I don't like song covers. If I do like a song that is a cover, it is usually because I am unaware of the original artist because they are old as dirt or they obviously didn't get to be as successful as the band I'm listening to who is covering the song. If it's the case of the former, I like to keep that little nugget of information about the original artist in my pocket to bring out and use condescendingly whenever I'm with someone who says they like the cover.
If you're going to sample a song, or straight up cover it without even attempting to showcase your "talent," then you ought to do your research, and give the song some respect. Don't pick a superstar to cover, then go off pitch or speed up the tempo. Don't change it to another style of music (ie. rock to country, reggae to electronica) unless you're Norah Jones. Norah Jones can do whatever she wants. Don't cover the Talking Heads.
David Byrne is off his rocker. No one is really on his mental level, and as a superfan, I can't even say I try to be. His musical genius deserves to be left untouched, and no one wants to hear your dumb "I-can-be-weird-too" version of it. Why would you think that it's going to make sense at all for people to hear you singing "Now, we're your children/Come and ride your horse/In the night/In the night/Come and ride your horse?" Even worse, if you go with some mega hit like "Once in a Lifetime" you will have to live with the rejection and shame of the fact that all anyone is thinking about is that you don't sound like David Byrne.
Having said that, I would also like to say that I DO like Muppets.
(If you haven't clicked on the above sentence, please do so now.)
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