Cover Me, Lorde and Marlon Williams: Tougher Than the Rest

No fooling: Lorde made her first public performing appearance in almost two years last night (I think so, anyway–I don’t follow her as closely as I do Bruce) when she joined fellow New Zealand singer-songwriter Marlon Williams on stage  at the Hollywood in Auckland.

Together at the piano, Lorde and Marlon covered one of Bruce’s best songs, “Tougher Than the Rest,” and it was just beautiful.

Lorde is no stranger to covering Bruce–she performed “I’m on Fire” in concert several times on her Melodrama tour in 2017. And of course the respect is mutual: Bruce famously covered Lorde’s breakout hit “Royals” in 2014.

But everyone covers “I’m on Fire.” It’s wonderful to see and hear these two great artists dig a little bit deeper into Bruce’s catalog.

Special Announcement: We don’t do a lot of breaking news on this blog (I’m more of a historian than a newscaster), but since this is a breaking news post today anyway, I’ve got some exciting news to share:

The second annual Cover Me contest is now accepting entries, and I’m honored to have been asked to serve on the Critics Award Jury for the event. (My first ever jury duty!)

Organized by Noi & Springsteen, Cover Me recognizes the best and most inventive covers of Springsteen songs. As with last year, the contest is expected to draw entries from artists around the world, and if the entries are as stellar as last year’s were, I’m going to face some tough decisions ahead.

What sets this event apart from others is that the artists are required to reinterpret Bruce’s material–they can’t just submit a faithful performance of Bruce’s original arrangement. That makes this event an exciting one for Springsteen fans who think they’ve heard it all.

(I’ve featured some of the contestants on the Shuffle before–take a look and listen to some of the great entries from last year here.)

Full rules and regulations are on the main contest page–if you’re interested in participating, get your entry in by May 31, 2021.