‘Glee’ season 5 song spoilers: Naya Rivera covers ‘If I Die Young’ in Cory Monteith tribute

It is not a frequent occurrence that “Glee” chooses to cover country music, but when they do, they certainly seem to make it matter. This version of “If I Die Young” (originally sung by The Band Perry) for the Cory Monteith tribute episode is emotionally stirring, and the lyrics actually make a ton of sense for Naya Rivera’s character of Santana to sing.

While country music may be a departure for the Santana character, she makes it work. We’re not going to get into in-depth critiques of the music this week, mostly because that isn’t the point of what this episode is about. It’s more about finding the right way to say goodbye to both Finn and the actor who played him, and every song chosen means something. Also remember that if you do purchase any of these tunes, the money is going straight to charity.

The only difficult thing about this episode musically is that you look at almost every one of the original characters, and you can make a case for them getting a solo. Puck and Finn were close, for example, and Kurt was his stepbrother. We don’t have to even explain the connection between Rachel and Finn, and Will was the teacher who helped guide him towards what his true potential could be. Even Quinn Fabray, who is not even going to be appearing in the episode, could have done a great job performing a song given the connection that she had with him since the very beginning of the show.

Based on everything that we are hearing about Thursday, bring your tissues. You will cry at the beginning, at the ending, and probably a couple of times in between. If you haven’t heard Lea Michele’s cover of “Make You Feel My Love,” click here and you’ll probably cry a little bit more.

Photo: Fox