Hello everyone
I’ve been thinking about cover songs—a subsequent version of a song, performed by a different artist.
All Along the Watchtower
One of the most well-known covers is Jimi Hendrix’s version of All Along the Watchtower. The song was written—and originally performed—by Bob Dylan.
The Hendrix version of the the song is completely different to the Dylan version. Indeed, if you ignore the lyrics, the two songs are effectively totally different.
Dylan’s version, at its core, is one man and an acoustic guitar. Now sure, there is limited orchestration with a bass and drums, and Dylan plays some harmonica, but the essence of the song is a solo folk musician.
By contrast, Hendrix’s version is a full-on electric studio song.
Since You Been Gone
In 1976, Russ Ballard recorded a song he had written: Since You Been Gone. In 1979, the song was rerecorded by Richie Blackmore’s Rainbow.
Unlike the Hendrix version of Dylan’s song, Rainbow’s recording of Since You Been Gone is essentially the same as the original.
Essentially the same, but the newer version is better.
And not just a little bit better—we’re talking night and day better.
I’d suggest one of the main reasons the Rainbow version is better is Graham Bonnet, Rainbow’s singer. The recording captures a great performance by the whole band, but something about Bonnet’s interpretation is just right for that song, and every performance of the song since this recording (made nearly 50 years ago) has tried to capture the magic that Bonnet laid down.
Which Do You Listen To?
These comparisons lead to the question: which version do you listen to?
With All Along the Watchtower, the songs are so different, it’s really a matter of taste. Which you prefer is up to you—or you might like both. Each can exist separately.
However, for Since You Been Gone, there’s only one option: the Rainbow version, which takes the original, and just does it better…in every way. With the Rainbow version, there is no reason to listen to the original, and arguably, there is no reason to reinterpret the song—it has been perfected.
Why Cover?
There are many reasons why songs are covered, but I only want to look at one reason: accessing a different market.
While segregation was still law in the US, it was common to cover a song to access a different market. Typically, a black artist would record a song which would then be recorded and “made safe” to be released to a white market.
In other words, the song was retold, but was retold in a new way which appealed to a specific audience. And with this notion, I turn to stories.
Seven Stories
There’s an idea that there are only seven stories and every novel simply retells one of these stories. I’m not sure that I fully agree with this notion, but certainly, there are a limited number of plots. Indeed, if you look at a standard detective story or romance story, the tale almost always has the same skeleton.
Sometimes, like with Rainbow’s cover of Since You Been Gone the same story gets retold and the earlier version becomes obsolete. One example of telling the same story is the movie A Star Is Born which was originally made in 1937, and then remade in 1954 with Judy Garland, then remade again in 1976 with Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, and most recently remade in 2018 with Lady Gaga.
But then there is Dangerous Liaisons. This was not the first iteration of this movie, although it was probably the best. And it wasn’t the first telling on this story—the movie was based on a play which itself was adapted from a novel written in 1782 by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. However, this movie was later adapted for a totally different market with Cruel Intentions. Unlike with A Star is Born, Cruel Intentions was a parallel telling of the story, in no way superseding Dangerous Liaisons. Each version exists in its own separate world.
Why Retell?
So why do we retell stories? Or, more to the point, why do we consume retellings of stories?
One thing many people want from a story is comfort. We know what we like and we want more of what we like. This is one reason why series work (on TV and in novels)—they give us the same…but different, although not too different. Obviously, there needs to be development and growth, but there’s comfort from the familiarity.
And obviously, for the author retelling a story, there is always the aim to perfect a story. We never reach perfection…but it’s good to try.
Until Next Year
That’s me done for 2025. Thank you for reading me for another year—and thank you everyone who sent me their thoughts and comments.
If you’re celebrating over the next few weeks, I hope you and yours have an enjoyable time. And if you watch anything on TV, it will be a retelling of an old story.
I’ll be back in January 2026.
Until then, all the best
Simon