Coverocktober Song #3: "Alone Again Or" by The Damned

Day 3 of Coverocktober takes us to the '80s with a cover of a '60s psychedelic rock song by a '70s punk band.

Ten years after The Damned became the first British punk rock band to release a single (1976's "New Rose"), they decided to pay homage to one of their influences, LA-based '60s psychedelic rockers Love.  In 1967, Love released their third studio album, Forever Changes, which, while not necessarily a big commercial hit, was acclaimed by critics and fellow musicians and is now considered one of the best albums from the psychedelic era.  The first song on the album is "Alone Again Or," a melancholy psychedelic folk rock song with strings, horns, and a bit of of a mariachi feel -- telling a tale of loneliness, waiting for one's lover to return, while realizing that we "could be in love with almost everyone."  What a quintessential Summer of Love subject matter.

I love (pun intended, motherfuckers) the original, and The Damned's cover stays pretty true to the original, but replaces acoustic guitars with electric and gives the song an '80s update.  The cover reached #27 on the UK pop chart, making it The Damned's last of nine Top 40 hits in their native UK.