The recent occasion of John Lennon's 70th birthday put me in a mood to wonder about what different covers/versions/mash-ups had been done of the famous anti-anthem, "Imagine".
I actually found two which were (mostly) in Arabic:
Noa & Khaled (Marrakech)
and also
GAROU / Patrick FIORI / Luck MERVIL / Julie ZENATTI / Rachid TAHA / KHALED / FAUDEL / Liane FOLY / Tina ARENA / Julien CLERC / Cheb MAMI
One of the more technically interesting is:
where the lyrics, instead of being sung by John Lennon, were taken from samples of George Bush speeches.
This version by A Perfect Circle, is darker than most, both musically and visually. The historical images definitely underline the wide distance between Lennon's ideals and contemporary reality.
This one is of Bill Clinton "singing" along with a choir of Arab and Jewish children.
And of course there are at least two hip-hop versions:
Nas + Pitbull (remix)
2Pac vs. John Lennon - DJ Vlad Rock Phenomenon Remix
In both of the above, the songs start off being nearly-identical to the original and the rap doesn't come in until fairly late in each song.
You might also be interested in:
Digg: Best and Worst Imagine Covers which includes versions by Diana Ross, Avril Lavigne, David Bowie and Queen along with a Gregorian chant version, a Latin version, an electronica version, and another Nas remix.
I actually found two which were (mostly) in Arabic:
Noa & Khaled (Marrakech)
and also
GAROU / Patrick FIORI / Luck MERVIL / Julie ZENATTI / Rachid TAHA / KHALED / FAUDEL / Liane FOLY / Tina ARENA / Julien CLERC / Cheb MAMI
One of the more technically interesting is:
where the lyrics, instead of being sung by John Lennon, were taken from samples of George Bush speeches.
This version by A Perfect Circle, is darker than most, both musically and visually. The historical images definitely underline the wide distance between Lennon's ideals and contemporary reality.
This one is of Bill Clinton "singing" along with a choir of Arab and Jewish children.
And of course there are at least two hip-hop versions:
Nas + Pitbull (remix)
2Pac vs. John Lennon - DJ Vlad Rock Phenomenon Remix
In both of the above, the songs start off being nearly-identical to the original and the rap doesn't come in until fairly late in each song.
You might also be interested in:
Digg: Best and Worst Imagine Covers which includes versions by Diana Ross, Avril Lavigne, David Bowie and Queen along with a Gregorian chant version, a Latin version, an electronica version, and another Nas remix.
