"Rest? Who needs rest?? Our bones/ligaments/tendons are disintegrating as we speak, but fuck it, let's play tomorrow! No no no no. Fuck THAT. Let's play RIGHT NOW...AGAIN! 48 minutes, none of these long national broadcast commercial breaks! Hoo-rah!" --Celtics (except maybe Pierce, who seemed to be the only one who tried for the whole game)

Outscored by 23 in 2nd half. Trick or treat Celtics. Couldn't figure out what to do when KG got double teamed. Pierce never drove to the hoop. Rondo did the ol' dribble for 20 seconds then take a fadeaway jumper offense throughout the 2nd half. Played some bullshit defense in which switches were made on EVERY PICK so that Bradley would end up guarding Thaddeus Young on the block. Lou Williams decided to embody Michael Jordan. That's how to lose a game. Congratulations. Fucking blew a chance to close out on Monday in Boston and get some days off for all your injured players. Nope. That's just not how this Celtics team works. Play like a fucking video game the game before and then like the Monstars took your abilities for 24 minutes in the next game. DID YOU FUCKING FORGET HOW TO PLAY???? DID YOU FUCKING FORGET THE ENTIRE PLAYBOOK??? HOW TO PLAY DEFENSE???? HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN ON A POTENTIALLY TITLE-CONTENDING TEAM IN A PROFESSIONAL SPORT???? Just go the fuck away. And that is my analysis of the game.

Hey. I hate losing. That's all.

LeRobot?

I don't get it. I just don't understand how people can like LeBron. Yeah, you can say he was an asshole for leaving Cleveland. You can say he was arrogant for the WAY he left Cleveland. The whole 2011 Heat welcome celebration (Not 1, not 2, not 3...) was certainly kinda jarring. You can say all those things. But the one thing I've noticed that is just downright inexcusable is his complete lack of emotion. I'm watching his press conference right now, answering questions with generic "gotta give credit to the Mavs...it is what it is" type responses. He literally is expressionless. It's like he just lost a game in November to the Wizards. Think of how KG would be acting at the press table if the Celtics just lost in the Finals on their home court. He'd be absolutely devastated. At a loss for words. Shaking his head. Visibly stunned. Pissed off. EMOTIONAL. You know why I think LeBron looks like he doesn't care? Because no matter what, he's the face of the NBA (for better or worse). Come next season, there'll be more than a handful of "analysts" who will predict the Heat will win the championship because LeBron must've worked on his game in the off season and, hey, more time together builds chemistry! He knows that he's still got his fame, his endorsements--money will be rolling in. I think he's so damn cocky and absolutely sure that a ring's gonna fall into his lap at some point during his career that not winning it all in 2011 is not as big of a deal as it was for KG, Ray, and Pierce, who were past their primes--they knew what was at stake. LeBron, on the other hand, is pretty much saying that he'll look at the tape, work on fixing his weaknesses, and come back next year. Um, okay...it's gonna be that easy? Who wants to root for a guy that is so politically correct that he can't even LOOK upset?! It makes me angry that he's not angry and I don't even like the guy!

I can't fathom that an NBA player of LeBron's caliber wouldn't care too much about not winning a championship, but maybe that's the case. Maybe he doesn't care about (potentially) being called one of the greats ever. Maybe he just cares about being famous, getting money, and just living life.

That's not a guy I want to root for and I can't imagine how anyone could.

And That's That

Well, folks, that just about does it. And not just for the season, but from what I'm feeling, for this era in Celtics history. Shaq effectively announced his retirement after we shut him down for this game and the rest of the way. I'm guessing KG will retire and so will Doc Rivers (either that or he'll move on to another team). I can't fault them if they do. They gave us everything they had for 4 years. KG was totally dedicated and completely transformed the team and city in a way no one thought he'd do. Old age eventually caught up to him and although he still has the ability to tap into the well for a vintage performance every now and then, he can't do it consistently. Whether that has to do with simply age (probably) or his knee injury that slowed him down a couple years ago (perhaps), he is one of the greats ever. If you've watched the Celtics over the years, Doc has proven his play-making skills and ability to coach egos of superstars (KG, PP, and Ray), and budding superstars (Rondo). Can't fault him for anything (especially the way it ended tonight. See below: Ainge, Daniel).

Looking ahead, I do see Pierce and Ray sticking with us. Because he's primarily a shooter, Ray can be effective for another handful of years. He was probably our most consistent player this season and shot career highs in FG% and 3P FG% this year. His work ethic is a testament to that. For some reason or another, Pierce doesn't appear to have lost a step. He was still the highest scoring guy on the team, hit clutch shots, increased his 3-point shooting, and can still bang down low. Now, if we can somehow integrate Jeff Green into a starting spot somewhere, I'm gonna go ahead and bank on him returning to his productive form from OKC. He's shown it in spurts at the end of the season when Doc was resting our starters, so let's hope he can get it going in the starting role.

Glen Davis has to go. I never really trusted the guy, even when he was the Ticket Stub in 2009. Ainge should've shipped his ass out instead of Perk.

If we can finagle Dwight Howard out of signing with LA or whatever other team is on the docket, can you imagine the amount of alley oops Rondo would be throwing to him each night? That'd be insane. Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Green, Howard. Pretty solid.

And now, to commemorate the New Big Three Era, here are some YouTube clips of the biggest plays that were made:

Ray Allen











Paul Pierce













Kevin Garnett

Danny Ainge sucks for relying on an overweight 65-year old and completely disregarding chemistry and cohesion as important factors for a team. He said "hit me" while holding two face cards and clearly busted. He felt the need to do *something* at the trade deadline even though our team was fine.

Thank you for effectively closing our window.

Game 1 Suckage

That was painful. We played maybe our worst basketball of the season for the whole game...only Ray Allen had it going, KG was off all night, Rondo did jack shit, Pierce was iffy (until the 4th quarter), our bench was incompetent, the the refs made a couple of idiotic calls that ruined momentum for us, we got down by 20+ points...and yet despite all that, only lost by 9. We were able to cut their leads down to 4, 7, 8, etc. more than just a couple times despite playing like we had downs.

Any consolation can come from the fact that James Jones had a career game (actually, a historical game for the Heat), and that it simply won't happen again (at least to that extent...and I'm not just saying that optimistically--Law of Averages baby). Rondo decided after getting a couple of his shots blocked that he wouldn't assert himself and ended up being the Rondo of the end of the regular season. He made Mike Bibby look like Bill Russell out there. Who knows with him. We'll see how he responds. KG had a rough shooting night the whole game. His shot just wasn't falling, which has happened a handful of times this season. From what I remember, he usually rebounds well after such games. At least he played great D on Bosh, who I think had the same measly amount of points. Regardless, I guess if those two guys can cancel each other out, no matter how crappy they play, that's a good thing, right? Pierce was shit the first 3 quarters, but he got it going in the 4th. Unfortunately, he also got ejected then too. Sucks not having one of the best closers in the league out there when we're cutting the Heat lead down to single digits. Once again, Law of Averages says he'll be there the whole game next time and shoot better than he did, so again that's something we can look forward to.

If I was unable to see the score for the whole game, by the end of the 4th, I definitely would have thought we were down by 25 points, not 8 or 9. A loss is a loss, sure, and I'm not happy about it. But when you lose by less than 10 points when Miami SHOULD HAVE blown us away by 25+, that's something Doc and the Celtics should maybe look at and say, "Hey, if a few balls would've bounced our way...if the refs didn't think the game was about them and try to appease the home crowd with 2 atrocious calls...if we had Pierce in as our closer just as he was heating up...maybe things would've been different. Let's get off to a better start in Game 2 and play consistently." I mean, that sounds encouraging, right? Of course, I'm sure that's what Mike D'Antoni said to the Knicks after Game 1 in the first round, but whatever they actually lost that game and that's neither here nor there.

Bottom line: tough loss, awful execution, but hopefully shook the rust off. We'll be back in Game 2 and then we get some home cookin' and you know the Garden crowd will take it to the Real Housewives of South Beach.

Why is Glen Davis our go-to guy when we need a bucket in the 4th quarter?!? And why does he insist on posting up a bigger defender and shooting a turnaround fadeaway baseline jumper every time?!? You're shorter, yes, so use your goddamn body/deceptive quickness that we ALL know you have to go toward the basket and get a layup and one like you normally do?! Fuck. And the fact that KG has -4 shot attempts for the entire game is an abomination and we don't deserve to win because of that. He was on FIRE against the Spurs. Couldn't miss. The few shots he's taken, he's stroked tonight as well. We need buckets: get him the ball. It's not hard to understand. I sometimes think we forget how to play basketball or we've reverted to high school level IQ levels. It's really ridiculous. Not to mention we're playing what I really think is the 2nd most annoying team in the league behind the Lakers. And the Hawks aren't even that good! They're pretenders basically. Just a really mediocre playoff team. Zaza Pachulia is one of my most hated players, and HE'S not good either! But he thinks he is, which makes it that much more irritating. He's one of those "scream like a motherfucker when he grabs a rebound in traffic at ANY point in the game" type players (Noah is another who does that). If someone can pass it to Ray Allen more than twice again, that'd be nice to. This is what I just don't get sometimes. We have such great offensive firepower, but refuse to go to it. Instead, we're currently relying on Big Baby to hit crucial shots (JUMP SHOTS), when he CLEARLY doesn't have it tonight. And he's not one of those shooters shoot players. Not even close. Stop being Socialists by spreading the wealth. Call out a play. Execute it. KG: post up and back that European motherfucker down. Pierce: step backs, drives, the usual. Ray: come off screens and knock shit down. Rondo: drive the lane, get layups, get to the line. Force these assholes to play defense.

Thanks, I just needed to vent. Now I'll finish watching this horseshit.

Dear Celtics...

Dear Celtics,

You guys are really starting to piss me off. I don't care if you've got some kind of agenda like just getting healthy for the postseason, but guess what? First of all, you're killing your starters playing them a ton of minutes as you continuously blow big leads/try to claw your way back into games. Second, these games still somewhat matter. As we've seen from last year, home court is kind of a big deal. Either focus on the health issues or on getting the top seed. "Oh, let's sit out Rondo because of a damn pinky. Oh, now he can play again." "Oh, let's shut Shaq down until April." "Oh, let's play all the new guys we got!", "Oh, let's use a shortened bench of 2 guys while Arroyo, Pavlovic, and whoever else we have on this mish-mash of a team sit in their warmups the whole game." You can't do both.

Look. You're professional basketball players. You're getting paid millions of dollars to play a game you love. Show it. Show us you care about these dumb games against mediocre talent. Hibbert went off tonight like he was Wilt Fucking Chamberlain. You know what you used to do? Amped up the defense and shut that bastard down. You know what you've been doing recently? Playing like you're in the WNBA D-League. All these games are winnable. Where's the desire? There's that damn commercial with everyone saying, "It's about passion....It's about desire...It's about blah blah." Yeah. You guys look like you don't give a fuck. Not cool with me or the entire Celtics tradition. It's not okay that you bone every shot you take and get yourselves into a hole only to claw your way back to give yourselves a chance to win it (which, lately, you fail to do anyway). It's also not okay to make every shot you take to start a game and then start employing the Clogged Toilet offense. Play like the Celtics or get off the damn court.

I'm a Celtics fan through and through, but when you don't play like the "Celtics," I'm not a fan of you. I won't root for you blindly. And I won't shrug my shoulders and say, "Eh, that's okay! We'll get 'em next game! I love you unconditionally and you can't do anything wrong! Even if you play like inconsistent nancies, you still deserve my undivided praise!" No. Sometimes you NBA players need a kick in the ass and I'll be the first to give it to you. If you're a fan of a team, it doesn't mean you need to like what they're doing and support them without reason. To believe in them simply isn't enough sometimes.

If you deserve to be booed/called out, then we'll give it to you full force. Because we'll cheer just as loudly if you play like the Celtics should.

Sincerely,

Bono

I fucking hate losing to teams that have no business being in the building with us. Really? Spencer Hawes lights us up in the first half? Where's the defensive effort on him?

Rondo needs to stop trying to be a scorer and do what he does best: pass the damn ball. All of these run the shot clock down and taking awkward jump shots does not help (even if he made half of them, I don't care--not his game). Get your teammates involved (see: Ray Allen).

Also, why the FUCK is Sasha Fucking Pavlovic guarding Andre Iguodala in a one possession game with under a minute left to play? PUT PAUL PIERCE ON HIM. Absolutely ridiculous. Oh, and then we can even foul any of the Sixers once we cut the lead to 3 with about 10 seconds left. That should NEVER happen. We looked like a bunch of assholes.

I hate this team when we don't play up to our potential. Pisses me off. When we're good, we're unbeatable. But when we have these unforgivable lapses all over the place that don't even get corrected out of the half, it's like, why even come out on the court to play tonight? Jesus, put in the effort...put a hand up...learn from the mistakes you've already made. If Hawes has the hot hand, make sure you don't leave his ass open!!!! It's not rocket science!

Some losses don't nearly piss me off as much as others, but this one is a bitch. We have a really easy schedule to close the season out and need to take advantage with Chi City breathing down our necks. L's to the Clippers at home and then the Sixers?!?!? I don't care if they're "resurgent" or if Doug Collins is the second coming. We're the fucking Celtics with the best record in the East and we can't do shit about these mediocre teams. Stop being nances by playing down to your competition. Man the fuck up and play Celtic basketball.

Biggest Win For LA? TNT Would Have You Think So...

I shouldn't even bother to blog about this because the loss isn't really a big deal when you think about it. Here's why:

Let's first take a look at the lineups for the game tonight.
For the Celtics we had:

Ray Allen
Rajon Rondo
Kevin Garnett
Kendrick Perkins
Paul Pierce (even though he was visibly weak due to the flu)

Glen Davis
Nate Robinson (injured early)
Von Wafer
Avery Bradley

The Lakers had:

Bryant
Gasol
Bynum
Fisher
Artest

Odom
Blake
Brown
Walton
and 3-4 random people I've never heard of, but at least they had bodies to put out on the floor if necessary.

So with Robinson out and Pierce not a big factor due to illness, the Celtics trotted out a whopping 7 healthy players. And even THAT is debatable because Perk's probably not 100% yet. So, let's say 6 and 1/2. And we lost by only 6 points.

Second, based on that, it just becomes more obvious that the Celtics are in a completely different league. Throughout the first half, we were fresh and full of energy. We built up a 15 point lead (8 by halftime) and it would have almost certainly continued that pattern had we had fresh legs to sub in for our starters. Unfortunately, as we all saw, this wasn't the case, and by the time the 4th quarter came around, everyone was winded, and rightfully so. I mean, just look back to the game in LA. We blew them away in the 4th and we were healthier then than now (the Lakers, meanwhile, were the same). So, if A + B = C, that proves that when even a when we're just a LITTLE BIT healthier, we're far better. Again, the Lakers essentially scraped by with a 6 point victory tonight.

Here's a couple more points of interest:


Boston is 11-6 against the so-called "elite teams." (For my money, San Antonio, Dallas, LA, Miami, Chicago, Atlanta, OKC, and Orlando.)

LA is 2-6. And yes, I counted tonight's win for them even though we were absolutely decimated.

The Celtics have had one of the hardest schedules in the league in the first half of the season. I'm too lazy to go and look at our strength-of-schedule and all that percentages, but just look above. We've played 17 games against teams above .600 so far. The Lakers have played 8. I went through their schedule and results and they didn't play an elite team until almost A MONTH after the season started! The Celtics started against Miami.

By the way, know what really pisses me off? How the Lakers play in the same arena as the Clippers. It's actually kinda unfair when you think about it. When they play the Clippers "on the road" it's not really a "road" game. They're playing at home and most of the fans there are Lakers fans to begin with. Completely takes home court advantage away from it. It's also unfair for the rest of the league. All teams play 41 games on the road, but the Lakers really only play 39. I know I'm being nitpicky, but wouldn't you like the Celtics to play 2 fewer games on the road and add 2 more to play in Boston? Actually, let's take this a bit further. There are 4 teams that play in California: the Warriors, Kings, Lakers, and Clippers. Now, sure, California is kind of a big state and all, but FOUR TEAMS?! And it's not like you're going from the northernmost point to the border of Mexico here. The plane ride is apparently about 1:30. I dunno, this just pisses me off because it's all in the same state/area and the travel seems not nearly as taxing as other NBA teams have to do.

While we're here, I also want to point out that LA used to be in Minneapolis and won a few championships there. Why do they count towards LA's total?? Do we say, "Here they are! You're 1-time NBA Champion Thunder!!!!" just because that same franchise won a title back in Seattle? No. The Lakers don't have 16 titles. They have 11.


Anyway, the point of this was just to show that tonight's loss is essentially meaningless because of our lack of players. Meanwhile, LA is all healthy and beat us by two possessions. Yeah. Nice job.

Bono's Daughter

Why am I posting a random music video by a random band? Well, the girl in the video is none other than Bono's daughter, Eve Hewson. And she's pretty smokin' too, am I right?! Unless I'm being too biased because Bono's her dad...but I think I'm not and that she's actually kinda hot. Brunette + blue eyes. Word. Plus, she's approximately my age too! Off the top of my head, I think she was born in '91, so that makes her...what?, 20-ish? Totally fair game. I actually had a dream last night that we met and I pretended that I didn't know her dad was Bono so that she wouldn't think I wanted to date her just to get close to him. Anyway, I kinda forget how it all went, but I remember waking up happy, so I guess it all worked out...? I DO remember that I was trying to save everyone from like evil aliens/machines trying to destroy everything. So perhaps that bonded us. Dreams are fun because they take a completely unrealistic situation (not the alien machines...me and Bono's daughter) and make it "real," if that makes sense. Ahhhh, good times. Maybe someday...

John F. Dean, "Driving to Midnight Mass"

Five-thousand million years ago, this Earth lay heaving in a mass of rocks and fire
Wasting, burdened with its emptiness.
Tonight, when arthropods and worms and sponges have given way to dinosaurs
And dinosaurs to working, wandering apes
Homo erectus have given away to sapiens and he to homo sapiens sapiens

Look down on Dublin from the hills around
And lights could be a million Christmas trees, still firs standing
While in the sky a glow, as if of dawn
This day a light shall shine on us
The Lord is born within our city
Look along to the river toward O'Connell bridge
The lights, the neon signs, all stream on water like breathed-on strips of tinsel
All is still.

11:30, pubs begin to empty. Men stop to argue and say the name of Jesus.
For those who have known darkness, who have now seen a wondrous light,
Those who have dwelled in unlit streets, to them the light has come.
Tonight, few cars go by.
The blocks of flats with windowed plastic trees and fairy lights stand watching for a miracle.
Here are no dells where fairies might appear.
Out from the dark, an ambulance comes speeding, sickly blue lights search in siren-still.
The mystery of the night ticks slowly on
It will pass and leave memories of friends and small, half-welcome things.
In him was life, in him life was the light of men.
For neither prehistoric swamps nor trilobites,
The mesozoic birds, Neanderthal nor modern man had ever dreamt or seen what was our God.

The shops are gay with lights and bright things,
All save funeral homes--they dare not advertise their presence
As midnight peals and organs start to play, two cars meet headlong in a haze of drink.
The crash flicks into silence.
Pain crawls like slime through blood and into limbs.
God is revealed: a baby, naked crying in a crib.
In the church porches and out along the grounds, teenagers laugh and swear, smoking, watching girls.
So, once more, Christmas trails away,
Its meaning moves back into the mist and the march of time.

Top 10 Cover Songs... Part 2

Joe Cocker-With a Little Help From My Friends



Cocker's gravelly voice gives this song a much-needed makeover. The original Beatles song was sung by Ringo Starr and, well, is ho-hum at best. His nasally almost monotonous vocals makes this song easily the weakest on Sgt. Pepper's. To me, it's almost like an after thought. Like John, Paul, and George decided to throw Ringo a bone and have him sing a track. Bleh. Cocker's, on the other hand, lends the tune what it needs: EMOTION. The beginning lyrics is simply vocals and a bass guitar strumming two notes. I mean, his version made The Wonder Years what it was! His rendition allows for the song to build and build as the chorus of female voices is added on and is a welcome complement to the male lead. In all, Cocker makes this song, in a word, epic. And isn't it funny that Cocker is most well-known because of a cover song?

Here's the original by The Beatles:




Johnny Cash-Hurt



Oh man, where to begin with this one? I could just use a bunch of "one word reviews" to talk about this song: Jarring. Tragic. Emotive. Epic. Definitive. Brilliant. Personal. Moving. If you haven't heard this cover, prepare to be blown away. The original is by Nine Inch Nails and it comes across as more or less a creepy, angst-ridden song about depression and attempted suicide. Nice, huh? Well, Rick Rubin (the producer of Cash's final album in 2002) decided this would be a perfect song for The Man in Black to cover, and he was right. This one song introduced Cash and his music to a whole new generation of fans and is considered a defining song of his career. Cash's voice is old, worn, and tattered, the constant piano chord being played louder and louder is like a clock ticking. Cash knew that he was on his way out. This is almost like his epitaph to the world. He transforms this song from what it was (see above) into a bitter rejection of material goods. The "hurt" Cash sings about is not physical self-inflicted pain, but rather an emotional outpouring due to his wife's failing health (she would die in 2003). The music video says it all, really. He is sitting in a large house, surrounded by wealth, all the while having flashbacks to his early years as a singer. "Everyone I know goes away in the end"--his life is almost defined now by his friends essentially dying all around him. Getting old sucks! Everyone you know starts to die! "You could have it all, my empire of dirt"--all this material "stuff" he's gained over the years is ultimately worthless. The video shows a cracked framed record, a room full of "junk," a table full of food. As the song climaxes, he begins to pour out the wine on the table while staring directly at the camera. The song ends and Cash closes the piano and just lowers his head. Fade to black. Ahhh! Talk about shivers running up and down your spine. If you've seen the his biopic, then you know the demons he carried throughout his life, which just adds weight to his performance of the song. You know what? I just made an executive decision that this is the greatest cover of all time. Boo-yah.

Here's the original by Nine Inch Nails:




Pearl Jam-Last Kiss



PJ takes the original, which sounds strangely happy and upbeat for a song about a car accident that kills the "singer's" girlfriend in front of him, and puts at least some emotion into it. Eddie Vedder's voice is intrinsically filled with raw power, so the content of the song matches the anger and sadness with which he sings. When he sings the chorus, asking where his "baby" can be, he is almost yelling it out to the world/heaven/God/whomever is listening. It's similar at the end, which I love, when he starts yelling "oh OHHHHHHH OH oh oh oh, etc." like words aren't enough to describe what he's going through holding his dying (and then dead) girlfriend. Overall, the band might as well have written this song themselves because it has become so tied to them anyway.


Here's the original by Wayne Cochran:




Michael Jackson-Smile



Yeah, I snuck an MJ song onto this list, of course. This song was actually written by none other than Charlie Chaplin. Jackson said that it was his favorite song of all time, and when someone like MJ says that, it means something. Okay, I know what you're thinking. It sounds really corny, and I think I'm putting it on here for the message more so than its arrangement, but the content of the song is pertinent whether it's sung in the 1920s or 2020s. The world is full of shit, but sometimes all it takes to make you feel better is to just smile. What a simple message. I don't know if I would've put this on here if MJ hadn't died a while back, but his death does add to the song I think. Here's a guy that had absolutely zero childhood to speak of, his father was a complete DICK (and still is) who abused him, and when he grew up, he understandably wanted to at least try and regain his lost childhood (i.e. Neverland Ranch, Bubbles, etc.). He surrounded himself with children because he wanted to feel like a kid himself for once. Anyway, let's not get into a big discussion about it. I just think that when MJ sings, he's carrying with him the weight of his troubled past and the lack of times he was able to truly smile in life. Now, this has been covered by a bunch of people, including Steven Tyler. If we want to get technical, the original performance of the song is by Nat King Cole. Therefore, one could say that MJ covered Nat King Cole. But, I'm making another executive decision and saying that everyone else covered Chaplin. He never actually sung it, but he composed the music and wrote the lyrics based on an instrumental bit in one of his movies. So, I'm gonna say that because it was based on a piece of music from the 1930s that Chaplin was the original man. K, cool.

Here's the "first" version by Nat King Cole:




The Beatles-Twist and Shout



Whenever you have a song be such an integral part of one of the best scenes in one of the most iconic pop culture phenomenon's (?) in cinema history, you've got a good thing going for you. The parade in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" is such a classic scene and having The Beatles' version of this song playing as the crowd gets bigger and bigger is perfect. The original is by some group called the Top Notes. It almost sounds like a parody of a 1950s song. Anyway, Lennon does INFINITELY better. Apparently, they did a TON of takes of the song because they couldn't get the vocal sounding right. Eventually, they took one of the final recordings, which, by then, Lennon's voice had gone completely hoarse. Either way, the hoarseness was what they were looking for and it definitely gives the song much more charisma and spunk.

Here's the original by The Top Notes:




Hope you enjoyed my list! Obviously, some of the songs are debatable and I'm sure there's plenty of people out there who could substitute one on here for another. But I actually found it very hard to make this list, especially coming up with the last 3 or so covers. Which I guess is an indication that it's very rare to one-up someone else's song. Unless you're really good or the song has become so dated it's ridiculous. Out of all the songs here, only 2 are from after 1980 (Cohen's "Hallelujah from 1984 and NIN's "Hurt" from 1995). So that's probably somewhat telling. Yeah...bye.

Top 10 Cover Songs That Are Better Than the Original

My made up criteria for this list:

1) The cover song is more well-known/memorable than the original,
2) The average music fan thinks that the cover is the original...if that makes sense,
3) The cover is "better" than the original (this is obviously completely subjective, but I'd say generally people would think that the cover is superior),
OR
4) The artist(s) who covers the song are more famous than the original artist(s).

and I guess that's all I can think of for now. Also, I obviously haven't heard EVERY cover song ever, so excuse me if I leave out some that you like. Either way, I feel like a did a good job of including some of the most famous ones. Without further ado and in NO particular order...

Jimi Hendrix-All Along the Watchtower



Hendrix's version of Bob Dylan's song is instantly more recognizable and is infinitely more impactful than the original. While Dylan's has the requisite folky, acoustic, barebones sound coupled with the singer's earthy, droning voice, Hendrix completely reinvents the song with his signature electric guitar solos and noticeable changes in the melody of the lyrics themselves. This is especially apparent when he sings, "Two riders were approaching, and the wind begin to howl," followed by rapid strumming that complements the chaotic tone of the song. Not to mention it's one of the defining songs in "Forrest Gump" during the Vietnam War scenes!

Here is the original version by Bob Dylan (all I could find was a Guitar Hero clip on YouTube...deal with it):


U2-Everlasting Love



U2's rendition strips away the funky bombast of the original by Carl Carlton (1974), down to a mere acoustic guitar and vocals. Perhaps the best way to judge a song is by how it ages or dates itself. In this case, U2 wins in a landslide. Their version (from 1987, and appearing on their Best of 1980-1990 B-Sides Collection), doesn't sound dated at all. In fact, I've heard it a few times on contemporary radio and if you didn't know who it was or when it was written, it sounds totally fresh. U2 are not known as a cover band and the handful of times they've actually tried others' songs, they're usually okay at best (See; Paint it Black, Fortunate Son, et. al). However, this tune (as well as Unchained Melody from the same collection, which, I must say, does a great job in reinventing the song like Hendrix did) excels and is an instant toe-tapper. lol.

Here's the original by Carlton:


U2-Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)



Hey, it's me, so why not another U2 song? In all honesty and resisting bias, this is a classic case of "better than the original" status. This was put on "A Very Special Christmas" compilation back in 1987 (hey, same time as Everlasting Love and Unchained Melody. Hmm...), which was a bunch of covers by popular artists of the time to benefit the special olympics. Needless to say, U2's song became the most well-known and is a staple on the radio during Christmastime. Once again, the original suffers from sounding extremely dated (although it does have that "old time" charm). To me, though, it just sounds to forced or something...it insists upon itself, as Peter Griffin would say. U2's version is more fun and "whimsical," which is especially apparent when Bono chuckles through almost an entire verse. I wonder what got him laughing in the studio during that one...


Here's the original by Darlene Love:

Jeff Buckley-Hallelujah



This is legit such an awesome cover, I don't even know how to review it. (P.S. Note how I've gone from snobby music reviewer in the first video to regular ol' fanboy in this. Whatever.) First of all, Leonard Cohen (the original performer) has to be given HUGE amounts of props for writing the song in the first place. He is truly one of the best lyricists ever and this song only exemplifies that. That being said, Jeff Buckley is miles ahead in his composition of the song. Cohen accompanied his rendition with a chorus of voices in the background during the "hallelujah" choruses, which to me made it almost too pompous for its own good. He also made the song go...so....slowly. That's only made worse by a single snare drum being hit once every few seconds. On the other hands, Buckley's stripped down version fits the content of the song perfectly. It's such an individual experience that is being "sung" about that the lone voice and simple guitar strings are all that it needs. Also, although I love Cohen's completely unique voice (It's DEEP as anything, if you've never heard him. In one of his songs, "Tower of Song," he sings: "I was born like this, I had no choice/ I was born with the gift of a golden voice"--the way he sings it is great.), Buckley adeptly goes from normal to falsetto, which complements the movement of the guitar as well. Overall, it's a heart-wrenching song that Buckley totally captures with his stripped down, painfully melodic rendition.

Here's the original by Leonard Cohen:


Israel Kamakawiwo'ole-Somewhere Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World



Yeah, I just went there. Okay, so it might not be more "well-known" than the original(s), but it gives them a breath of fresh air. First of all, Google this guy. He was a MASSIVE Hawaiian dude. Awesome. Anyway, he died a while back, and this was he one big hit (It was the big song in Meet Joe Black with Brad Pitt. Solid movie.). He blends these two classics seamlessly. Once again, his version is stripped down from the originals--just his voice and a ukelele. It's such a calming song and his singing and simple strumming really does evoke the message of the songs. Don't know what else to say, I just really like it.


PART TWO COMING SOON...

U2 Collection Part 4

U2 Collection Part 3

Here's the final part showing my U2 CD's. I'll have a couple more videos showing my vinyl and DVD/VHS stuff as well.

U2 Collection Part 2

Here's part 2!

My U2 Collection-Part 1

Here's Part 1 of my U2 collection. This video focuses on CDs (albums, singles, and promo items) from the period 2000-2010. Enjoy!

Incoming!

Hey everyone! Wow, it has been a while since my last entry here. This is just a quick update for my many, many fans (yeahhhh....). I just recorded a video documenting my U2 collection. Now, I knew I had a lot, but didn't know I had 22 minutes worth! And that was just the CDs and videos. Holy cow. So, I'll probably work a little on it tomorrow editing-wise and break it down maybe by era (1990-now and 1980-1989) something like that. Just so it's watchable and not too boring. I explain why I did it in the beginning of the video so yeah. You'll find out then. I also plan on going through my (less extensive) vinyl collection, so that will be part 3, I suppose.

Until then!!