We Ranked The Best ‘Shallow’ Covers From ‘Oh, Oh’ To ‘Off The Deep End’
IN THE SHA-AH-SHA-AH-LOWWWWWWWWW.
Since its release last October as the centrepiece of A Star Is Born, ‘Shallow’ has warbled and woahed its way into our hearts.
The heady duet earned Lady Gaga her first Oscar, and also gave us the otherworldly pleasure of seeing her and Bradley Cooper eye fuck on stage for four minutes in front of a live audience. Truly, a time. It’s also become karaoke fodder for pretty much everyone with a voice box, attracting cover versions from Gaga’s popstar peers, country stars, and (somewhat disturbingly) metal bands.
Consequently, we decided it was high time to pull out the renditions that deserve particular attention, in an attempt to find the one that can match the ferocious original. Prepare yourself, we’re diving in the deep end.
#6. Lizzo
When she’s not gracing the cover of Vogue or shooting flames out of her flute, Lizzo turns her attention to crafting perfect bops.
Her ‘Shallow’ cover, recorded very recently at SiriusXM radio station, had the potential to be explosive, but it doesn’t quite get there.
It’s not Lizzo’s fault: she’s mic’d so closely that you can hear every intake of breath, every lip smack, almost every minuscule movement of her head. It’s disorienting, and it takes away from what is, in all other aspects, a banging cover.
.@lizzo shows a different side with her haunting rendition of “Shallow” on @SiriusXMHits1. pic.twitter.com/IqnMGGD2aY
— SiriusXM (@SIRIUSXM) April 9, 2019
#5. Nick Jonas
Oh Nick Jonas, you glorious queer-baiting, leather pants wearing human.
Not many covers have opted for the “stripped back” rendition, possibly because the ideal of pulling off the melody without the aid of a thousand guitars and drums as backup is, frankly, terrifying for most singers. Not so for Nick, who goes it alone (with filming help from his new wife, Priyanka Chopra.)
The only downside about this cover is that it will undoubtedly spawn a legion of copycat buskers, which is never a good thing.
#4. Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers
It just goes to show how far ‘Shallow’ has spread that even Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst knows about it. Unfortunately, he completely ruins his part in this cover, which is only saved by Phoebe Bridgers complete knockout of a vocal performance.
It does get a little hairy (read: out of time) when they get to the crescendo, but they just about hold it together.
#3. Ricki-Lee and David Campbell
It was only a matter of time until queer icon and Australian Idol alumnus Ricki-Lee attempted ‘Shallow’ — and this week, the fateful day came.
It’s a faithful cover, but she pulls off Gaga’s topline surprisingly well — leaving her duet partner, David Campbell, well and truly in the dust. Expect to see this one at every Australian charity gala from now until the end of time.
#2. Kelly Clarkson
There’s only a handful of singers on earth with the lung capacity to replicate Gaga’s gut busting chorus, and Kelly Clarkson is one of them. The power she puts behind the vocal runs in the chorus could blast the barnacles off the rocks.
It’s a verbatim cover, so no extra points there, but the husky notes in Clarkson’s voice give it a little extra edge.
#1. Lewis Capaldi
With the wildly successful single ‘Somebody You Loved’ at his back, Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi is now gearing up to release one of the most anticipated debuts in recent years with Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent, due out in May.
His BBC1 Live Lounge debut in November last year didn’t disappoint: His ‘Shallow’ cover, which came right when the original song was just taking off, is the most successful imaginative remake of the original.
Wisely, he doesn’t attempt to copy Gaga’s vocals, instead opting to pad his out with not one, not two, but four backing singers. At least now we know just how many humans it takes to make a Gaga.
Jules LeFevre is the Music Editor of Junkee. She is that one person in a room of 100 people that actually believes in you. Follow her on Twitter.