A word of advice to bands; when the brilliant notion of doing a cover enters your mind, do heed how the end product will sound. Will it carry the song into a whole new level, giving it new layers of depth and meaning? Or will it be the yardstick measurement of what not to do?

Well, this is one instance where a song cover did exceptionally well.

The song in question? Eleanor Rigby and the band of the hour is Godhead.

Eleanor Rigby was actually a Beatles song (yes, I did feel a need to mention the obvious given the dastardly number of folk who indulge in blissful ignorance. “I never heard of Star Wars V” indeed!).

This particular song was a popular song. It was all about social disintegration within an urban environment, the lack of community feeling in a city and all such notions of urban dystopia.

Now interlace that idea with the psychedelic touches Beatles brought to the song. Bleary gray blending with acid-tripping flashes of color. This was their way of social commentary where they hint at escapism.

Keeping all that in mind, check out the Godhead version. They recorded this song for both the Power Tool Stigma album (1998) as well as the 2000 Years of Human Error album (2001).

The sad little song about loneliness is given an extra raw edge with an industrial metal theme. Where the Beatles opted for a string quartet for a bit of mood music, Godhead has replaced it with guitar and drums. Add in the faster paced chorus and the sense of despair and desolation seems to build up.

The video itself is classic. Devoid of color and featuring shots of urban decay (barbed wire, trash on the street), the video complements the mood of the song. The people running about, flailing their arms was a nice touch; certainly gave a good impression of people trapped in the ugly routines of modern life.