The live archive · covers
Covers,
both directions
What Jon Brion plays that isn’t his, and what other people have done with the songs that are. Everything found so far.
Requests were part of the format. At Largo the second half of a set was often whatever the room shouted out, played from memory on whatever instrument was nearest, which means the covers are not a novelty sideline. They are a large part of what the archive actually holds. What follows is every one found so far, and then the traffic going the other way: the people who have covered him. Both lists are incomplete, and will stay that way. Requests were taken week after week for thirty years in a room where recording was forbidden, so most of what he played is simply gone. If you know of one that is missing, the contact page is open.
Songs Jon Brion has covered
Thirty-three performances of thirty-two songs, as documented here. “Waterloo Sunset” appears twice, nineteen years apart. Ordered by the date of the surviving recording, not by when the song was written. Each row links to the year page or the post that holds the video.
- 1996A piano medleyPete Townshend / The WhoFebruary 11, 1996, the earliest performance catalogued here. 1996
- 2004Only ShallowMy Bloody ValentineThe Foley’s Cellar show, April 19. 2004
- 2005River, Stay Away from My DoorHarry M. WoodsWith Fiona Apple and The Roots. Transcription on the sheet music page. 2005
- 2005Waterloo SunsetThe KinksTonic, New York, April 27, with Brad Mehldau. 2005
- 2005A Louis Armstrong songLouis ArmstrongLargo, November 23, with the Watkins family and Benmont Tench III. 2005
- 2006Christmastime Is HereVince GuaraldiLargo at the Coronet, December 22, alongside “A Letter to Santa”. 2006
- 2010Alone Again (Naturally)Gilbert O’SullivanAt Largo with Aimee Mann. 2010
- 2010FunkytownLipps Inc.El Rey Theatre, October 12, with Chris Thile of the Punch Brothers. 2010
- 2011Let It Be MeThe Everly BrothersGuitarology at the Melody Bar & Grill, April 20. 2011
- 2011Orphan GirlGillian WelchGuitarology, same night. 2011
- 2011Mercury BluesK.C. DouglasGuitarology. 2011
- 2011Only You Know and I KnowDave MasonGuitarology. 2011
- 2011Where Did You Sleep Last NightLead BellyLos Angeles, September 24, with Fiona Apple and the Watkins. 2011
- 2011In the PinesTraditionalSame night, with Fiona Apple and Sebastian Steinberg. 2011
- 2011Making Plans for NigelXTCLe Poisson Rouge, New York, October 3. 2011
- 2011Tainted LoveGloria JonesLe Poisson Rouge. Written by Ed Cobb, first recorded by Gloria Jones in 1964, best known through Soft Cell. Not an XTC song, as the year page currently says. 2011
- 2011Whole Wide WorldWreckless EricLe Poisson Rouge, October 9. 2011
- 2011You Say You Don’t Love MeThe BuzzcocksLe Poisson Rouge. 2011
- 2011‘Round MidnightThelonious MonkLe Poisson Rouge. 2011
- 2011Good Old DeskHarry NilssonLe Poisson Rouge. 2011
- 2011Have Yourself a Merry Little ChristmasMartin & BlaneLe Poisson Rouge. 2011
- 2011Hanging on the TelephoneJack Lee / The NervesLargo, October 10. Popularised by Blondie; the year page credits Tom Waits in error. 2011
- 2011I Feel FineThe BeatlesWith Britt Daniel (Spoon), John Stirratt and Pat Sansone (Wilco). Watch
- 2011Play the GameQueenA tribute performance. Watch
- 2011Sorry SuzanneThe HolliesPosted as a newly surfaced recording. Watch
- 2016Life on MarsDavid BowieLos Angeles, March 5, played in the style of Fats Waller. Watch · 2016
- 2016Lady StardustDavid BowieOne of two Bowie readings that survive on video, both from early 2016. Watch
- 2016Positively 4th StreetBob DylanCity Winery, New York, May 11. 2016
- 2016God Only KnowsThe Beach BoysWatch
- 2024Waterloo SunsetThe KinksThe Empty Bottle, Chicago, February 13, nineteen years after the Tonic performance. 2024
Undated, and a medley
- n.d.Beatles medleyThe BeatlesWatch
- n.d.Time of the SeasonThe ZombiesVideo gone. The upload was removed and no substitute was wanted.
- n.d.Dead Finks Don’t TalkBrian EnoVideo gone, same decision.
Two more covers in the archive belong to Fiona Apple’s set rather than his own: “Across the Universe” (The Beatles) and “It’s Only Make Believe” (Conway Twitty), both from the Bowery Ballroom, March 26, 2012, with Brion in the band. 2012
Nineteen years between two performances of the same Kinks song, in two cities, on two continents of his career.
Songs of his that others have covered
Twenty-two recordings by other people, almost all of them uploaded by the performer. Where a transcription of the original exists on this site, it is linked.
Four versions in the archive: by Clive, by Molly Lewis, and two more. The most-covered Brion song here. Sheet music · Clive · cover · cover
Three, including two by Jonathan Coulton: one solo, one with Molly Lewis on the JoCo Cruise. Sheet music · Coulton · JoCo Cruise · cover
From Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Three treatments: a cover, a guitar arrangement, and a remix. Cover · Guitar · Remix
From Synecdoche, New York. Covered by Foxtails Brigade and by the Jon Brion Project. Foxtails Brigade · Jon Brion Project
Two very different readings: Rhett Miller’s, and Spree Wilson’s reinterpretation. Rhett Miller · Spree Wilson
The most-searched thing on this site, and the one people most often play themselves. Sheet music · Sulene · Harris Cole
A ukulele arrangement. Sheet music · Ukulele
Two projects rather than single songs. Jon Brion Project, Various Themes · EMbrionALE, by Gilmar
How incomplete is this?
Very. The crowd-sourced database at setlist.fm holds 836 Jon Brion setlists going back to 1990, and its tally of who he covers runs to well over a hundred artists. David Bowie and The Beatles sit at the top, followed by Bob Dylan, The Kinks, George Gershwin, Roxy Music, Duke Ellington, The Beach Boys and Prince. Most of those performances have no surviving video, which is why they are not listed above: this page catalogues what can still be watched, not everything that was played.
That database also independently confirms the “Tainted Love” credit corrected here. It files the song under Gloria Jones, not XTC.
If you want the fullest available picture of what he played on a given night, setlist.fm is the better source. If you want to watch it, this is the only place it has been gathered.
Frequently asked
What songs does Jon Brion cover live?
Thirty-three performances of thirty-two songs have been documented so far, ranging from The Beatles, David Bowie, The Kinks and The Beach Boys to Thelonious Monk, Lead Belly, Gillian Welch, My Bloody Valentine and Lipps Inc. Requests from the audience were a standing part of his Largo sets, so the range is wide by design.
Has Jon Brion covered David Bowie?
Yes. “Life on Mars”, performed in the style of Fats Waller, and “Lady Stardust”, both documented in early 2016.
Has Jon Brion covered The Beatles?
Yes. “I Feel Fine” with Britt Daniel of Spoon and John Stirratt and Pat Sansone of Wilco, and a separate Beatles medley. “Across the Universe” also appears in a 2012 Fiona Apple set with Brion in the band.
Who has covered Jon Brion’s songs?
Jonathan Coulton, Molly Lewis, Rhett Miller, Spree Wilson, Foxtails Brigade, Sulene, Harris Cole and others. “Here We Go” is the most-covered song in the archive, with four versions.
Where can I find sheet music for these songs?
The sheet music section holds transcriptions for thirty-one Jon Brion songs, including “Here We Go”, “The Same Mistakes”, “Ruin My Day” and the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind theme.
Compiled from the year pages and posts of this archive, September 2026. Two attributions on the 2011 year page were corrected here. This list records what has been found, not everything he played, and covers are added as recordings surface. If you know of one that is missing, or spot a credit that is wrong, the contact page is open. Accuracy matters more than completeness.