[This is the second part of a short series I'm doing about cover songs. The introduction and the first song are here.

Both versions of the song in this blog are at the bottom of this post.

Remember, these are in no particular order and I hope you'll stick with me because I'll tie them together at the end.]

First of all we have Oasis, a British band known probably as equally as much for the quotability of their feuding brothers as their music. For example, they claimed to be bigger than the Beatles. Secondly, they said things like this in interviews:

"Q: Do you have any recurring dreams?
Noel: Yeah. Just the one.
Liam: I take over the band..."

Or..

Interviewer: I have with me one of the stars of oasis...
Noel: What do you mean one of the stars?

More recently, after becoming irked that Jack White of the White Stripes wrote and performed a song for a Coca Cola commercial he described White as looking like "Zorro on doughnuts".

Yikes.

Showmanship aside, their record (What's the Story) Morning Glory? ended up being one of the top records of the 90's, due mostly to a song called "Wonderwall".
"Wonderwall" is a bouncy, head-nodding song that falls comfortably in the drizzly, monochromatic weather of Oasis' hometown of Manchester, and a summer night in Southern California. It's driven almost exclusively by heavy acoustic guitar strumming and a rolling snare beat. Their rhythm is accented by the perfect mesh of cadence and melody in the lyrics. If you sing along to it, you can almost imagine the song as though it were on TV and a little ball was bouncing along over the words.

It's the little touches though, that make this song even more catchy. Beneath most of the song is a sturdy cello line adding a beefy contrast to the guitars, and in the pre-chorus is a great little guitar riff that bridges the more lively verses and the sweeping chorus.
It had all the makings of a hit song, including a few memorable lines that people could sing when they came around again in the song like a merry-go-round.

"I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now
And all the roads we have to walk are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would like to say to you
But I don't know how
Because maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall"

My friend Grant loves Oasis; which - combined with his love for Journey - is probably why he'll go on to sell a gazillion records. Coincidentally, Grant is also the person who got me to love Ryan Adams' music. One Christmas Grant handed me Heartbreaker and I've been hooked ever since.

Ryan Adams is an alt-country artist who happens to share a few qualities with Oasis. Both are almost equally known for their offstage antics as for their music, and both are critically accepted and praised more on the basis of one album (Whats the Story and Heartbreaker) than for the strength and consistency of their entire repertoire.

The next cover song I want to feature is Ryan Adams' cover of Oasis' "Wonderwall". Where Oasis' version is driven, layered with melodies, and almost begging for a group sing-along, Adams' version takes it to the other end of the spectrum.

The guitar is plucked instead of strummed. The busy drums are gone completely. The cello line and guitar riffs have been stripped away as well. In their place are a ton of reverb and background feedback. In fact, Adams' version relies almost entirely on the strength of the vocal melody. The final result is a more withdrawn, haunting version of the song that, instead of emphasizing the winding roads and blinding lights, resonates with the ache of someone who really needs to be saved.

Here is the Ryan Adams' version.

And here is the original version:

What do you think about these two versions of "Wonderwall"?

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