Satisfaction

I’ve been pretty dissatisfied lately. My job has been very time-consuming and stressful and I’ve had some ongoing health problems that have gotten worse lately, at least partly due to job-related stress. The cure for the health problems made me feel even worse. Posting on Cover Freak had become a grind. I decided that there was no point in continuing with the blog if it wasn’t any fun any more. I even wrote a post for this week declaring the blog on hiatus.

Then things changed. I’m feeling much better and things at work have lightened up. I started to regret the decision I had made to suspend the blog. So here I am posting as normal, although I reserve the right to walk away if it stops being fun. After all, I’m not in this for the money. Or for the dubious small-time fame involved.

Being dissatisfied is a fundamental part of the DNA of rock n’ roll, and nobody said it better than the Rolling Stones.

Jose Feliciano “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (The Rolling Stones)
Jose Feliciano is criminally underappreciated. I dare you to listen to this rockin’ syncopated take on the Stones and not move your feet. The horns and strings are just perfection.

Dolapdere Big Gang “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (The Rolling Stones)
I can honestly say that I’ve never heard a cover by the Big Gang that I haven’t loved. More fun rhythmic liberties with the Glimmer Twins creation.

Devo “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (The Rolling Stones)
Usually I shy away from big commercial hits on Cover Freak, but the Spuds From Ohio truly do take this song and make it their own. Devo was really ahead of their time not only in their music but in their whole aesthetic. I know that I had no idea what to make of them when they burst on the scene and have only come to appreciate them later in life.

Otis Redding “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (The Rolling Stones)
Otis Redding may not be satisfied but he’s gonna try REALLY HARD to find his satisfaction. And I wouldn’t bet against him.

Bjork & PJ Harvey “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (The Rolling Stones)
I’m not sure where this is from. It’s obviously live, I think it’s at some sort of British awards show. It starts as a slow burn, sounding not only disgruntled but dangerous. And it builds and builds into an absolute frenzy. Bjork even reigns in her more annoying vocal tics in service to something magnificent.

8 thoughts on “Satisfaction

  1. laura

    hope your health continues to improve. sunday mornings, i get up and look at cover freak. it is somewhat of a ritual, so i would certainly miss you/this if you were gone. i do understand the not doing it if it’s not fun though; please just know that what you do is appreciated and valued.

  2. Birgit

    Hopefully your life/health/work continues to lighten up und the blogging fun maintains. It’s fun to read und listen to the songs. Though I don’t like every song (who does?), you always post some nice surprises of great previously unknown covers. This time the Björk-Harvey collaboration. I would miss your blog.

  3. BM

    As a weekly visitor, it would be weird if you went on hiatus, but I’d be grateful it wasn’t the end forever. Aside from the money and fame, you should know your work is appreciated. Every time I play a song you shared, I remember getting the song from this blog and the unique covers I’ve heard here. Great stuff.

    May you always be satisfied (at the very least).

  4. Sue LaFleur

    Love it this week . For some unknown reason I pushed play on all 5 songs and the same time and got the weirdest and grooviest version of 7n5 Satisfaction……keep this up I like it.

  5. Greenockian

    Don’t pack it in mate – your blog is great fun and your efforts are truly appreciated by this trans-Atlantic fan!

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