t has been said before and there is no harm in saying it again: there is nothing wrong when an artist attempts to cover a song by another artist. In popular music, sometimes a cover is done so beautifully that it overshadows the original song.

‘Watching the Wheels’ by the late John Lennon is a terrific song but as a music listener, I always prefer the late Chris Cornell’s version of the same song that was released in 2020. Another example is how Nirvana’s ‘The Man Who Sold the World’ is so popular decades later that David Bowie confessed people confused him as the covering artist and he’d have to tell them that it was his song that Nirvana covered. There are countless examples. Let’s look at Dolly Parton’s original ‘I Will Always Love You’ and its cover version by Whitney Houston for the soundtrack of Bodyguard. Even Parton admits that Whitney Houston elevated the song to such a degree that decades later it has found a life of its own, with some not knowing its backstory.

Right here at home, Mehdi Hasan’s timeless gem, ‘Mohabbat Karne Wale’ has various cover versions including one by Ali Sethi and another by Arooj Aftab that landed her a Grammy Award. The power lies in presentation and how the voice and the sound are reworked. If anything, these covers by Ali Sethi and Arooj Aftab compelled some who hadn’t heard the Mehdi Hasan version to go back and hear why this classic has endured.

In modern pop culture, women are often forgotten but the one artist who is still considered a force to be reckoned with is Nazia Hassan. Her music has been covered in concerts by many because it is beautiful and transcendent, and in some ways, ahead of its time. Most of all though, she is considered a pioneering artist whose music ushered in the pop era and the birth of acts like Vital Signs.

A pioneering artist, covering her is not easy. That pristine voice is a reminder of losing a gem while she was still so young.

In 2020, Velo Sound Station resurrected her memory and reminded us to go back to Nazia’s catalogue of music after Meesha Shafi delivered a brilliant version of Hassan’s famous song ‘Boom Boom’. It was such a strong and dissimilar cover that even Zoheb Hassan was moved and thought Shafi had done justice to his late sister’s iconic song.

The lesson, my friends, is that if you are going to cover another artist’s song, you better do it with intelligence and musicality that offers a prism with which a listener can hear the song and not find themselves cringing and offended.

Unfortunately, one of the hugely popular artists currently, Hasan Raheem, made this mistake. In a new TVC Presents moment, Raheem covered and botched a Nazia Hassan song.

What cannot and should not happen is an artist as popular as Hasan Raheem turning in a tedious, banal cover of an iconic song like ‘Aap Jaisa Koi’ but it has happened. In a new TVC featuring Hasan Raheem and Noor Khan, a very odd version of the song, sung by Hasan Raheem is featured. It isn’t about selling ice cream that is offensive. To be honest, TVCs featuring cover songs aren’t exactly new. Who remembers ‘Dil Dil Pakistan’ and its evil twin ‘Pepsi Pepsi Pakistan’?

So, it isn’t the TVC but the super popular Hasan Raheem singing a song he shouldn’t be singing because he doesn’t have the voice for it that is the problem. And if you watch the TVC before skipping it, you’ll know it in five seconds.

In comparison, Mauj dropped a cover version of ‘Pyar Ka Jadu’ by Zoheb Hassan as a rock song, completely original in idea, musicianship and vocal ability. Featured on the band’s one and only self-titled debut album, it’s as delightful to listen to as it was when we first heard it, happy that two great versions of the song exist.

Meesha Shafi made ‘Boom Boom’ a smashing success because of how she sang the song, the additional English lyrics and a sound that belonged to a changing and challenging musical landscape. Without losing sight of how Nazia Hassan was pioneering during her days in music, Meesha Shafi also showed a deep, abiding respect by not singing it like a jingle.

Hasan Raheem, on the other hand, could’ve at least done a better job as a singer but this cover is just one of those things you swallow and quickly move on and not pay heed to ever again. Just listen to the original by Nazia Hassan. Or, Hasan Raheem at his best in his breakthrough song, ‘Aisay Kaisay’.

-Hasan Raheem image courtesy of Coke Studio 14