The Medusa Fora

On one of the bootlegs I own there is a pretty weird live cover of "My Girl". Was "My Girl" performed regularly at some time?

Eckhard wrote:On one of the bootlegs I own there is a pretty weird live cover of "My Girl". Was "My Girl" performed regularly at some time?

My Girl appeared, as far as any of us can remember, at just one gig. Perhaps only the Pogues could launch into an impromptu and entirely unrehearsed version of a Smokey Robinson classic in the middle of the most (ahem) "prestigious" gig of their career to date (Wembley Arena).

Thanks for the reply.

A shame that it wasn't played more often. I like the way Shane's voice thwarts the sweetness of the song.

To Mr C

How did you decide what cover songs to play? I mean who came up with the idea to play stuff like Darklands (The Jesus & Mary Chain), Maggie May (Rod Stewart) or White Light/White Heat (Velvet Underground). Great songs but not exactly The Pogues. I can understand the reason to do a song called Japan in Tokyo or White Christmas during a Christmas tour but these? I´m just curious.

Cheers Mats

mats wrote:To Mr C

How did you decide what cover songs to play? I mean who came up with the idea to play stuff like Darklands (The Jesus & Mary Chain), Maggie May (Rod Stewart) or White Light/White Heat (Velvet Underground). Great songs but not exactly The Pogues. I can understand the reason to do a song called Japan in Tokyo or White Christmas during a Christmas tour but these? I´m just curious.

Cheers Mats

There were slightly odd covers right from the start - "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue". "Me And Bobby McGee", "All Tomorrow's Parties", "Next".....................it's the itch to find out whether or not you can do something, I guess. And when you say "not exactly the Pogues", I would ask what is exactly the Pogues? A good cover is usually when unexpected or apparently incompatible elements come into conjunction.

philipchevron wrote: And when you say "not exactly the Pogues", I would ask what is exactly the Pogues? A good cover is usually when unexpected or apparently incompatible elements come into conjunction.

That´s so very true. I think the best covers are those who are totally different to the original.

A couple of years ago when I was a member of a Pogues-like folkpunk band I regularly tried to convince the others not to do a Pogues cover because I never saw the point in it. That went for other folkpunk bands as well, of course. OK, it might not be the most inspiring thing to do a Beatles cover (well, not of "Ob la di ob la da" anyway), but it was more fun converting a non-folk(punk) song into one. Of course, some songs work better than others. But mostly I´m quite excited hearing a cover version played in a different way than the original.

philipchevron wrote:

mats wrote:To Mr C

How did you decide what cover songs to play? I mean who came up with the idea to play stuff like Darklands (The Jesus & Mary Chain), Maggie May (Rod Stewart) or White Light/White Heat (Velvet Underground). Great songs but not exactly The Pogues. I can understand the reason to do a song called Japan in Tokyo or White Christmas during a Christmas tour but these? I´m just curious.

Cheers Mats

There were slightly odd covers right from the start - "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue". "Me And Bobby McGee", "All Tomorrow's Parties", "Next".....................it's the itch to find out whether or not you can do something, I guess. And when you say "not exactly the Pogues", I would ask what is exactly the Pogues? A good cover is usually when unexpected or apparently incompatible elements come into conjunction.

Some of my favourite polar opposites:

Shane covering Neil Diamond
J Mascis doing the Smiths "Boy With A Thorn In His Side"
Rolf Harris covering "Stairway to Heaven"

anfield boy wrote:Shane covering Neil Diamond
J Mascis doing the Smiths "Boy With A Thorn In His Side"
Rolf Harris covering "Stairway to Heaven"

Ever hear Dolly Parton's bluegrass Stairway to Heaven? It's really good. Maybe the only cover of that song i've ever liked. But if Rolf did it, that must be good too - in that Rolf-ish way. The Specials take on Neil Diamond's Little Bit Me, Little Bit You was a good match, too.

Never heard The Pogues' My Girl, but i always thought that Maggie May worked surprisingly well, and i have very few nice things to say about Rod Stewart, so it came as a surprise.

philipchevron wrote:
There were slightly odd covers right from the start - "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue". "Me And Bobby McGee", "All Tomorrow's Parties", "Next".....................it's the itch to find out whether or not you can do something, I guess. And when you say "not exactly the Pogues", I would ask what is exactly the Pogues? A good cover is usually when unexpected or apparently incompatible elements come into conjunction.

Elective affinities (Goethe) in action