Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Tanya Donelly Covers Bob Dylan

Photo via Facebook
We're dangerously close to becoming a Tanya Donelly fansite since she's been posting weekly covers lately, but this is Tanya Donelly we're talking about, so how can we resist? This week's entry for her Sunday Series is a cover of Bob Dylan's masterpiece "Knockin' On Heaven's Door." Donelly's version of the classic still has plenty of folk elements but leans more into the dream pop she made famous with Belly back in the 90's. It reminds me a lot of her early solo work, and would have made an amazing closer for Lovesongs for Underdogs.

On the Bandcamp page for the single, Donelly writes: 

"I won’t wax on about Bob Dylan’s impact on my love for lyrics — endless others have expressed what he’s given to us far more eloquently than I ever could — but the leaning reader in this poem pretty well describes how I have always listened to him. Like reading a great book — that rush of receiving a perfect string of words. I always lean in.

This week’s song, Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, was suggested by our guest artist this week, Lilia Halpern. Lil and I go way back (decades, in fact), and I’ve been a big fan of her band Incinerator, and of her beautiful voice, for many years. (See here: incinerator.bandcamp.com )
Dylan played a large role in both of our childhoods and on, and this is a very natural one for us to sing together."


You can listen to Tanya Donelly's version of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" below. Any proceeds raised by the cover will go to Rosie's Place and the Boston-Cambridge Musicians Relief Fund. You can get a download of the song and donate via Bandcamp. For more on Tanya Donelly, check out her website.

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