Bad Copy

Hello again music lovers! I know this thing normally comes out on Wednesdays but I’m doing it early this weekend because of reasons.

This time around I am covering a song titled “Funeral.”

The Original:

This song was originally recorded by indie rock/folk musician Phoebe Bridgers. Phoebe was born in August 1994 in Pasadena, California. She got her professional music start early in life, having started playing guitar at the age of 13. Her solo recording debut was Stranger in the Alps, which was released in September 2017 by independent label Dead Oceans. She is also one of the three members of indie rock group Boygenius. She has only released two solo full-length albums, the most recent being 2020’s Punisher. She has won quite a few awards, mostly with her Boygenius project. Their album The Record, for instance, won both Album of the Year and Best Alternative Album at the 2024 Grammy Awards. Punisher was nominated for Best Alternative Album at the 2021 Grammy Awards but lost to Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters. In addition to the two solo studio albums, she has also released quite a few EPs and singles. Most recently, she released the EP So Much Wine in November 2022.

She wrote and recorded the song “Funeral” for her debut album. It was the fourth single released for that album. Phoebe has said that the song was inspired by the heroin overdose of a close friend.

I was not super familiar with her until very recently. I had heard of her but never really listened to any of her music in depth. I am a now a fan of her solo material and the band Boygenius.

The Cover:

The song was covered in 2019 by Los Angeles based rock band Spanish Love Songs. This band was formed in 2013. Their debut album was Giant Sings the Blues, which was released in March 2015 by Wiretap Records. To date, the band has released five full-length albums and one EP. They have also appeared on several compilation albums. Their most release was the 2023 LP No Joy, released in August by Pure Noise Records.

Personally, I really like this band. I don’t even remember how I first heard them or what songs I heard from them first; I’m just a big fan.

They recorded their cover of the Bridger’s song for Sea Shepherd Benefit Vol. 3 album. Sea Shepherd is a non-profit organization that focuses on ocean conservation, specifically protecting the oceans themselves and ocean wildlife against exploitation and destruction.

The Verdict:

I actually heard the cover before I even knew it was a cover. As I said previously, I was not super familiar with the work of Phoebe Bridgers. I was driving somewhere a few months ago with my youngest child. I was playing the song and they said that they had heard the song before by another artist. My first thought was that it was interesting that Spanish Love Songs were popular enough for someone to cover one of their songs. The kid was looking the song up on their phone and informed me that the original was Phoebe Bridgers and the version that we were listening to was, in fact, the cover. Learn something new every day. Anyway, after the song was over, I played the original.

First off, I want to say that I really love the SLS version. Like, I like it a lot. It is actually one of my favorite songs of all time.

That being said, I actually think that the original version is the better version of the song.

And why is that? It is because I think the original fits the, I dunno, for lack of a better term, narrative of the song itself. The song, thematically, is a morose song. While the SLS is great and I can’t say anything bad about it, Phoebe just sings it the way I think the song is meant to be sung. The SLS is more, kind of, upbeat and Phoebe’s version is more gloomy and melancholy.

But what do you think? Which version do you prefer?

Thanks for reading. Comments are encouraged and appreciated. See you next time.