Glen Campbell’s 5 Best Alternative Rock Covers

Glen Campbell, one of country music’s most beloved singers and guitarists, was also a fan of alternative rock music.

In 2008, he released Meet Glen Campbell, a collection of cover songs by Foo Fighters, Travis, U2, Green Day, and The Replacements. According to Campbell, this collection of songs “struck a personal and musical chord.”

Here, the country legend gets his punk rock on and the list below highlights the five best moments on Meet Glen Campbell.

“Sing” by Travis

The Scottish band Travis achieved mainstream success with their 1999 album The Man Who. It appeared early in the post-Britpop days as fellow one-name bands like Coldplay emerged following culture-shifting albums by Oasis and Blur. Though Coldplay has enjoyed a long run of extraordinary commercial success, Travis’ songs are quietly more compelling.

Paul McCartney once called Fran Healy one of his favorite songwriters. Working with Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, Travis released stellar back-to-back albums: The Man Who (1999) and The Invisible Band (2001). The latter features “Sing,” which sounds like The Bends-era Radiohead if Jonny Greenwood had played banjo. Another reference point for Healy’s writing is the Raleigh, North Carolina band The Connells. Remember them? They wrote the gorgeous “74-75.” Campbell’s rendition of “Sing” turns Healy’s post-Britpop ballad into an Americana standard.

Baby, you’ve been going so crazy
Lately, nothing seems to be going right
So low, why’d you have to get so low?
You’re so
You’ve been waiting in the sun too long

“Times Like These” by Foo Fighters

Dave Grohl survived the tragic end of Nirvana and emerged with a stadium band that became an institution. “Times Like These” appeared on Foo Fighters’ fourth album One by One and it’s a defining song for Grohl. Campbell’s version skips the Billy Duffy tribute guitar riff and replaces it with Bennett Salvay’s thick string arrangement.

The guitar solo uses the verse vocal melody, played over space-cowboy strings, sounding lonesome, and it sets up the final chorus with Campbell singing desperately for hope, a light, something, anything, to persist through despair.

I, I’m a new day rising
I’m a brand-new sky to hang the stars upon tonight
I, I’m a little divided
Do I stay or run away and leave it all behind?

“Sadly Beautiful” by The Replacements

All Shook Down is the final studio album by The Replacements, but it began as Paul Westerberg’s solo debut. The album features Tommy Stinson, Chris Mars, and Slim Dunlop alongside session musicians. It marked the end of The Replacements, though the punk icons seemed to be working toward self-extinction for most of their career.

“Sadly Beautiful” is sad and beautiful, showcasing the punk poetry of Westerberg. Westerberg’s gift is writing songs with characters everyone knows. Campbell’s version adds a comma to the title (“Sadly, Beautiful”) and switches the song’s perspective from a mother to a father.

From the very first day that you were born
To the very last time you waved and honked your horn
I had no chance at all to watch you grow
Up so sadly, beautiful
Up so sadly, beautiful

“Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” by Green Day

Green Day’s folk-punk smash hit is a breakup song. Though Billie Joe Armstrong directed “Good Riddance” toward an ex-girlfriend, it later became both a prom and graduation anthem.

On Meet Glen Campbell, the singer picks up the tempo and adds urgency to Armstrong’s coming-of-age ditty. This version feels less nostalgic, and the isn’t quite as sad as Green Day’s. The hoedown vibe of the whole thing sounds less like leaving your high school pals and more like, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test, and don’t ask why
It’s not a question, but a lesson learned in time

“All I Want Is You” by U2

This take on U2’s Rattle and Hum track sounds most directly like the original. On “All I Want Is You,” Bono grapples with insecurities over becoming a father, though he sings from his wife Ali’s perspective. Bono writes in his book Surrender, “She is the singer of the song. It became one of our most enduring songs and the opposite of pretty much everyone’s reading of it.”

The Edge’s iconic guitar echoes are missing from Campbell’s cover and the acoustic guitars and banjo thread the track sonically to “Sing.” But his version does repeat the original’s dissonant strings, like the waves of doubt surrounding a young man scared to death to bring children into the world.

But all the promises we make
From the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you

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