Music Fridays # 41: Dumbo Covers (Dumbo Week)

Hello and welcome back to Music Fridays.  Today on Music Fridays, I'll be taking a look at covers of the songs from Dumbo.  Just so you know, the songs that I'll be looking at include When I see an Elephant Fly,  Baby Mine (2 Versions) ,  &  Pink Elephants on Parade.   Let's begin.   Oh,  I have just been informed that Dumbo and Timothy will be making an appearance at the end of this article. How exciting and who could ask for a better birthday present? Yep, today is my birthday.

Wen I See An Elephant Fly  - The Plain White T's

It's not the worst Dumbo cover that I've heard and it captures the spirit of the song quite well. It's fun and the T's seem to be having fun singing along with the song. It does sound a little different but for the most part it keeps the spirit of the original song intact and for that reason,  I think it's okay.  

Pink Elephants on Parade - V Is For Villains 

Now  this is a far different take on the song than what the original song was but oddly, it works.  This band sells the performance rather well.  It almost feels sinister and I like that.   This is a fun version of the song.   Really, it was this cover that made me decide to make it Dumbo covers instead of just Baby Mine covers, which bring me to our last 2...

Baby Mine - Bette Middler 

Now some of you may know that my favorite song from this film is Baby Mine and that it was used in the Bette Middler film,  Beaches.  I'm torn on how I feel about this cover on the one hand, she delivers an excellent performance but at the same time, I don't feel as though she believes  the words she is singing which bring it down a notch.  It's not a bad cover of this song, even though I have called it the worst Dumbo cover in the past but that's not true.  It's just there.  At best, it's forgettable.  Unlike my favorite cover of this song...

Baby Mine - Alison Krauss 

Ah, here we go. This is more like it.  Now I've talked about this song in the past but I love it's my favorite cover of any Disney song.  The one thing this version does have in common with the Bette cover is that it's simple but I think Alison Krauss' voice works better for this song. That and this is first version I remember hearing of this song vividly.   To tell you the truth I'm not much of an Alison Krauss fan, even though I do enjoy her on Whiskey Lullaby but there is just something about this cover that makes me feel safe.   This cover takes me back to simpler times.   Still as much as I love this version, the original is the best.

I hope you've enjoyed Dumbo Week and my look at these covers of songs from Dumbo.  Next week on Music Fridays,   I'll be taking a look at some o my favorite Disney songs that aren't Dumbo.  As promised, an appearance by Dumbo and Timothy.

Aw c'mon,  I had to find a way to include these two into Dumbo Week.