2/9: COVER: The Trees (Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine)

I bet you've never before heard a lounge singer cover Rush

And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet
Axe
And saw (ladies and gentlemen)

I’m just as surprised as you are that we’re back again to “The Trees.” I wasn’t planning on featuring this song again until Arbor Day, at least.

But then this cover crossed my inbox and.

And.

I will never be the same again.

Never have I heard a lounge cover of a Rush song before. In all the many, many decades I’ve been a Rush fan, I can honestly say the thought of combining the two songs never even crossed my mind.

But? But it works?

The swing. The scat. The snapping. The saw (ladies and gentlemen).

It really must be heard to be believed.

Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine are best known for their covers of famous pop songs, like “Gin and Juice,” “WAP,” “Down With The Sickness,” and more. Richard’s got smooth confidence and incredible vocal articulation, while the backing band skillfully transforms each song to the playful lounge “style” without ever feeling like they’re making fun. That’s a hell of a hard line to tread, given the inherent silliness of the genre.

This cover opens with a singer and a piano, turning “The Trees” into an intimate duet worthy of some smoky, basement bar. Until the brass comes in, that is, and gives the song its usual aggressive swagger. I can’t be sure, but I also think the cowbell part has been replaced by Cheese doing pops and clicks with his mouth. Whatever it is, it works.

Look, just listen to it, okay? I promise it’ll be the best two and a half minutes you spend today.

(I’m having trouble embedding the video, so if it doesn’t play, here is the YT link — just take out the spaces by the backslashes)

https: // www.youtube.com / watch?v=7IV2-05E3e0&ab_channel=RichardCheese