When I first heard TV On The Radio’s new cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes,” I wasn’t too keen on it. It’s on the new War Child: Heroes album.
I love TV On The Radio, they’re one of my favourite bands at the moment. But I’ve always thought that “Heroes” is the perfect song and saw no reason to mess with it. But the more I listen to the cover now, the more I love it.
My take on cover songs in general is that if you can’t make it better or different, then don’t bother. I don’t particularly love the Scissor Sisters’ cover of “Comfortably Numb,” but it’s vastly different from the original and I respect how good it is. To make it different you don’t necessarily have to change the genre – sometimes the change is as subtle as updating it for a modern audience. Hole’s “Gold Dust Woman” brought a great song to a whole generation of grunge rockers that probably weren’t listening to Fleetwood Mac – and it was good. Courtney Love brought a dirtiness out of the song that Stevie Nicks could only hint at.
TV On The Radio’s “Heroes” somehow makes the song new while still remaining true to the Bowie spirit. It’s hard to match Bowie’s vocals, particularly on “Heroes,” but TVOTR’s version has a deep bass that pulls the listener inside the song and gives it a different kind of power to move.
