This request came in from Vancouver local, and guitarist, Alex Flock.
When I started diving into the lyrics of With a Little Help From My Friends I thought, “Wow, these are remarkably similar to the lyrics of The Wonder Years theme—wouldn’t it be clever of me to do a mash-up of the two.” Of course, they are the same lyrics because they’re the same song. And so I began to listen to Joe Cocker’s version of With a Little Help From My Friends—the version that served as the theme song for the ‘80s American coming-of-age comedy/drama television series.
Wow. Now that’s a cover. He screams and tears at the heart of this song with such an intense vulnerability and fever that the song takes on new dimensions of emotionality. It was hard to get out of my head once I heard it in full.
So, Cocker makes his way into this version…
…Ringo…
…a minor 7th chord from a Butcher Brown version that I’ve never actually heard but came across my Instagram feed in the form of a cover from a guitar player I follow.
A cover of a cover.
That’s how so many of our favourite folk songs were born—covers of covers of covers of covers. Tunes passed down over time, chords changed, lyrics tweaked, names replaced.
And so in that great tradition, here are my tweaks, embellishments and additions.
My cover of a cover of a cover.
In other news…
Coming up on David Ward’s Station 234:
Expert Guest: choreographer, Carlo Atienza
Musical Guest: ebonEmpress
One of my favourite storytellers drops by Station 234 to talk about his remarkable choreography for TwoFourSeven, World of Dance and Korean boyband megastars BTS.
Carlo worked on all 9 (count ‘em, 9!) music videos for LoZ. I’ve admired his choreography from afar for a longtime, openly weeping during a performance of the first piece of his I saw.
And the talented emcee and community advocate ebonEmpress dazzles us with her blend of hip hop and RNB.
Plus, Jonny and I will be doing a musical tribute to girl groups past and present. I’m no Diana Ross but on March 23rd you bet I’m gonna damn well try to be.
And…I’ll be premiering a brand new song. So new it was finished today at 2pm.
You can get tickets for the live in-studio taping or an online tv pass (comes with a 7 day replay). Click “Get Tickets” at the link and you’ll see all of your options.
Look forward to seeing / hearing from you.
With a Little Help from My Friends