Everything you ever wanted to know about czech songs, but were afraid to ask

As you all most likely know, I've been listening to a lot of old songs and albums lately. And what struck me most notably during that time, was how many songs I knew from other artist that I sometimes didn't even expect to be covers. So I decided to post some examples of famous songs covered by czech artists, which are still aired heavily on local FM waves. Let me know what you think...

First, listen to John Denver's Rocky Mountain High.



Then there's the cover by a country band Fešáci, the song's name translates as "My Wife Is Lucky".



Next John Denver's song Take Me Home, Country Roads and its cover by Pavel Bobek. "Veď mě dál, cesto má" means literally "Lead me on, path of mine"





Naturally, I have to throw in some Beatles... For starters, here comes their first #1 hit, From Me to You, covered by Karel Gott, probably the most famous czech singer of the last fifty years. He never wrote his own songs, but who cares. He still possesses a great voice till this day.



Petr Spálený and his take on Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da, called "It matters".



Marta Kubišová has always been a very talented vocalist, but due to the communist prosecution never left a more significant mark in our music scene. However, her version of Hey, Jude isn't bad at all...



One of the most popular czech bands from the late sixties onwards, Rangers, and their take on The Beach Boys' classic, Sloop John B, called "Weigh anchors".



"Alenka v říši divů" (Alice in Wonderland), performed by Karel Zich, is a cover of Smokie's biggest hit, Living Next Door to Alice. Not a day goes by that I don't hear it somewhere. It can get annoying. And it's just one of the many examples of how the local radio stations are unable to play anything, that could be even remotely considered new...

And finally something recent. Lucie Bílá's "Decalogue", a cover of Leonard Cohen's classic, Hallelujah. Obviously, she's no Jeff Buckley...



Some are atrocious, some are just plain bad, but some are actually quite good. As for me, I almost always prefer the original. There are some notable exceptions, though. There's been an article on this topic on NME, summing up the most obvious ones. Check it out if you're interested.