I've Got This Covered: Finian's Rainbow

While I know it's not the most popular musical of all time, Finian's Rainbow happens to be one of my favorites. I would love to see modern artists performing some of the iconic songs from the film. These are my personal picks for which artists.

1) Prelude (Main Title) - Florence and the Machine
Florence Welch's strong voice would serve as a perfect opener for this somewhat mystical story. The use of silence around the powerful vocals is also something Florence excels at.

2) This Time of the Year - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
The down-home/folky feel of this song can't be handled by many modern artists. But Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros could make it work.

3) How Are Things in Glocca Morra? - Adele
Another strong voice to compete with Petula Clark's, I could hear Adele singing this song outside of this project.

4) Look to the Rainbow - The Bird and the Bee
The seldom-replicated sound of The Bird and the Bee would work amazingly well this tune.

5) If This Isn't Love - Ben Folds and Regina Spektor
If you've not heard "You Don't Know Me" by this duo, you're missing out. In any case, Ben Folds and Regina Spektor could perform a much more keyboard-ey version of this song.

6) Something Sort of Grandish - Of Monsters and Men
It would be very different, but something tells me that this duet would be well-served by Of Monsters and Men.

7) That Great Come-and-Get-It Day - Kishi Bashi
Of all the songs and artists I've picked for this project, this seems to be one of the most glove-like fits. If you aren't familiar with Kishi Bashi, he does stuff like this:

8) Old Devil Moon - Paloma Faith
Paloma Faith is one of those singers with the unique and old-fashioned voice you find very rarely. She has so much power in her vocals, she'd have no trouble with this song.

9) When the Idle Poor Become the Idle Rich - Pelle Carlberg
This Swedish singer has the style, sense of humor, and voice to carry this song. I could see a possible collaboration with Ida Maria again like on "I Love You, Imbecile."

10) When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love - Michael Bublé
Michael Bublé might not seem like the first choice for a list like this, but I think he'd be the perfect choice for this track.

11) Rain Dance Ballet - Vitamin String Quartet
Not only are Vitamin String Quartet one of the only modern-day quartets that mesh quite often with pop, but I think they could give this piece some real pizzazz.

12) The Begat - Barenaked Ladies

The Barenaked Ladies do some mean acapella, which I think could be applied to this song. See some of their a capella below (starts at 32 seconds):

13) How Are Things in Glocca Morra? (Finale) - The Decemberists
With the cute, yet powerful sound The Decemberists can produce, who better to close this album?

*"Necessity" would be omitted since it doesn't appear in the final film.

That's how I think it should go down. Questions? Better ideas? Drop me a comment. Or if you're a major magazine that has magical powers over artists, feel free to make this happen.