Welcome to My Weekly Mixtape, a podcast that
takes the classic mixtape approach to building
a modern playlist. I'm your host, Brian Colburn.
I'm flying solo once again, bringing you another
bonus episode of Under the Cover, with this episode's
focus timing in with the conclusion of Taylor
Swift's massive Errors Tour. And while I'm personally
not the biggest Swifty on the planet, I've always
respected her as an artist and... actually have
enjoyed many of her country offerings prior to
my two daughters latching onto her pop music
and becoming huge fans of hers, which at the
end of the day made me a bigger fan of her music
because I went from just enjoying her songs at
a personal level to now having an even bigger
love and admiration for her songs. Coming from
the place of a parent, seeing their kids fall
in love with an artist, and the joy that they
exude when they sing along with those songs.
And yes, there were many, many, many listens.
So the song that I chose to dive into tonight
is a Taylor Swift song that I've personally become
a fan of, one because of my girls, and even more
so because I'm actually a fan of the song. And
I've become a bigger fan of the covers that I'm
going to share with you this evening. And I'm
not going to say that the covers are better than
the original or not. But in this instance, I
will say that there are a few that make an extremely
compelling argument for a neck and neck fistfight
over which one reigns supreme. Though I'll respect
the hardcore Swifties that are listening to this
that are probably appalled at that mere suggestion.
However, I hope anybody listening will give all
of these versions a listen to see maybe where
I'm coming from, because at the end of the day,
a well -written song is a well -written song,
and it can be interpreted and reinterpreted in
many different ways and still hit the mark. And
Cruel Summer from Taylor's 2019 album Lover is
definitely one of those songs. This track was
written by Swift along with Jack Antonoff and
St. Vincent and features a mix of synth pop and
electropop with the slightest hint of 80s pop,
which might be one of the reasons I was drawn
to the original anyway. There's no denying the
catchiness of this track, and I would say that
upon the dozens of times I've heard pretty much
all of Taylor's albums, This was the one song
that I always looked forward to listening to
all the way through when it came on. So as I
did with my episode focusing on seven covers
of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Refugee, instead
of creating a mixtape, I'm going to use this
episode to dive into and hopefully introduce
you to some cover songs you may or may not already
be familiar with. If you visit the episode page
at myweeklymixtape .com, I'm also going to post
the videos for each of these songs I'm talking
about tonight, because in a lot of instances,
these songs just aren't available on streaming,
or they're from deluxe editions, live performances,
or just the label nonsense keeping them off the
streaming platforms. However, some of these versions
are actually available to purchase digitally
on sites like Qobuz, which is Q O B U Z .com.
If you want to own a copy, CoBuzz also has a
high resolution streaming package. If you're
looking for an alternative to Spotify or Apple
music, I basically use them all the time when
buying a CD is not available. Cause you know
me, I love buying my CDs and Not all artists
are releasing music via CDs nowadays, so I have
to turn to the digital versions, and Qobuz offers
a way to get them in either CD quality or high
-resolution audio, which I don't personally use,
but for those of you that are audiophiles, right
up your alley. Now, before we get into the covers,
if you like what you're hearing on my weekly
mixtape between episodes like this or the regular
mixtape curation episodes, or my interviews,
you can help me out by either telling a friend
about the show, leaving the show a five -star
review wherever you're tuning in, or becoming
a Patreon mixtaper at patreon .com forward slash
myweeklymixtape. There you can enjoy ad -free
episodes of the show, gain early access to upcoming
episodes, hear bonus episodes like this one,
chime in on future topics, become a guest curator.
and so much more. Once again, that's patreon
.com forward slash My Weekly Mixtape. All right,
let's get into Cruel Summer, version one. First
off, we're going to go heavy here. I wanted to
start with a version of Cruel Summer that's pretty
far removed from the original, so that way we
rip the band -aid off for any of the Swifties
listening. This is a pretty friggin' heavy, gender
-flipped version of Cruel Summer from the band
Versus Me. Now, it keeps the pacing of the original,
but the electropop sound is completely stripped
away, and instead it's replaced with this chunky,
chugging guitar riff and a cross between a new
metal and hard rock slash metal delivery. The
verses almost bring like an emo punk vocal style
to the song. And the chorus might be familiar
to some fans of the original because it's really
a heavy rock version where the melody is still
pretty much present and recognizable. However,
the bridge of the song, I'm drunk in the back
of the car and I cried like a baby coming home
from the bar. Instead of being sung in this version,
it's spoken in a deep, breathy voice to build
to a. crunchy, heavy breakdown that leads to
the second half of the bridge, the, and I snuck
through the garden gate, that entire segment
is screamo over a massive riff. However, they
do bring back the clean vocals for the final
chorus, but at the close of the song, you're
getting a Lamb of God -esque with you growl to
close out the track. So for the heavy rock fans
that listen to this show, this is definitely
your version. Following that up, I'm not going
to go too far removed from Versus Me. I'm going
to stay in a similar vein musically, but we're
going to dial back the heft a little bit. And
we're also going to bring the gender flip back
at least to the halfway point as this song starts
off similar to Versus Me because at its core,
it is a heavier version than the original. But
the first verse is female fronted and it keeps
the groove of the original all the way through
the first chorus. The second verse gender flips
the song again, but takes the second verse to
a double time pacing with male vocals. This adds
this hard rock meets punk spirit, but it's not
quite pop punk per se. I'd say we got like this
emo vibe punk thing going on. Be warned, the
second half of this verse does introduce more
screamo elements, which... Personally, I dug
in this version, but I can assume that the purists
of the original might be turned off by this.
But as far as I'm concerned, I'm all in on this
one. The bridge isn't as transformed as Versus
Me and feels a lot more familiar to the original
track. But the last chorus does bring us back
to that double time feel. And while on paper,
all these time changes might seem jarring. The
band handles it with perfect precision and the
time changes feel extremely natural. So I highly
recommend this version if you're into the heavier
emo punk sound, because I think they nail it
here. For version three, we're going to put the
emo to the side and go all in on the pop punk.
So the animal in me does have some punk vibes,
but. Punk Rock Factory dives all in on the pop
punk vibes, and that's why they're TikTok superstars.
Once again, a gender -flipped cover. If you're
a fan of Me First and the Gimme Gimmes like I
am, you're going to be right at home with Punk
Rock Factory, and this version sounds exactly
like what you'd expect. If you want to know what
Blink -182, Sum 41, or The Offspring sounds like
covering Taylor Swift's Cruel Summer, That's
what you're getting here. It's fast. It's accessible.
It's bouncy. But these guys really nail the pop
punk sound while giving fans of the original
what they love from Taylor's version. It only
runs two minutes and 39 seconds, so it never
overstays its welcome. And if anything, it actually
leaves you wanting more. So I guess what more
can you ask for from a punk cover? Now, version
four, here's where it starts to get fun. I discovered
this one going down a musical rabbit hole on
YouTube. This cover is by a guy called Music
by Blanks. And I'm guessing some of you have
heard of him because at the time of this recording,
he has over 1 .2 million followers on YouTube.
So I'm not just going to sit here and act like
this is just some newcomer to the game. He obviously
knows what he's doing and he does it right. This
version is a, quote, what if Cruel Summer was
an 80s hit, end quote. And good Lord, he nails
it. Both in the song and the accompanying video.
Synth drum sounds. Keyboards heavy up in front
in the mix. You got the hand claps. Heavy reverb
pretty much everywhere. An electric guitar solo.
This is Taylor Swift's. 80s yacht rock version
and i know this might not be the best comparison
given the past history between the two but if
you're familiar with john mayer's sob rock album
this is what cruel summer would sound like if
it was on that album I might have just turned
this version off for some Taylor Swift fans,
but for John Mayer fans, I might have just raised
an eyebrow. I'm really trying to toe the line
here because I know how passionate Swifties are
about the song, and I know how passionate people
that aren't Taylor Swift fans are about not being
a fan. So I'm trying to give a little bit of
something for everybody here. But here's the
thing. The title might sound like this is an
ironic joke that he's doing, but the production
on the song is dead serious. It's crystal clear.
And because of the original song strength, this
version is flawless. The video is shot in four,
three, not 16 by nine. So it gives you that real
eighties television feel. He goes all in on the
dress and the look of the video, the cuts, the
closeups. Anyone who grew up watching MTV in
the 80s is going to appreciate what he's doing
here. He's not mocking the decade. Because if
he tried to do that, he failed in that regard.
Because it comes across with nothing but admiration
and love. In no way does this feel like a parody
or mockery of anything. But with all that said,
the coup de grace happens at 2 minutes and 49
seconds into the song. Because he throws in the
80s classic key change. Freaking brilliant. Version
5 is from Teddy Swims. Fans of Taylor Swift might
actually be familiar with Teddy Swims because
he's making a name for himself on the pop charts
with hits like Lose Control, The Door, and so
much more that's been coming out over the last
year. His version of Cruel Summer comes courtesy
of BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge Sessions. Man, he
knocks this one out of the park. stripped down
to a piano in his voice for the entire first
verse. It's slow, melodic, emotionally charged,
and it invites you to really listen and focus
on the lyrics, which is something that hasn't
necessarily happened in the versions leading
up to this. At 40 seconds when the first chorus
kicks in, the drums and band start building this
whole song together. But the song keeps that
emotional vibe throughout the second verse and
beyond. And this drummer's groove, who's ever
playing with him on this track, is just locked
in. Honestly, you could play Teddy Swim's version
back to back with Taylor's original, and it almost
feels like you're listening to two different
songs. Taylor's is breezy and, well, summery,
and this version is just gut -wrenching and powerful.
It tugs on the heartstrings, but dare I say in
a good way, the bridge, they actually build up
and it... slams with heft the drummer builds
it to a frenzy but he never overplays the song
he keeps the focus on the vocals and the storytelling
of the vocals in the song there are some hints
of an 80s power ballad that seep in momentarily
but they disappear pretty quickly because it
gets stripped right back down to a piano and
vocal chorus before closing out with the full
band honestly Teddy swim's version could be a
radio hit in and of itself, and it could fit
on any of his albums. I'm actually shocked. He
hasn't recorded a studio version of it because
this one is that frigging good. And the final
version of Cruel Summer I want to share is thanks
to fellow Pantheon Network mate Leah Jones, host
of the Struts Life podcast, who introduced me
to this insanely unique cover, which was recorded
live on Triple J's Like A Version. And that is
G Flip. This is actually my introduction to her
music. And good God, is she talented. Her version
of the song feels, I'd say, closest to the original,
albeit a little heavier, with guitars and a string
section that really make up the synth elements,
although those elements are incorporated tastefully
here as well. I'm picturing like a Paramore vibe
for this song, but both eras, the punk side fused
with the poppier side, along with a love and
admiration for the original, the pacing, the
delivery, it's all there. The string section
really adds a level of heft to the song and makes
this version feel absolutely massive. Now the
part of this version that stole the show for
me, for the first two thirds of the song, G Flip
is just standing with a mic and singing the song
and kind of letting the band back her. But at
the line, I love you ain't the worst thing that
you ever heard, while she's singing it, she puts
her microphone down, sits down on a second drum
set, and uses the drum mic to sing for the remainder
of the track while slaying. drums as she's playing.
The first drummer switches to percussion at this
point, and now she's singing full throttle 100%,
but she's also playing the song and including
massive fills at the same time, and both are
done to perfection. She's not just singing gang
vocals, she's singing the melody with authority
and playing the drum fills. Simultaneously, it's
absolutely unreal, and it's not even the best
part. By the time they repeat the bridge, she
switches up the drumbeat to this Ridiculous groove
that fuses punk, funk and rock all in one while
continuing that pitch perfect vocal performance.
The band then rocks out while she nails a bunch
of vocal runs. The string section keeps building
and building and it brings the song to this crazy
climax only to crescendo into a quiet close with
just her voice and the string section. It's an
absolute goosebumps moment. this version made
me a G Flip fan by far moving forward. Now, I've
just talked about six different cover versions
of Taylor Swift's Cruel Summer, and you could
check out all of them over on the episode page
at myweeklymixtape .com, where they're all embedded
for you to listen to and watch in the case of
some of these live performances. You definitely
need to watch pretty much most of these, although
The Animal in Me is just an audiogram version
of the song. But just as a reminder, the six
renditions once again are from Versus Me, The
Animal in Me, Punk Rock Factory, Music by Blanks,
Teddy Swims, and G Flip. If you like what you've
heard from any of these artists, please go to
their pages, follow them. Like their videos,
connect with them on social media, and support
the other songs they're releasing. Follow them
on Spotify or wherever. Go to Qobuz and buy their
songs because as far as I'm concerned, there's
a ton of great music to dive into from all six
of these bands and artists. Finally, I threw
a poll up on the episode page because I would
love to know what your favorite rendition of
the song is. outside of Taylor's original, of
course. So make sure to head over to the episode
page and vote for your favorite cover or message
me at myweeklymixtape at gmail .com and let me
know which version of Cruel Summer was your favorite
and why. Then remember, you can find My Weekly
Mixtape on almost all the social media haunts
at myweeklymixtape. You can also head to myweeklymixtape
.com to check out the full catalog of my weekly
mixtape episodes. And finally, if you like what
you're hearing on the show, you can help me out
by either telling a friend, leaving the show
a five -star review wherever you're tuning in,
or becoming a Patreon mixtaper at patreon .com
forward slash. My Weekly Mixtape. There you can
enjoy ad -free episodes of the show, gain early
access to upcoming episodes, hear bonus episodes
like this one, chime in on future topics, become
a guest curator, and so much more. Once again,
patreon .com forward slash My Weekly Mixtape.
That's all for this week. Thanks again for listening.
And until next time, enjoy the tunes.