One of my favorite bits of movie dialogue comes from Cool Hand Luke. For those unfamiliar with the film, Paul Newman plays Luke, an inmate on a rural Southern chain gang. At one point he escapes and is captured. The prison camp’s “captain,” played wonderfully by Strother Martin, gathers all the inmates together to make an example of Luke. Luke mouths off and the captain beats the living crap out of him. Strother Martin then composes himself as only he can, turns to the inmates and announces that “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.”

I’ve been dealing with my own failures to communicate lately. While I would dearly love to engage in a public beatdown as an example to others, I have to content myself with a post on Cover Freak.

LED XXL “Communication Breakdown” (Led Zeppelin)
People have told me many times over the years that I’m very good at verbal and written communication. I express myself clearly and completely and I have a knack for explaining things in terms that my audience can understand. I’m good with metaphors and can talk on different levels without talking down to people. This isn’t just my grossly inflated ego talking here, I hear this all the time in my professional life.

Which is why it’s incredibly frustrating to answer the same question over and over. After beating myself up over this fiasco I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s them, not me. Which is good for my blood pressure but doesn’t exactly solve the problem at hand.

Mickey Dolenz “Talk To The Animals” (Rex Harrison)
Solo albums from members of the Monkees haven’t become as legendary as the solo albums by the members of KISS, which is a damn shame. This is not only a bad cover in its own right but it’s also bogged down with incredibly dated 80s production values.

In my case I think I’d make more progress talking to animals than I have talking to the people I’ve had to deal with.

Dodo Hug “I Talk To The Wind” (King Crimson)
The lyrics to this song are so very appropriate:

I talk to the wind
My words are all carried away
The wind does not hear
The wind can not hear.

That’s exactly what’s been happening to me lately.

Danni Carlos “Don’t Speak” (No Doubt)
This song is saying not to speak because I don’t want to hear what you’re going to say. In my current circumstances I don’t want to speak because it only leads to frustration. At any rate I really like the Latin rhythms on this cover.

Talking Heads “Take Me To The River” (Al Green)
I generally try not to post well-known covers here at Cover Freak since I’m trying to present stuff that most folks haven’t heard before. But I’ve always liked what Talking Heads did with this song and I particularly like this version from their first live album The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads. Given that Al Green is a minister, the joyous gospel-style backing vocals are the perfect touch.