It’s April Fool’s Day, the one day of the year where you’re actually encouraged to lie to people and make them feel like idiots. Probably the best part of this holiday is identifying the gullible and humorless who believe some of the insane gibberish that gets posted all over the internet on this day.

I did consider posting some insane gibberish about how I was starting my own record label so I could return the Edison wax cylinder to prominence. But instead I decided to just post songs about fools.

The Four Tops “Fool On The Hill” (The Beatles)
I’m not a big Beatles fan. Mainly because of the fact that the Baby Boomers who control radio, television, and movies have turned their music into audio wallpaper by making it inescapable. That’s why I like a good Beatles cover, it takes something numbingly familiar and makes it seem fresh and new.  Like this soulful side from the Four Tops.

Just Jack “Lovefool” (The Cardigans)
I’ve heard the original version of this song but I’ve never really taken much notice of it or of the Cardigans. But I’m really digging this rubbery electronic take on it.

Elvis Costello “Ship Of Fools” (Grateful Dead)
I use this song as an example of a good cover in the Cover Freak Manifesto. I’ve already described my distaste for the Grateful Dead in detail in several previous posts. But here Elvis turns a meandering Dead concert staple into a bitter Irish recrimination that spews bile and venom that the Dead could never even contemplate.

The Cadets”Fools Rush In” (Glenn Miller)
This is one of those classic songs that has a certain orthodoxy when it gets covered. You can either sing it as a slow ballad or as a chipper upbeat jazz tune. The only exceptions I’ve found are Bow Wow Wow’s polyrhythmic take that I posted recently and this greasy doo-wop version.

R.L. Burnside “Chain Of Fools” (Aretha Franklin)
I was a little surprised to find that crusty Delta bluesman R.L. Burnside covered this soul classic. But it works. It works quite well, in fact.