It's not always what it looks like...

As I mentioned on Friday, I’m going to try and incorporate more themes across each edition of this newsletter. Today’s theme is all about hit songs you might have thought were originals but are actually covers. Some of them might surprise you!

I was shocked when I found out this song was not an original given the fact that this made my summer mix for pretty much all of the 2000’s. Although Neil Diamond is a legend, I much prefer the UB40 version but, that’s probably because I’ve heard it about 1000x more than the original so there’s probably some bias there. According to the music video posted on UB40’s channel, the band had heard Jamaican-born singer Tony Tribe’s 1969 reggae version first and didn’t even realize it was originally written by Diamond, telling the Financial Times "Even when we saw the writing credit which said 'N Diamond,' we thought it was a Jamaican artist called Negus Diamond.

UB40’s Cover Version + Music Video

Neil Diamond Original Version

Back in the summer of 2000, it was basically impossible to turn on the radio and not hear Who Let the Dogs Out. The track, originally called Doggie, was written in 1998 by Anslem Douglas and later reworked by the Baha Men.

Not going to lie this one also f*cked me up. I’m pretty sure the world thinks this is an original song but, it’s not! I applaud you if you knew this wasn’t an original. Once again, I think the cover is substantially better but that’s because it was made to be an anthem.

There’s been a lot of dialogue about what the song actually means, however, Douglas explained that the “party” referenced in the song was metaphorical — it was a commentary about how when men acted poorly, women would fire back with: Who let the dogs out? It wasn’t about actual dogs or men criticizing women. It was about calling out bad behavior. A man-bashing anthem disguised as a stadium chant.

If anyone is interested to hear the full backstory on the song, VICE did a mini documentary on it which you can watch here. It goes WAY deeper than you think, it’s a really good watch if you can spare 30 minutes.

Baha Men Cover Version

Anslem Douglas Original - “Doggie”

The final cover for the day is Hound Dog, a song most people associate with Elvis Presley but, one that was originally brought to life by Big Mama Thornton back in 1952. Her version is gritty, raw, and full of emotion. She really sings every word from deep within her soul. You can hear the attitude in her voice, the way she practically growls the lyrics. Just a few years later Elvis re-records it and essentially strips it of it’s roots. It became a hit, but it lost most of that original edge embodied by Big Mama. Although Elvis’s version is what a majority of the population is familiar with, the original is far superior in my eyes.

Elvis Presley Cover Version (Ed Sullivan Show Performance)

Big Mama Thornton Original Version

In the spirit of covers, this video went crazy viral in 2016. It was filmed in a coffee shop in Honolulu. This kid starts singing Matisyahu’s One Day — totally unaware that Matisyahu is standing right there! The reveal at the end is so good. You can see it takes him a second to register, not sure if it’s really him until Matisyahu asks if he wants to be guest listed at his show later that night. Such a beautiful and spontaneous moment that music has the ability to create between any human in the world.

This photo is from 1968 when The Beatles traveled to Rishikesh, India to study Transcendental Meditation (TM) with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, seeking spiritual growth and a much needed break from ‘Beatlemania’. TM is a simple, silent mantra-based technique that helps reduce stress and enhance clarity by settling the mind into a deeply restful state. I chose this photo because I practice TM myself which has brought profound peace and perspective into my life. I would suggest anyone looking to get into meditation to start with TM.

That’s it for today folks, see you on Tuesday!