Cover Song - Umbrella

Cover songs are very popular in our culture today, with hundreds of thousands posted on Youtube by fans and fellow musicians alike. A lot of my favorite cover songs are when someone takes a pop song and throws a little rock into it, giving it a little more meaning and feeling to it. When Rihanna release "Umbrella" back in 2007, it was a very popular song, but i didn't like it that much. Then when Train released Save Me San Francisco in 2009, they included a cover of "Umbrella" and it was one of my favorite songs on the album. And while it is a cover of the song, it is changed in the way of lyrics and musical quality.
In Rhianna's version of the song, she features Jay-Z, who has lyrical parts in the song at the beginning of the song, lasting about 30 seconds into the song before Rhianna starts to sing. In the Train version of the song, they ditch Jay-Z's part and use some introductory instrumentals. Other than Jay-Z's part, the lyric's are almost identical, a true cover in the lyrical sense. All of the choruses are the same, verses lined up just the same also. One thing that Train does different is extended the end of the song longer than Rhianna did, using the same ending lyrics, but repeating them a few more times.
Where this song truly differentiates itself from the original though, is the change in musical quality. Rhianna's version uses drums, synthesizers and a barely noticeable piano as its established beat. Typical instruments for a pop song, and while Trains version stays with same melody, their cover has a totally different harmony. They use the same drums, but make them more apparent. The pitch of the piano is also higher than Rhianna's making it more distinct, especially during the chorus. As the song escalates, Train puts in an acoustic guitar, and adds some background vocals. The organization of the song is different from the original instrumentally; instead of sticking with the same instruments they build up more and more, tone it down to only a guitar during the bridge before the last chorus, then bring them all back at the end. The rhythm of both the songs is regular, though Trains is slightly varied than Rhianna's, making it irregular in some areas. The overall musical quality of Train's version gives it a more upbeat and happy feeling than Rhianna's, creating a totally different feeling while sticking to the same rhythm and lyrical quality of the original.
As i stated in my opening paragraph, i like the Train version alot more, because it has a more up beat feeling. And with the different uses of instruments it gives the impression that Trains version has more heart than Rhianna's. It is one of my favorite covers, and shows that even terrible pop songs can be made into something entertaining and heartfelt.