Under Cover

I've always been an advocate of strong covers of others hits ... by taking another's song and reinterpreting it, artists find ways to stretch our ideas of what limits are placed on a genre of music. In this video, Mandy Moore takes Rihanna's "Umbrella," one of this summer's biggest urban chart hits, and turns it into an acoustic country jam, illustrating the songwriting skill of Terius "The Dream" Youngdell Nash, who penned the song for Rihanna. In its original form the song drips with sexual tension and double entendres. As read by Moore, however, one can sense the song's power as a heartfelt love song. That's what a cover should be -- not a by-the-numbers note-for-note retread, but rather a reimagination. Keep an eye on Moore ... she seems to have an ear for this kind of thing.

Mandy Moore - Umbrella.mp3