Cover Songs

Cover SongsCreativityLive Music

If You’re Going to Cover a Song, Do It Properly: Dismantle It, Rebuild It And Make It Your Own

Posted on by Corey Stewart

In light of my last post I thought it would be a good thing to write about my thoughts on playing covers.

I’ve done it for many years and continue to do so from time to time in a more functional role however, at the end of the day, there is a belief that I hold close to my chest when it comes to cover songs, a belief that might ruffle a few feathers but speaks straight to the heart of creativity:

If you’re going to cover someone else’s song… do it properly. Don’t copy it. Don’t just perform it. Deconstruct it. Dismantle it. Rebuild it from the ground up so that it becomes something unrecognizable, something that could stand on its own two feet, even if the original had never existed.

Because here’s the uncomfortable truth: A cover song that simply mimics the original is not art. It’s nostalgia on autopilot.

The Problem with Playing It Safe

As I mentioned in my last post, there’s an overtly unspoken rule that permeates through today’s live music landscape: play the hits just like the record. Stay true to the arrangement. Don’t stray too far from the familiar. And sure, that satisfies the crowd. It scratches the itch of recognition.

But does it move anyone?

Playing it safe creates a transactional relationship between the performer and the listener. You give them what they expect. They nod along, drink in hand, happy to be comforted by the familiar. But the experience ends there.

No challenge. No engagement. No deeper connection.

The Power of Reinvention: More Than a Cover

In my opinion, the most powerful covers don’t just recreate a song, they reinterpret it. They challenge the listener to hear it differently. To feel it differently.

Think about it:

Johnny Cash’s “Hurt” (originally Nine Inch Nails): A song about addiction and self-loathing becomes, in Cash’s hands, a devastating meditation on aging, regret, and the weight of a life lived.

Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah” (originally Leonard Cohen): A poetic, philosophical piece transformed into a fragile, heart-wrenching confession.

Gary Jules’ “Mad World” (originally Tears for Fears): From 80s synth-pop anthem to haunting piano ballad soaked in vulnerability.

These aren’t just covers. They are conversations with the original songs—responses, reflections, reinterpretations.

Why Make It Unrecognizable? Because Connection Requires Work

Here’s the key: A properly done cover challenges the audience.

It makes the listener work to appreciate it. And in doing so, it strengthens the bond they have with the song.

When a song is instantly recognizable, it’s easy to dismiss it as background noise. But when a cover forces the audience to lean in, to question, “Wait… is this that song?” you’re inviting them into a dialogue.

You’re engaging their curiosity, their memory, their emotions. You’re giving them a puzzle to solve.

And once they’ve solved it—once they feel the song in this new light—their connection to it becomes deeper, more personal. They’ve earned it. They’ve invested in it.

This is not passive listening. This is active participation.

Respect Through Risk

Ironically, many people believe that radically changing a song is disrespectful to the original. I argue the opposite.

If a song is great, it can handle the pressure. It can stand up to reinterpretation. It can wear new clothes, speak in a new voice, walk a different path and still remain powerful.

True respect is not imitation. True respect is interrogation. It’s asking, “What else can this song say? What else can it be?”

When you cover a song faithfully, you’re paying homage.
When you cover a song creatively, you’re paying respect.

Approach the Cover Like an Artist, Not an Impersonator

When you choose to cover a song, ask yourself:

  • What happens if I slow it down… or speed it up?
  • What if I swap the major key for minor—or vice versa?
  • What if I strip away all the instrumentation and leave just voice and one lonely instrument?
  • What if I inject a completely different genre, culture, or sonic texture into the DNA of the song?

This isn’t about change for the sake of change. It’s about discovery. It’s about making the song live again not as a replica, but as a reinvention.

The Courage to Challenge

A great cover is an act of courage. It risks misunderstanding. It risks rejection. But it also offers the possibility of revelation—for you as the artist, and for the audience as the listener.

When you make the audience work harder for their entertainment, when you force them to re-examine something they thought they knew, you’re not making things difficult for the sake of it.

You’re making the experience worth something. You’re giving the audience the chance to rediscover the song and in turn, rediscover themselves through it.

Final Thought: Do It Properly, Or Don’t Do It At All

The next time you consider covering a song, ask yourself:

Am I honoring this song by simply repeating it?
Or am I honoring it by making it speak with my voice?

If it’s the latter, go all in. Break the song apart. Shake the dust off. Make it yours. Make it unrecognizable.

Make it unforgettable.

Peace,

Corey 🙂

Cover SongsCreativityLive MusicSongwriting

Covers VS Interpretations – The 3 Main Differences

Posted on by Corey Stewart

As I’m now getting ready to play live again, I need to remind myself that I don’t ever want to fall back into the trap of just playing covers for the sake of it and at the cost of performing my own material. 

I do want to explore, however, the concept of being an interpreter of songs rather than just a replicator of other people’s music. This means that when I play other people’s songs I will be performing the songs that I want to perform, in the way that I want to perform them.

I’m not really interested in performing to audiences that only want to hear the same old tired songs that every other performing musician does. I’m ideally looking to play to audiences that want to experience something new and different. 

If anything it will definitely keep me interested and motivated at the same time.

From my experience of performing covers over the last 15 years or so, there are three main differences between an interpreter of a song and a replicator of a song.

First of all, an interpreter performs the song in the way that they wish to perform it, not by how it’s been performed in the past. 

An interpreter puts their own spin, personality and sonic point of view onto the song creating a (sometimes) different version to the point of the song becoming almost unrecognisable to the listener.

A replicator performs the song the way it’s always been played.

Secondly, an interpreter performs the song as a creative exercise rather than it just being a functional activity.

Continuing on from the first point, if you’re performing songs the way YOU want to perform them, then you’re approaching your gig as a creative exercise rather than a means to an end. 

Yes, you’re going to be paid at the end of the show (and therein lies the functional element of the gig) but your artistic integrity will remain intact at the same time.

A replicator approaches the gig as a functional transaction of service to payment and therefore the performance of the songs will reflect this attitude.

Lastly, an interpreter approaches the songs they perform the same way as a songwriter approaches performing one of their own songs.

An interpreter looks at the song as a whole and uses the performance of it to inspire and educate the listening audience through the delivery both vocally and instrumentally of the song’s form, dynamics and arrangement.

Every performance of the song is therefore a unique experience for both performer and audience.

A replicator approaches the song as if they were in control of a jukebox.

I used to think that trying to be all things to all people through playing all of the songs that they wanted to hear would give me job satisfaction through playing lots of gigs and therefore making a serviceable full-time living through live performance.

This is what I did for around 12-15 years (with FIGJAM and other cover projects) and at the end of it all, I was left a burnt out and empty shell of a man.

Not anymore.

As songwriters, musicians, artists and performers, we have the control over how much of ourselves we want to expose to an audience. Some musicians want to keep the live experience at a surface level and that’s okay.

I, on the other hand, really want to go deeper than that and the best way I think to do that is through the delivery of the music. Whether I’m performing my music or the music of another.

I’ll see you at a gig real soon.

Peace,

Corey 🙂

Cover SongsCreativitySongwriting

What I’ve Learnt About Writing My Own Songs By Playing Covers

Posted on by Corey Stewart

Personally, I love learning covers in my own unique way almost as much as writing, recording and playing my own music.

The main reason for this is that by me learning and deconstructing/reconstructing songs that I really connect with or, have proven to be popular with the public and have charted in some way, I learn how to write my own songs better through the experience.

Here are some ways I reckon that learning covers has helped my own songwriting process:

  • I learn different song formats, song structures and chord patterns.
  • I expose myself to singing different melodies, and lyrical ideas.
  • I spice up my guitar practice regimen.
  • I maintain my musical theory knowledge by learning a song by ear.
  • I get to know my favourite songwriters more by learning their songs.

For every song I learn, many other unique songwriting ideas will naturally bubble up to the surface for my own material later on.

I reckon the trick with playing covers is that you never do them like the original as much as you possibly can.

I know that if I’m in the audience and I hear someone do a cover in their own style, I get hooked into their version every single time (and I also get hooked into them too).

Now, some performing songwriters I know feel that playing covers is just selling out but, I respectfully don’t agree. I mean who is going to say that Jeff Buckley’s version of ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen was a sell out on his part?

It’s one of the most beautiful performances of any song I have ever heard. It makes me cry every time I hear it.

Of course, your goal as a performing songwriter is to play your own songs as much as you can because there’s nothing more satisfying than people actually being touched, moved and inspired by what you are playing and singing that has come from inside you however, an amazing thing happens when you add the occasional cover song into your repertoire.

The audience becomes much closer to you.

I can’t tell you how many times a quiet gig became a much greater gig after I play a well chosen cover (in my own style of course). Every other song I play afterwards becomes music to their ears.

For me, the term “selling out” is generally used by people who wish they were in the same position as the other musicians they were commenting on. Jealousy rears up its ugly head in the music industry all the time.

If you keep focused on writing your own music and at the same time learn a few covers (at the very least for research purposes) to break up your songwriting process from time to time, you will have better gigs, become a more well rounded instrumentalist and (most importantly) you will be a real hit around the odd campfire or two 😉

At the end of the day, I believe playing covers affects your ability to write your own songs only if you allow it to.

Peace,

Corey 🙂