Cover Me: Don’t Change

It was their first international single, and it was the last song they ever performed live. And other than “New Sensation” (which just barely edged it out), it was the song they performed the most.

INXS had other songs that could lay claim to being their signature, but “Don’t Change” has a pretty good case to make for being their anthem.

“Don’t Change” was the second single from the band’s 1982 Shabooh Shabooh album, and although it didn’t actually perform as well as “The One Thing” (peaking only at #80 on the Billboard Hot 100), it was the song that cemented their international arrival.

Both lyrically and musically simple, “Don’t Change” was nevertheless an electrifying performance and production–all of which makes it a very attractive song for musicians to cover. (“It’s a good pub band song,” co-writer Andrew Farris told Songfacts.com. “You don’t have to know too many chords to play it.”)

So when Bruce Springsteen decided to pay tribute to the late Michael Hutchence when he played Hutchence’s home town of Sydney in 2014, “Don’t Change” was an obvious choice. But who would have guessed the super-sized E Street Band would be so well-suited to the song?

Wisely calling upon the E Street Horns to carry the iconic synth riff from the original, and featuring some positively furious guitars, “Don’t Change” sounded fresh and urgent, easily cementing itself as one of Bruce’s best modern covers.

How furious and urgent, you ask?

Well, let’s just say Bruce and the band were on such an adrenaline rush after covering “Don’t Change” that they barreled into and through the fastest, most electric “Born to Run” in modern memory immediately after–something Bruce noticed immediately. (Check out his comment at about 10:50 below.)

Don’t Change
First performed: February 19, 2014 (Sydney, Australia)
Last performed: May 13, 2014 (Albany, NY)