Autumnal covers #5

Horses are such magnificent beasts, are they not? Majestic and graceful, and if you back the right one potentially lucrative! No surprise then that they provide such inspiration to songwriters. Two jaw-droppingly good horsey songs are offered today.

There's a lot of love for the Sundays in these parts as regular readers will know. They once did a gorgeous version of the Rolling Stones' Wild Horses, probably one of Mick 'n' Keef's finest moments, I reckon. When sung by Harriet Wheeler, its beauty is magnified a thousand-fold. Lovely.

Diane Birch is a singer-songwriter from Michigan. Although steeped in gospel, soul and R&B, and despite being brought-up in a deeply religious household, she was a goth in her teens. In 2010, she teamed up with NYC's Phenomenal Handclap Band to record a 7-track EP called 'The Velveteen Age' featuring songs she listened to at that time. The pièce de résistance is her version of the Sisters Of Mercy's enormous goth anthem This Corrosion, but that's got nothing to do with horses. Instead, I'm posting another track from said EP, her take on Echo And The Bunnymen's sublime Bring On The Dancing Horses. She really doesn't do a bad job at it.

I canter think of a-neigh-thing else to write about horses. Off I trot.


Soundtrack:

• Wild Horses - The Sundays (b-side of Goodbye)
• Bring On The Dancing Horses - Diane Birch & the Phenomenal Handclap Band (from 'The Velveteen Age')

This post is dedicated to George, whose animal-related posts over at Jim McLean's Rabbit are sorely missed.