volume 2
I think only one or two tracks were written by Sarah McLachlan. Includes her covers of "Blackbird" and "River," as well as a version of "Unchained Melody" that I'm not sure I like.

Karan Casey - Ships In the Forest
This one depends on whether you count traditional Irish tunes as "covers". Previously, she had recorded "The World Turned Upside-Down" and "The Ballad of Accounting" (genuine covers of songs from the 1960s). On this album, she performs "Black Is the Colour of My True Love's Hair" as well as several other traditional tunes. This album is kind of low-energy, slow-tempo stuff. Not for everyone.

Dolly Parton - Backwoods Barbie
Includes covers of "Drives Me Crazy" (yes, Fine Young Cannibals' "She Drives Me Crazy") and "The Tracks of My Tears".

Placebo - Running Up That Hill
One of those extremely rare covers of Kate Bush. This was released on the Special Edition of their album, "Sleeping With Ghosts". I never was able to find this special edition, though. The track was finally made available as a download through iTunes.

Let me know if you've found any interesting or unusual covers recently.