Listen to David Byrne’s cover of Paramore song ‘Hard Times’
In a beautifully unexpected coming together of great talents, Paramore and David Byrne share their mutual admiration for one another. As both artists deliver covers of one another’s songs, Byrne has revealed his take on ‘Hard Times’ for Record Store Day.
It all started with A24 Music’s Talking Heads celebration. Off the back of the re-release of Stop Making Sense, a collection of artists have come together to recreate the original tracklist with covers. Lorde took on ‘Take Me To The River’, Teezo Touchdown tackled ‘Making Flippy Floppy’, with other versions on the way from names like Blondshell, Miley Cyrus, and The National.
But the first to be unveiled was Paramore’s high-octane cover of ‘Burning Down The House’. Bringing their beloved pop-punk-tinged rock sound to the classic track, Hayley Williams’ powerful vocals did the track perfect justice.
It seems that David Byrne himself was a fan, too. The cover seemed to open up a friendship between the two acts, leading to a special edition collaboration release for this Record Store Day, featuring two covers of each other’s work.
“The band told me that their song ‘Hard Times’ was inspired by Talking Heads,” Byrne wrote of his cover. “So I learned it and recorded my version of their great song with a horn section. This was fun!”
Just as how Paramore’s cover of ‘Burning Down The House’ felt like it could have been their song, Byrne’s take on their 2017 hit could be his own. Complete with a funk-infused guitar line, bongos, and echoing harmonies that make it easy to imagine Chris Franz and the rest of the band getting involved, the take on ‘Hard Times’ would have fit right in on Stop Making Sense.
There’s also a beautiful air of lightness on his take. He perhaps described it best when he called the outing “fun”. That sense of joy seems to burst from every note, sounding like exactly what it is: a silly cover done with no pressure, just for the kicks. Similar to Paramore’s take, which had the energy of a band playing their favourite song, shrugging off the pressure to live up to the original, Byrne’s cover has the same spontaneous feel.
The release also coincides with the seven-year anniversary of the Paramore song. “It was the best of times, it was the hardest of times,” the band wrote on Instagram to honour the date. It seems that with this new release of ‘David Byrne Does Hard Times’, the song has gained a new and exciting life all those years later.
Across the world, people are queued up for record store day to try and get their hands on the limited edition release. The 12’ record won’t be repressed after this run, so fans are keen to bag it. Paramore also has another covers disc out today in the form of RE: This Is Why, a remix album featuring artists taking on each track of their 2023 release. As the group are said to be taking some time to figure out their next step after parting from their record label, it seems that they’re filling the gap with celebrations of old songs with the help of other acts they love and respect.