So I recently heard (for the first time) the David Cook (the new American Idol) cover of Eleanor Rigby (original recording here)and though to myself: “Damn, this is really good!” So I’ve scoured the You Tube for some decent covers of the song, which is one of my most favorite Beatles songs. It’s amazing how only two chords can produce such a great song. Anyway, there’s only so much you can watch the same song over and over again (no matter how good it is). I heard some good covers, I heard some absolutely horrendous covers, and I heard some amazing covers. I chose to showcase ones that I thought were very good yet a bit different than the original. Enjoy!

1) Jellyfish
This has to be the best cover I’ve ever heard of this song hands down. Aside from the strange Japanese theme, it’s amazing. They took the original 4/4 time and put it in 6/8. Then they changed the chord progression in the second verse while maintaining the melody making it sound awesomely different while hauntingly familiar. Plus since they’re all amazingly talented singers, you got some nice harmonies too! If you only watch one of these videos, please, watch this one. It’s amazing.

2) David Cook
This performance rocks, what can I say? It’s right up my alley with the rock feel, and his voice of course is stellar. I actually heard the studio recording of this before I saw this live version, and I have to say the studio version is way better… not that he’s no good live. It’s still good, just not as good. He also has the benefit of having the American Idol band backing up which allows a full string section and more flexibility in the arrangement (including backup singers!). It’s all good, check the vid.



3) The Fray
If you had no orchestra backing you up, you could only be so lucky to get your arrangement as nice as these guys did. Too bad there are no harmonies though…


4) Stanley Jordan
Jazz guitar and tapping guru jams out on Eleanor Rigby. If you weren’t watching the video, you’d swear there were two people playing guitar.


5) Bond
The fact that they are four attractive women didn’t influence the fact that I think they’re string quartet version of Eleanor Rigby is very well arranged. They capture an energy that I feel is difficult to attain without having the singer there. Too bad the audio quality of the video is piss poor.


6) Godhead
An industrial / goth version. Surprisingly good, probably due to the good production quality. The guy’s voice isn’t all that bad, and the arrangement is pretty solid. It sounds like they’re using some sort of chord substitution for the main chorus part, but I can’t really be sure over my laptop speakers.