Another cool aspect of the WIRED show last week: Gil and Byrne both played a lot of covers. As Justin Cone’s award-winning Creative Commons film says, “Creativity always builds on the past . . .”

Among his originals, Gil also played:

–Cambalache (Enrique Santos Discepolo — a dark Argentine tango)

–Imagine (John Lennon)

–Three Little Birds (Bob Marley)

–No Woman No Cry (Bob Marley, with some Portuguese lyrics)

–Soy Loco Por Ti America (Caetano Veloso)

And Byrne covered:

–I Zimbra (this Talking Heads song isn’t technically a cover, but the lyrics are from a Dadaist “sound poem” by Hugo Ball from the 20s, so I’m counting it)

–One Rainy Wish (Jimi Hendrix — yes, Hendrix with a string section — fantastic!)

And together:

–Asa Branca (Gonzago & Teixeira)

–Don’t Fence Me In (Cole Porter)

Ah, if only sampling from other people’s songs were as simple as doing covers. Soon, it will be — for a handful of songs at least.