I try to learn the original in every detail, 100% if possible.
Then I do it my way
.
I mean, it obviously depends on how much I like the song, or how much of it I like.
When I learn 100% of a song, I do it because I love the song, not because I'm going to
perform it the exact same way. I know very well I would just sound like someone performing a feeble attempt at a copy. But I want to know the exact notes, because then I understand how it works. I want to get right inside it - but then I also get out of it afterwards.
When you perform someone else's song, you have to
own it. Unless you're a tribute act, there's no sense in pretending you're just a cheaper, more available version of the original artist
. Presumably you love the song because it means something to you, so you have to explore that personal meaning, bring it out in your way. That might well end up as a very different-sounding version - but it has to be
yours and not
theirs.