A gobsmackingly diverse collection of home-brewed covers of Terra Namoi's song "Say It's Possible"

I've been watching a spate of youtube, and one of the most wondrous discoveries, apart from some sublime lip-synching, are videos of the proverbial boy and guitar trying to cover their favourite song in the world.

I know this phenomena because I play guitar, and when I was young, I too dreamed of being a rock god. I've since disabused myself of this notion, as I am now facing the third decade of my life and I have a more measured appreciation of what I can and cannot do. I can not sing well. Yet that never stopped me from belting out my songs as if I did.

I found this bunch of aspiring singers who have covered LA singer Terra Naomi's song, "Say It's Possible". It's a beautiful song. This home-recorded song by an unsigned artist has garnered the loyalty of an army of you-tube fans and if imitation is the greatest form of flattery then these fans have paid the ultimate compliment by covering the song and putting it onto youtube.

These videos are fascinating, as much for their musical diversity, as for what they reveal about the person covering the song. If I was young again, maybe I'd have the lack of self-consciousnes to cast my efforts into the ether.

The Song

Terra Naomi is a whip-smart singer with a huge voice. I know because I've seen her play live in San Francisco. At one point in the concert, she put down her guitar and sang accapella when, as great singers often do, she got louder and more forceful. She is a versatile musician, equally at home on the keyboard, and plucking ye olde guitar strings.

She is still an un-signed artist - I discovered her whilst browsing the independent music wonderland known as cdbaby.com. Charismatic and acerbically jewish, she made a fashion statement out of wearing a poncho. She is that cool.

The recording of "Say It's Possible" came about because Terra couldn't tour this summer. To fill up those lonely hours living in downtown Hollywood, Los Angeles, instead of passing through grimy two-bit hotels in the American heartland, she started the "Terra Naomi Virtual Summer Tour" - a series of recordings from her bedroom every few ago. These are simply amazing recordings, stripped bare of studio aural candy, they showcase her stunning native ability to sing a song and break your heart.

Out of the Terra Naomi Virutal Summer Tour, one of her songs "Say It's Possible" has made it viral, hitting the front page of youtube, and received 400,000+ page views.

And here's Terra playing the song in front of a living breathing audience (props to s4n1ty Aug 5):

Indeed, the popularity of the song has even encouraged the Naomi to record a "How to Play" video for the song, and as she says, "It's a really simple song, and some of you have been kind enough to point out..."

It's a classic turn-around (Em, C, G, and F#m), a nice shuffling rhythm. The song is eminently coverable - a simple chord progression, a lilting melody and heartbreaking lyrics. But in parts, the melody is tricky, with some big leaps in the melody in the chorus. The writing is beautiful and effortless - evidence of years of honing the art of song-writing.

The Covers

Within ago, the song attracted a few covers. And as the covers came in, it seemed to give license to other people to cover it. Presented in roughly chronological order:

Here's lMlusashi on June 21. Emo, whiny-brit-rock style, sounds like he enjoys the pain:

Here's PJsurfs, June 24. Dylanesque growl with californian surfer strumming, I hear free-wheeling passion:

blondmonkey on June 26, already after a few ago, we see a meta-entry, showing some editing chops by splicing Terra, PFsmurfs and briennalauryn together into a ghostly simulcast:

aldendean2004 on June27, with a staccato strumming style, a floating falsetto, and a very pink shirt. Rock on to that guitar on his wall. i like the pictures on his wall:

(+) Here's kol28, on June 27. This is one of my favourites, filmed on a real gasp camera giving it a lovely sepia tone, it almost seems like some precious footage from 20 years ago. anyway it's an upbeat tempo, that perfectly matches her voice:

Here's wmstaney on June 28:

craigzwicker on June 28. Love the monologue before the song, but dude, what were you smoking? Quotable line "I don't know if this is outta line, but Terra, you're a hottie":

embc89 on June 28:

ChiefSam1 on June 28, the hat is hilarious but kind of works against the melancholy of the song. Nevertheless, overdubbing a second falsetto vocal track gives a nice folky feel. But the choice of strumming style reveals the similarity of the chord progression to Oasis' "Wonderwall". Gotta wonder though: what are the videos, stacked in the back, of?:

Nate4s on June 29. Unbelievably cute, kid, but one day, your voice will break. That guitar is so much bigger than you. But how is it that one so young sings with such a weary and jaded voicing? :

(+) Here's mynameismeghan on June 30. For my money, this is as good as the original. In the comments page, mynameismeghan got served the androgynous card (I admit I wasn't sure at first, but looking at the name should have given it away). Recording-wise, clever use of parent's garage for reverb, with superb colour coordination between shirt sleeve and parent's red car. She hits every note even the high notes of the chorus like a cherubic choir-girl. Interesting to see how she'd sing this once she's a little older when life has had a chance to crush her under:

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