Stealing the covers
Kia and I have an ongoing debate that, perhaps, some of you can shed some light on (i.e., tell me I'm right).
She says that there are certain covers of songs that are better than the original. For example, there's a cover of the Eagles' "Take it Easy" which she finds to be an improvement on the original.
I say that covers can accentuate certain features of the original song or provide a new take on an old favorite, giving it a new life. But being a purist, I don't think that the cover can be better than the original. After all, if the original were never written, there would be no cover.
Comments welcome.
9 Comments:
ABJ...you are wrong.
Hendrix's cover of All Along the Watchtower is better than Dylan's original. So much so that Dylan said he used to play the song in concert as a tribute to Hendrix.
Game.Set.Match.
you're saying that a cover cannot be better than the original because without the original there would be no cover, but that doesn't make sense. you can still judge them separtely. just because one came first doesn't mean it's naturally better. take, for example, our birth order...
I will give you this: you can claim that you like one better, but the original is the original. So anything else is a different song. It's more of a theoretical point that I don't think I can fully articulate.
oh and by the way, we went to Best Week Ever last night and Pete met Jacob. so you can ask Pete if he's a real live boy.
You make him sound like Pinocchio. I'll believe it when I see it. Until then, he doesn't exist!
that was intentional. making it sound like he pinocchio. i was trying to make him sound like he was pinocchio.
Here's a hypothetical to prove the point:
Let's say Special in Other Ways wrote a song. Bear with me, stranger things have happened. And let's say, for whatever reason, that *any* other band chose to cover it.
The drumming alone would be so much improved that you would have to say the cover was better.
[Note that, as usual, Leavy provides a more well-reasoned argument, but mine is more personally spiteful. It's all a matter of personal style, I think.]
i came upon a will oldham song, "just to see you smile", that is absolutely fantastic. turns out it's by tim mcgraw. and i dare say, will sounds better than tim. yes, tim gets credit for putting words and chords together, but i gotta go with the gestalt, biatch.
"Take It Easy" isn't an Eagles song; it's a Jackson Browne song.
Take it from me. I know about these things.
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