Sorry, Ryan Adams: This Taylor Swift-Approved “Bad Blood” Cover Wins

When asked about how he would handle The Daily Show differently from his predecessor, one thing Trevor Noah noted was that he would have more musicians on the program.

Check out Adams’ performance of “Bad Blood” from The Daily Show below. You have to, basically, play in real time, and we don’t do anything in computers. “Blank Space“, “Out of the Woods”, and “How You Get the Girl” all have the smooth, folky undertones reminiscent of Bon Iver’s work. 1989 is a Ryan Adams record just like any other.

Adams has said his 1989 is heavily influenced by Nebraska and The Smiths, but that could be applied to most parts of his career.

It’s hard not to picture Springsteen singing these songs in 1982 (the year Nebraska was released). As Swift would say, it’s a Love Story: for nine weeks beginning March 6, 1971, Williams’ album Love Story and the soundtrack to the 1970 film Love Story charted in the top 10 simultaneously.

The fact that the songs can be reconstructed into folk arrangements and sound so fresh and natural speaks volumes. “Wildest Dreams”, originally a attractive track by Swift with an indie-electro-pop bounce, transforms into a twangy Americana song that calls to mind Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Games”.

Upon hearing about the record, Swift expressed her excitement, saying that she would “pass out”.

I’m sure there will be plenty of people who prefer the cleaner, clearer notes of Swift’s version. Even if it makes the teeniest amount more sense for Ryan Adams to sing a song called “Welcome to New York”, his versions of these songs never surpass the originals.

At the very least, this album is well worth a listen.

At times, listening to Adams’ cover of the album can seem like a chore, like listening to it is just something you need to get through.