Okay, now we’ve had a mashup and a remix. It’s time to explore the magical world of the cover song. Now, there are two ways to completely screw up a cover–one way is to do a version that sounds almost identical to the original (Exhibit A is, let’s just say, not dissimilar to the original); the other way is to do a version that sounds completely, unredeemably awful (Exhibit B makes the overplayed original sound like an absolute work of art; Exhibit C takes one of the greatest songs in the history of rock & roll and makes it awful). But if you take some aspect(s) of the original and integrate them with what makes your music worthwhile, this can work well. The cover song is analogous to the sonnet: it is the inherent restraints of the form that makes the artist’s work creative and interesting.
Even if it weren’t a logical paradox, I wouldn’t wish that every song were a cover. But the form has its place, and it’s not at all unusual for a cover to improve upon its source material or amplify something that had been a mere undercurrent in the original. Either way, I like it.
So let’s discuss today’s selection. Continue reading »
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