Bright Eyes - Papa Was a Rodeo (Magnetic Fields cover)

Here's a brand-new Bright Eyes song- a cover of the Magnetic Fields "Papa Was a Rodeo." The original is from the 1999 album 69 Love Songs, my personal favorite album of all-time, and an album that I cannot recommend enough. "Papa Was a Rodeo" is arguably the best song on the album, though everyone seems to have their own personal favorite songs and disc.

This Bright Eyes cover is from the upcoming compilation Score! 20 Years of Merge Records, out in 2-weeks. It is limited to only 7,500 copies, so I would recommenced pre-ordering it now.

As for the cover itself, I really like it. It is more akin to the electric based Bright Eyes style that Conor experimented with on 2005's Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, though there are actual string instruments on the song as well. Though I personally find that album to be one of Bright Eyes weakest, the approach oddly works for this cover. Nothing can really beat the original, so I admire this creative approach to the song.

Bright Eyes - Papa Was a Rodeo

For anyone who has not heard it, here is the original:

The Magnetic Fields - Papa Was a Rodeo

As a bonus, here's another cover of "Papa was a Rodeo," this time done by singer/songwriter Kelly Hogan. It's more akin to the source material, though of course is sung by a female. Though this does away with the gender shifting of the original (Mike is actually a female) it is a great cover overall, and the alt-country sound works well with the original song's structure and themes.

Kelly Hogan - Papa Was a Rodeo

I like your twisted point of view, Mike
I like your questioning eyebrows
You've made it pretty clear what you like
It's only fair to tell you now
that I leave early in the morning
and I won't be back till next year
I see that kiss-me pucker forming
but maybe you should plug it with a beer, 'cause

Papa was a rodeo
Mama was a rock'n'roll band
I could play guitar and rope a steer
before I learned to stand
Home was anywhere with diesel gas
Love was a trucker's hand
Never stuck around long enough
for a one-night stand
Before you kiss me you should know
Papa was a rodeo

The light reflecting off the mirror ball
looks like a thousand swirling eyes
They make me think I shouldn't be here at all
You know, every minute someone dies
What are we doing in this dive bar?
How can you live in a place like this?
Why don't you just get into my car
And I'll take you away
I'll take that kiss now, but

Papa was a rodeo
Mama was a rock'n'roll band
I could play guitar and rope a steer
before I learned to stand
Home was anywhere with diesel gas
Love was a trucker's hand
Never stuck around long enough
for a one-night stand
Before you kiss me you should know
Papa was a rodeo

And now it's 55 years later
We've had the romance of the century
After all these years wrestling gators
I still feel like crying
When I think of what you said to me:

"Papa was a rodeo
Mama was a rock'n'roll band
I could play guitar and rope a steer
before I learned to stand
Home was anywhere with diesel gas
Love was a trucker's hand
Never stuck around long enough
for a one-night stand
Before you kiss me you should know
Papa was a rodeo,"

What a coincidence
Your papa was a rodeo, too

Pre-order Score! 20 Years of Merge Records

Dean & Britta - We're Not Supposed to Be Lovers (Adam Green cover)

Dean & Britta are awesome. They would be awesome still if they began and ended as Dean & Britta, but they are much more than that. Dean Wareham first formed the band Galaxie 500 in 1987, a band whose music hits me in a way that only a extremely select few can. I absolutely adore Galaxie 500, all three of their albums. Then comes Luna, Dean's next band. While I do not connect with them in quite the same way as I do Galaxie 500, I still really love their music. With 7 studio albums and a handful of EPs and assorted singles, Luna gives you more to choose from, but they still are remarkably consistent quality wise. The closest Luna has to a misstep is 1999's The Days of Our Nights, though the album still has some excellent tracks, including "Superfreaky Memories", one of the band's best. Dean & Britta became an official project after Luna disbanded in 2005, and while they are a bit poppier overall than Luna, the solid songwriting is still in place. Still, one of my favorite elements of all Wareham projects is the tendency to cover the songs of other artists. Overall, I can't think of another artist who puts his own touch onto covered material better than him, as well as one who covers such a wide variety of songs. Plus the idea of a novelty cover does not apply here, even when covers are of artists such as Madonna and Guns 'N' Roses. The covers stray from their source material, though are approached with respect to the original versions, resulting in attractive remoldings let the original melodies shine though, yet the structures of the songs may take a vast turn. For example, Jonathan Richman's original version of "Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste" is a minute and a half acapella track, only commercially available as a live version. The Galaxie 500 version is epic and sprawling, nearly 7 minutes, much of which are guitar solos. I may as well mention here that Dean Wareham is my all-time favorite guitarist, and most of this has to do with his solos. I for one hate the self-indulgent, fast for the sake of being fast style of solos that often appear in metal and prog. Dean's solo work is different, as though complex and often lengthy, I get a human sense of feeling in his guitar work, it moving me in a way that sung lyrics cannot convey. When he solos, it always sounds necessary.

Anways, the song for this entry is the Dean & Britta cover of Adam Green's "We're Not Supposed to Be Lovers." Adam Green's original is on his 2003 album Friends of Mine. Dean & Britta's version is from their 2006 EP Words You Used to Say. The EP is currently out of print, and last I checked, it goes for quite a bit. It's a shame as the covers on the EP are all great. I may do more entries on them in the furture. For now, here's the two versions of this song-

Dean & Britta - We're Not Supposed to Be Lovers

Adam Green - We're Not Supposed to Be Lovers

Dean & Britta - Official Website
Adam Green - Official Website