Tune du Jour: “Waiting for the Great Leap Forward” – Billy Bragg
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes: U2 vs. Kowtow vs. Whyte
VOTE, COMMENT, then DO SOMETHING NICE FOR YOURSELF
CoverMeImpressed.blog CoverMeImpressed.blog CoverMeImpressed.blog
The Original
Billy Bragg:
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
Discount vs. Barnyard Fury vs. The GO Set
Discount:
Barnyard Fury:
The GO Set:
SPACE
Oh the disharmony! Much like Harlan County there are no neutrals here. It is your solemn responsibility to decide which cover song prevails. In other words … Which Side Are You On!??!
Disclaimer: Votes cast from Florida may or may not be counted.
cover me impressed 
3 good versions. I went with Go Set because if Bragg had written this song earlier when he was still in Riff Raff I think it would have sounded like this.
I will admit it. This is the exact same post from years ago. I love the song so I wanted to re-feature it and, though there are many covers of it, I could not find any better than the three that I previously used.
So, I am going to just re-post what I wrote years ago:
I felt this post would be well-received and judging from Cuspid’s early comments hopefully I’m right. Hell, if you’re not happy with this post then this probably is not the blog for you to follow anyway! This is one of my favorite Bragg songs, although truth be told, that bucket probably includes at least 20 tunes.
All three covers are fantastic! Differing styles but all high on reverence, emotion and angst. I’m echoing Cuspid here but I too am giving it to The GO Set for originality. The bagpipes work perfectly and the singer sounds ready to pummel the likes of Dick Cheney at any moment. What’s not to love?
I discovered the Swedish band, Barnyard Fury, when I was searching the web for covers of this song years ago. I was immediately impressed with the cover and started searching for more of their stuff. What I found was quite a few very good covers that I will probably share with you in the future. I’m pretty sure that I swapped some emails with the band years ago. I wonder if they are still together.
Here is a clip from their website:
Barnyard Fury is a rock based band with acoustic instruments, wildly mixing Punk, Rock, Ska, Blues and Bluegrass, a delightful mixture of covers and original material, so familiar and yet not.
The GO Set wins today with their rousing bagpipe infused version.
I am surprised, Kerry. Thought sure you would be swayed by Barnyard Fury’s bluegrass twinge.
hey Now
what a great quartet of quality tuneage to simultaneously uplift and piss you off,
great way to start the day, Billy Braggs original along with the comically ironic vid attached simply can’t be topped, but while I loved those first two covers The Go Set stole my heart with a top notch cover and a video complete with more dead-on timeless slogans than I could keep track off. Killer stuf… still Waiting…. And might as well be Waiting for Godot
Tough call between Discount and The GO Set. I think The GO Set’s version was more in line with the intention of the original, but I was kinda enamored with Discount’s punkified version. Very different from the original, and well-executed.