Dave Sills
Science, Songs & Scenes
COVER ME - Album track listing and notes
With COVER ME, I set out to record an album of covers that I've played for many years - mostly for friends and/or family around the campfire or at parties. And these days, the easiest way to record and distribute cover songs is by video. So my concept of a 'video album' was born. I set up a humble stage in my basement jam space, did some experimenting with lighting and microphones, and cut a dozen of my all-time favourites. When it came to the album artwork, I thought it made total sense to use the cover art from the related album for each song. The image for my name is taken from the cover of my own album 'Fifty', and the 'Cover Me' is taken from the Bruce Springsteen single artwork for the same name. Works for me! So here is the track listing for the video album, and my notes for each track.
1. Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash)
​
Lead song off the my 2024 album 'Cover Me'! This is a song I've known and grown up with for more than 50 years. And a song that I've played for about 35 of them, developing my own take on it over time. This has always been a real crowd-pleaser so I thought there was no better way to kick off the album.
​
2. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away (The Beatles)
Track 2 off COVER ME. Another song that I probably heard for the first time while still in the womb. I started playing it in my 20s, deciding to add harmonica at the end (way before Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam thought it would be cool). It's one of my standards around the campfire. The harmonica is being help up by a well-used 'neck rack' that was my grandfather Stubbington's.
​
3. Legal Age Life At Variety Store (Rheostatics)
​
The third song from my new COVER ME album - always fun to play but the lyrics resonate with me as well. I'm not sure what Dave Bidini was getting at when he wrote them but for me it alludes to the frustration and sadness with the injustices of this world, and finding the strength to speak out about it (something I've done a lot of over the years). I do change one word to reinforce my interpretation - Rheos fans might notice I add 'hope' to the second line of the first verse. Anyhow, great song by a great indie-art-folk-rock band from my native land. If you haven't heard the album from whence this song came - Whale Music - you're missing out. Truly a Canuck classic.
​
4. Hasn't Hit Me Yet (Blue Rodeo)
​
The 4th song from my new album COVER ME is one of my all-time faves, from a band that is a staple in Canada but somehow could never break out beyond our borders. Nevertheless, Blue Rodeo's songwriting team of Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor is golden, and in my estimation not far behind Lennon and McCartney (and I'm a huge Beatles fan). I can't count how many times I've played this around a campfire or a family gathering. It's even better when my younger brother Ken plays along and sings harmonies. But this time on this stage, it's just me.
​
5. The One I Love (REM)
​
The lyrical meaning of this REM classic, the 5th track from COVER ME, has long been debated. Michael Stipe has said only enough about it to further fuel the debate. To me, this is a song about longing and obsession (fire!). The current relationships are the 'props' - it's someone else from the past that is really 'the one I love'. And the extra lyrics I use here in the third verse (from the song's background vocal line but rarely recognized as such) drive home the point - she will return to me, eventually. Hope you enjoy my interpretation - lyrically and musically!
6. Runnin' Down A Dream (Tom Petty)
The last track on Side A of COVER ME, for your viewing and listening pleasure! I've loved this song since the first time I heard it. It's a great driving song, and the outro solo is one of the best of all time (IMHO). But I always wondered what it would sound like if Jeff Lynne hadn't been the producer, and the song was a bit more loose and bluesy - with some swing - like a lot of Tom Petty's older material. So I gave it a shot, and I liked the results so much that this song has been a staple for me. Lots of fun to play.
7. Cover Me (Bruce Springsteen)
​
The lead-off track from Side B of my album COVER ME is where the album gets its title - my take on The Boss' Cover Me. I hadn't really played this song before but gave it a try after I came up with the album name. And wouldn't you know it, Bruce's lyrics are just as relevant today as they were in the 80's - maybe even more so. I worked out an acoustic arrangement and it all fell into place.
8. What The Hell I Got (Michel Pagliaro)
​
The second track of COVER ME's Side B is a Pag cover, What The Hell I Got. Michel Pagliaro, from Montreal, had a string of English and French hits in the early 70s, including this song. I've always loved the song but when I sat down to record it, the lyrics weren't doing it for me. Maybe some lines didn't translate well into English (e.g. "from my liver to my very soul")? I decided to make the song my own by coming up with some new lyrics - I'd use the first line of a verse from Pag's original to inspire lines of my own, sometimes keeping other bits of the verse I liked. And I changed the chorus lyrics to what I had actually been singing for years (and didn't realize they weren't right). That was fun, and I'd like to think the mighty Pag himself would like the results.
​
9. Stinging Velvet (Neko Case)
​
Neko Case is one of my all-time favourite artists. She's carved out a music career by being fearlessly original, surrounding herself with very talented people, and honing that incredible voice. Not to mention that her songwriting is top notch as well. Stinging Velvet brings back good memories for me - the kids used to ask me to play the 'corn and sugar' song. Still makes me laugh. I hope I did her song justice here.
​
10. Green Green Grass Of Home (Tom Jones / Curly Putman)
This country classic, written by Curly Putman and remade as a worldwide #1 hit by Tom Jones in the late 60's, is a simple pleasure of mine - though in reality it's a pretty sad song. In the original version the singer, likely having murdered some poor soul, heads off to the gallows after dreaming about seeing the green green grass, his family, and of course his sweetheart with hair of gold and lips like cherries, back home. I put a twist on that - instead, the singer can't go on without his Mary - implying another kind of tragic end. It's still sad, but a little less 'wild west', shall we say. Also added a mournful harmonica solo. I do hope you appreciate my take on the song.
​
11. Ahead by a Century (The Tragically Hip)
​
This Canadian classic is the next-to-final track on Side B of my COVER ME album. I'm not sure which Hip song I've played more around the campfire - this song or 'Boots or Hearts'. But both have been in my covers arsenal for 20 years or more - they've become like old friends. I particular like singing this one with my brother when I get the chance - with one of us picking up the harmonies. But went for a drop-D solo version here.
​
12. Brian Wilson (Barenaked Ladies)
​
The album closer. The grand finale. It's the Barenaked Ladies' epic classic Brian Wilson. I love this song not only because is it finely crafted but because it is also self aware - it's a song written about writing songs, about being obsessed with songs, and about the mad genius of one of the world's great songwriters. Only a true music nerd could write this song - so thank you, Steven Page. Hope you enjoy my rendition!