California Girls

The Beach Boys released "California Girls" in 65.  Two decades later, David Lee Roth covered it.  The original is one of my favorite Beach Boys songs, and one of my favorite songs from the first half of the 60's.  I wish I had lived through that first half, especially in California.  But until I can time travel, the closest I'll get to those years are movies such as the first four Bond films, TV shows such as Bewitched (the black and white seasons, anyway), and songs such as this one.  When I'm listening to the original, I'm sitting on a pristine, not overcrowded beach in Southern California, enjoying the view -- and I don't mean the ocean.

David Lee Roth covered this for his first solo single.  While I'm not the hugest Van Halen fan, he was better (as was the band) when he was their lead singer.  He needed a band to reign in his excesses. This song, however, unlike the video, is not as over the top (especially by David Lee Roth standards) as it could have been; maybe it should have been. Instead, it comes across as a more of a cheap knock-off than a cover.  When I'm listening to it, I'm on a seedy boardwalk rather than a beach -- and if I am on the beach, there are hypodermics on the shore -- and the girls I see look as fake as the song sounds.

Although not a cover, "California Gurls" by Katy Perry, the ultimate California girl, honors the original more than Roth's version.

vs.

vs.

Everybody Wants To Rule the World

In 1985, Tears for Fears released "Everybody Wants To Rule the World", another one of their Songs from the Big Chair.  In 2013, Lorde covered the song for the soundtrack to Hunger Games: Catching Fire.  Although the original is one of my favorite songs, and I think that Lorde is a little overrated, Lorde's vocals on "Royals" gave me some hope for the cover.  I appreciate that Lorde attempted a unique take on the song, but her interpretation just doesn't work.  Maybe it would have worked in the movie if it had actually been used therein instead of just on the soundtrack, but it doesn't work on its own.  The original is a big and powerful pop song without being over the top.  The cover comes across as largely lifeless.  Lorde doesn't sound as if she wants to make the most of freedom or of pleasure.  She sounds as if she's just going through the motions.  Lorde may be hot at the moment, but she's not omnipotent.  She took on too much with the song -- or she didn't try hard enough.  Not everybody can rule this song.

vs.