We live in an era where people such as Justin Bieber, SoMo and Greyson Chance have become famous in no small part due to their Youtube covers.

Cover songs have been around for decades and sometimes the remake trumps the original track. This is where this blog comes in. It is here that we will stack these covers against their predecessors to determine which rendition of the song is truly better.

These covers will be judged according to the following: how well or badly the cover deviates from the original song, replay value and the cover’s ability to connect with the listener.

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Today, we have a hip-hop group’s original one-hit wonder against a British synth-pop band’s cover 12 years later. The trio City High’s song “What Would You Do,” was a song focused on struggle and understanding what lengths a person will go to provide for their family. Does the Bastille cover hold the same message or catchy chorus? That’s what we’re here to decide.
Original:

Cover:

Round 1: Deviation? Good or Bad?
To this day whenever I hear the lyrics “boys and girls wanna hear a true story,” my mind is instantly taken back to 2001 when City High first appeared on radio airwaves. The single was featured on the soundtrack of “Life,” a movie starring Martin Lawrence in 1999 but we failed to realize the meaning of the song as our parents tried to prepare for the turn of the millennium.
Anyway, City High’s version of the song was a very stock, 2000s hip-hop beat, but its lyrical context was so relevant for a culture where struggle would become a daily dilemma for most of America. It challenged the negative view that most people had against women who stripped for a living or anyone else who had a job that was viewed as degrading. “What Would You Do,” became a song that sparked conversations of understanding over judgement, something that we millennials pride ourselves on.
Bastille’s cover of this song is something I stumbled across thanks to the almighty Spotify. Without looking at my computer screen, I heard the first line of the song and knew two things: the song was a cover of “What Would You Do,” and it had to be Bastille. I say that to point out that this song, Bastille and other bands with a noticeable sound all have a factor of distinction that we all look for.
Of course, the Bastille version features prominent piano and the typical Bastille harmonization. Bastille songs are catchy and dark, that is the base of every song they make. Seriously, listen to the “Bad Blood” album and tell me otherwise. The cover version of the song feels slightly slower, which is good for the lyrical context of the song. However, within the chorus of Bastille’s remake lies a lyrical error. The band flip-flops two of the lines creating a slight vinyl record-like skip in the heads of people who actually know the lyrics. Also, because of the flip, half of the chorus fails to flow as well.
I’m all for making a song sound like your own, but Bastille’s flub sounds like a basic error.
Point to the original song. Score: 1-0
Round 2: Replay Value
Both versions of this song are catchy enough to be caught singing at a red light. It all depends on what the preference of the listener is in this category. Somedays I’m on a hip-hop kick and other days I find myself preferring the synth-pop rendition. I’ll have to leave this one up to the individual because I can play both songs back-to-back on repeat and still like them both equally.
Tie. Point to both. Score: 2-1
Round 3: Ability to connect with the listener
Remember, round three will always be the most subjective. I grew up with the City High version of this song. Something about it takes me back to my childhood while also reminding me to keep an open mind in everything that I do.
Bastille’s cover of the song is catchy but it doesn’t bring the nostalgia to me that the original does. As much as they are currently one of my favorite bands, Bastille can’t stack up to the bond that I have with the one-hit wonder trio from New Jersey.
Point to the original song. Final Score: 3-1. Winner: City High’s “What Would You Do?”
Agree? Disagree? Tell me below and suggest some other covers to listen to. Send me a tweet @Joshua_Jackson_. I’ll be back next Monday with another original pitted against its cover.