Echoes of the Past: The Folk Tradition of Cover Songs and The Moon & The Mind’s Rendition of “Valerie”
Part Three: Emotional Bootlegs, Taxi Lyrics & the Queer Dream Sequence of Track Four
Some songs show up dressed for the part. Others arrive in disguise. “Valerie,” the fourth track on Blankets, slips in like a late-night visitor—half-drunk on nostalgia, wearing somebody else’s perfume, holding a suitcase full of secrets. It’s a cover of a cover, and for The Moon & The Mind, it became a pivot point—one that almost didn’t survive the cutting room floor. Not because it was unwanted, but because it wouldn’t stop echoing someone else’s voice.
Let’s rewind.
Yes, we all know Amy’s version—Winehouse, swaggering through Mark Ronson’s punchy retro-soul production like she owns the bar, the jukebox, and probably your heart. But the song’s origin is rooted elsewhere. “Valerie” began with English indie-rock band The Zutons, and more specifically with frontman Dave McCabe, who scribbled the lyrics in the back of a taxi after learning that his then-girlfriend, American makeup artist Valerie Star, had been arrested for driving with a suspended license—canceling her planned visit to the UK (Liebig, 2023).
The Zutons released the track in 2006 as a kind of shaggy, upbeat plea. Drummer Sean Payne later described it as a “musical postcard,” saying McCabe was “having a hard time” and asking Valerie if she could come see him (Webb, 2011).
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Enter Amy. In December 2006—just weeks after the release of Back to Black—Amy Winehouse introduced the track to producer Mark Ronson mere minutes before recording it in a Brooklyn studio. Ronson, by his own admission, wasn’t impressed. “The first time I heard it, I was like, ‘Um, OK.’ I wasn’t particularly… I didn’t get it, you know?” he later recalled (Parker, 2021). Winehouse, on the other hand, had been singing it in the shower. She got it. They charted some chords, laid down a version, and then, just as the session was about to wrap, Ronson had a last-minute instinct: “Could we just try one way where it’s like, bonk-chk-a-bonk?” Everyone groaned, unpacked their guitars, did two takes—and just like that, they had the version (Parker, 2021).
For The Moon & The Mind, “Valerie” was always part of the vision for Blankets. Its inclusion wasn’t debated—but how it would live on the album was. Originally intended as a companion piece to “Maneater,” the previous track, it was conceptually connected by both lyrical and emotional echoes. The shared line—“Oh oh, here she comes”—was never sampled from “Maneater,” but was instead re-recorded in the spirit of it, inspired by the way the lyric naturally fit over the existing horns.
“I remember how it hit me when I realized how well that line landed against the horns,” says Josh Ramon. “It went from please come over to she’s already on her way. You feel the butterflies in the pacing. Like someone fixing their hair while pretending they’re not checking the window every five seconds.”
Despite its central role, “Valerie” became one of the most challenging tracks to finish. Ayla Winegar’s first vocal take was strong—too strong, maybe. “She had learned the song so closely to Amy’s phrasing that it felt like we were just recreating something that already existed,” Josh recalls. “She nailed it, but it wasn’t ours yet.”
Meanwhile, the instrumental foundation was muddy. Guitarist Noah Ritchie had contributed several layers of guitar early on, and there were programmed drums and a rhythm section that leaned heavily on the Winehouse arrangement. “It just wouldn’t stop sounding like her version,” Josh admits. “So we tore it down.”
What remained was minimal: ambient guitars, soft synth pads, and Ayla’s re-recorded vocal, tracked during a summer visit to Bloomington. Enter Gabe Bruner on piano. After a conversation with Josh about the songs that still felt unsettled, he came back the next day to take a pass.
“I just told him: ‘play along with her voice,’” Josh says. “That was it. And he did.”
The result was a single take—fluid, responsive, emotionally resonant. Gabe’s piano didn’t sit beneath the vocal; it wove around it like a second voice. “He doesn’t play piano the way most people do,” Josh adds. “It’s like he’s listening in two directions at once. His playing is essentially composing.”
Track Four and the Quiet Turning Point
On Blankets, “Valerie” holds a particular kind of weight. Not just as a cover of a well-known cover, but as a meditation on longing. In the album’s broader arc—a nonlinear love story told through reinterpreted songs—this track represents a kind of breathless anticipation. Where the original was written across a border and Amy’s version was delivered in a haze of swagger and heartbreak, The Moon & The Mind’s rendition lives in a softer space.
This is no longer a plea or a punchline. It’s a quiet moment of hope—a near-whispered wonder at whether love might actually show up at the door.
Unlike previous installments in this series — where licensing quirks and regional availability kept us from building identical playlists across platforms — Valerie offered a rare bit of alignment. This time, we were able to curate 10 different versions by 10 different artists, all available on both Apple Music and Spotify.
Below are just a few highlights from the full list — a sample of the tonal range and emotional nuance that Valerie seems to invite. From avant-garde bedroom pop to Appalachian-acoustic takes, these reinterpretations show just how far the song can travel without losing its shape.
And as a related side note: following last week’s episode of Music for End Times, which featured posthumous works by Amy Winehouse, we included the lesser-known “’68 Version” of Valerie on this playlist. It’s not the version that most listeners know best, but it offers an interesting counterpoint — a glimpse at how one artist might interpret the same song in a different emotional register.
Ginger Root – A vibey, avant-garde bedroom pop rendition that trades the punchy soul of Amy’s version for something softer and more hypnotic. It hums with energy while keeping things unexpectedly chill.
Josh Jacobson – Think: The Weeknd covers “Valerie”. Smooth, polished, and full of R&B shimmer, this version leans into the longing with velvet vocals and glossy production.
The Memphis Ukulele Band – Don’t let the name fool you. This isn't novelty uke-core. It’s a stripped, acoustic take featuring an earthy female vocal that wouldn’t feel out of place echoing through a porch in Appalachia.
Landa – Easily the most unexpected of the bunch. This one creeps up on you — a piano-driven, quirky little gem..
References
Liebig, L. (2023, September 28). The surprising meaning behind Amy Winehouse’s groovy hit “Valerie.” American Songwriter. https://americansongwriter.com/valerie-amy-winehouse-song-meaning/
Parker, L. (2021, July 21). Mark Ronson remembers Amy Winehouse’s iconic “Valerie” cover: “She knew what a great song it was.” Yahoo Music. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/mark-ronson-remembers-amy-winehouses-iconic-valerie-cover-she-knew-what-a-great-song-it-was-181023439.html
Webb, R. (2011, January 7). Story of the song: Valerie, The Zutons, 2006. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/story-of-the-song-valerie-the-zutons-2006-2178613.html