Song By Song Guide 9: Cover Songs
- Joy Frost
- May 28, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 4, 2024
This guide is all about a selection of favorite covers I have shared so far.
TL;DR: Cover Songs
And a few more songs with friends
Exile feat. Kevin Neary
Shallow feat. Jacob Koopman
This Maren Morris Game of Thrones season 8 soundtrack cover got playlisted by Spotify back in 2019. They added it to a German playlist, Zu Hause, which means At Home. It is still in the playlist all these years later. So far that single editorial playlist spot has brought me nearly 5 million streams. That playlist has seriously been like a musical winning lottery ticket. When this cover song hit 1 million streams, my first recording to ever do that, I celebrated by buying 1 square foot of land in Scotland from one of those cute 'Lord & Lady' reforestation organizations. Now I have my very own Kingdom of One...Square Foot... Thank you Maren Morris, Game of Thrones, and Spotify for Artists Germany! I know most people hate GoT season 8, but it changed my life so I love it. I am so thankful.
This Coldplay cover unlocked an offer for my very first record deal. Spotify playlisted me again with this, which led to me being discovered by a small UK label, frtyfve records, who signed me for a 6 single contract. Even though I chose not to renew with them for more songs after that, it was such an incredible learning opportunity which really helped me become smarter, braver, and most importantly, tougher. I knew signing for only 6 songs was low enough risk to be a safe playground for me to learn a lot, which I did. I originally recorded this for a Cover Nation contest when I heard Coldplay's manager Phil Harvey would be among the judges. I recreated the original music video from 25 years ago shot for shot, and mashed it up with Coldplay's newer song, Daddy. Even though I only got selected for the Best Of and didn't win first place, I ultimately won so many other things because of this cover.
On my 32nd birthday I released my first ever live album. I recorded it in October 2023 at an empty bar at the Cork Jazz Festival. It's all sad jazz ballads, just voice and piano, my favorite kind of songs in the world. To be honest it hurt a little to release this because of how heavy my heart was that night. Absolutely everything that could have gone wrong that night did. I was holding back tears on stage the whole time - But despite a heavy heart, or perhaps because of it, I sang these songs better and more honestly than I ever sang them before. That’s why I decided to share it. If you are a time traveler, it's not too late to go to the show by streaming here or getting the deluxe version with a digital handwritten booklet off my site here.
Exile & Shallow
Some covers with friends back from my busker era 2017-2020. Kevin Neary and I did Exile by Taylor Swift and Bon Iver. I edited it to make it look like we were in the same room even though we were on opposite coasts. And Jacob Koopman and I sang a cover of Shallow from Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. Jacob was the very first person I ever met on Grafton street. He taught me a lot about busking. The sidewalk stage holds a lot of sad memories for me when I was there alone, but singing together with my friends was always wonderful.
As The World Falls Down
I love Labyrinth and I love David Bowie. He was my first love, because he was so dark and sparkly. One day I will pay homage to the ballroom scene if I ever get to make the book I'm writing into a movie. This is a live ukulele cover, enjoy.
There are a few more covers here and there still on my Youtube channel too. Thanks for reading about my music! We are almost to the end of this chapter before I turn to The Roaring 2020's. Just one left.
xoxo
JF
