My World of Cover Songs
(An artist has to make the song their own.)
By
Eileen Carey
Recently,
as a member of the Grammy Academy, I have been receiving requests to vote for
people and their music this year. One was a cover of the John Lennon song “Imagine”
and it dawned on me that there are some songs a singer just has to sing to
complete themselves, whether they wrote it or not. Of course, a cover has to
have a fresh rendition of it for it to be more than a copy. An artist has to
make the song their own.
I often sing original songs that others write, but
there are some influences that create who I am as a singer-songwriter. Three of
the four covers I have recorded and released reflect some of my influences. My
first cover release came as part of a contest that I entered where my rendition
of Patsy Cline’s “Walking After
Midnight” which both won me a radio fan contest out of Nashville over Maria
Muldaur
https://soundcloud.com/eileencarey/walking-after-midnight
Walking After Midnight
I go out walkin’ after midnight
Out in the moonlight
Just like we used to do, I’m always walkin’
After midnight, searchin’ for you (wa-wa-walking, wa-wa-walking)
I walk for miles along the highway
Well, that’s just my way
Of sayin’ I love you, I’m always walkin’
After midnight, searchin’ for you (wa-wa-walking, wa-wa-walking)
I stop to see a weepin’ willow
Cryin’ on his pillow
Maybe he’s cryin’ for me
And as the skies turn gloomy
Night winds whisper to me
I’m lonesome as I can be
I go out walkin’ after midnight
Out in the moonlight
Just hopin’ you may be somewhere a-walkin’
After midnight, searchin’ for me (Wa-wa-walking, wa-wa-walking)
I stop to see a weepin’ willow
Cryin’ on his pillow
Maybe he’s cryin’ for me
And as the skies turn gloomy
Night winds whisper to me
I’m lonesome as I can be
I go
out walkin’ after midnight
Out in the moonlight
Just hopin’ you may be somewhere a-walkin’
After midnight, searchin’ for me (wa-wa-walking, wa-ooh-ah)
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters:
Alan Block / Alan W. Block / Don Hecht
Walkin’
After Midnight lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Growing
up in a suburb of Cleveland I was always a fan of Chrissie Hynde and the
Pretenders. After the hiatus from my third CD Movin On, and working on material
for my next CD, Let It Go, Travis and I decided to record and release a version
of Chrissie’s “Don’t Get Me Wrong” as a prelude to the coming CD. It received
some great reviews, and comments.
https://soundcloud.com/eileencarey/dontgetmewrong
Don’t
Get Me Wrong
Don’t
get me wrong
If I’m looking kind of dazzled
I see neon lights
Whenever you walk by
Don’t
get me wrong
If you say, “hello”, and I take a ride
Upon a sea where the mystic moon
Is playing havoc with the tide
Don’t get me wrong
Don’t
get me wrong
If I’m acting so distracted
I’m thinking about the fireworks
That go off when you smile
Don’t
get me wrong
If I split like light refracted
I’m only off to wander
Across a moonlit mile
Once
in a while, two people meet
Seemingly for no reason
They just pass on the street
Suddenly, thunder showers everywhere
Who can explain the thunder and rain?
But there’s something in the air
Don’t
get me wrong
If I come and go like fashion
I might be great tomorrow
But hopeless yesterday
Don’t get me wrong
If I fall in the mode of fashion
It might be unbelievable
But let’s not say, “so long”
It might just be fantastic
Don’t get me wrong
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters:
Chrissie Hynde
Don’t
Get Me Wrong lyrics © BMG Rights Management
I
shared the stage with Martha Davis on December 22, 2018, and I don’t mind
telling you that looking at her backstage at The Canyon at the Rose in
Pasadena, CA that night was like looking at an older version of myself. I
didn’t sing the song in the set that night out of respect, but so many people
love my version on my Let It Go CD.
https://soundcloud.com/eileencarey/only-the-lonely
Only the Lonely
We walked the loneliest mile
We smile without any style
We kiss all together wrong
No intention
We lie about each other’s drinks
We live without each other
Thinking what anyone would do
Without me and you
It’s like I told you
Only the lonely can play
So hold on here we go
Hold on to nothin’ we know
I feel so lonely
Way up here
You mention the time we were together
So long ago well I don’t remember
All I know is it makes me feel good now
It’s
like I told…
Source: LyricFind
Writer:
Martha Davis
lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Opening for Martha Davis & The Motels, Dec.
22, 2018
https://soundcloud.com/eileencarey/walking-on-sunshine
Walking on Sunshine
I am a huge eighties music fan.
Katrina and the Wave’s track always lifted my spirits. I wanted to cover one
more song for my fourth album release Let It Go, and I ran across it in search
and I am so glad I did.
I used to think maybe you loved me now, baby, I’m sure
And I just can’t wait ’til the day when you knock on my door
Now every time I go for the mailbox, gotta hold myself down
‘Cause I just can’t wait ’til you write me you’re coming around
Now I’m walking on sunshine, whoa
I’m walking on sunshine, whoa
I’m walking on sunshine, whoa
And don’t it feel good
Hey, all right now
And don’t it feel good
Hey, yeah
I used to think maybe you loved me, now I know that it’s true
And I don’t wanna spend my whole life just a-waiting for you
Now I don’t want you back for the weekend
Not back for a day, no, no, no
I said, baby, I just want you back
And I want you to stay
Oh, yeah
Now I’m walking on sunshine, whoa
I’m walking on sunshine, whoa
I’m walking on sunshine, whoa
And don’t it feel good
Hey, all right now
And don’t it feel good
Yeah, oh yeah
And don’t it feel good
Walking on sunshine
Walking on sunshine
I feel alive, I feel the love, I feel the love that’s really
real
I feel alive, I feel the love, I feel the love that’s really real
I’m on sunshine, baby, oh
Oh yeah, I’m on sunshine, baby, oh
I’m
walking on sunshine, whoa
I’m walking on sunshine, whoa
I’m walking on sunshine, whoa
And don’t it feel good
Hey, all right now
And don’t it feel good
I’ll say it, I’ll say it, I’ll say it again now
And don’t it feel good
Hey, yeah
And don’t it feel good
Now don’t it, don’t it, don’t it, don’t it, don’t it, don’t it feel good
I’ll say it, I’ll say it, I’ll say it again now
And don’t it feel good
Don’t it, don’t it, don’t it, don’t it, don’t it and don’t it feel good
Now tell me, tell me, tell me again now
And don’t it feel good
Oh yeah, now
And don’t it feel good
Oh, don’t it feel good, don’t it feel good
Now don’t it feel good
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Oh yeah, yeah, oh yeah, yeah
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters:
Kimberley Rew
Walking
on Sunshine lyrics © BMG Rights Management
There is a business side to quality
covers, often a song that a producer or director wants in their project is too
expensive by the original artists. Sometimes the rendition, the arrangement is
more current, than the original. I hope you have enjoyed my four covers here.
