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Honor Shakespeare, Dishonor Nirvana

August 29, 2007 3:28 AM

went to see an outdoor performance of Much Ado About Nothing tonight. Although I have read several Shakespeare plays, this was the first time I actually got to see one performed. I thought it was pretty good, although I still think that Shakespeare is pretty ridiculous and the dialogue is sometimes impenetrable, especially when it's mumbled in an outdoor venue. Still, the outdoor stage made the whole thing much cooler, except for the part where it started raining really, really hard. But that only lasted for about ten mintues and, after a brief break, the play resumed. The second act was much stronger than the first, I thought, but it was really enjoyable throughout.

Anyway, I've been thinking a lot lately about cover songs. A good cover song is hard to do. You have to preserve some aspect of the original song while simultaneously putting your own spin on the tune. No cover is likely to be universally loved--fans of the original are likely to claim that the cover fails to live up to the original--but good ones nonetheless exist. I mean, Jimi Hendrix's "All Along the Watchtower" is a cover, and anyone who claims that that song doesn't kick ass is a moron, plain and simple. Other excellent covers include Dolly Parton's version of "Stairway to Heaven" (if you haven't heard this, you have to--it's awesome) and Johnny Cash's version of "One" (along with a bunch of his other covers), and Soundgarden's "Come Together" (which Mr. X. once described as the "darkest version" of the song ever).

My recent interest in covers is due in no small part to the hours I've recently spent trolling around Youtube. Cover versions, both amateur and professional, abound. Some of them are great, some of them are terrible, and some will almost certain cause any alien species that are watching our electromagnectic signals to conclude that our species must be eliminated. So, here, I'm going to attempt to demonstrate the wide quality spectrum that covers inhabit. To be fair, I'm only going to include covers of one song. That way, it'll be easier to compare the relative strengths and weaknesses of the various interpretations. The song I've picked is Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." it's extremely popular and anthemic, plus the arrangement is, to put it mildly, extremely simple, so artists have a lot of discretion as to what they're going to do. Let's jump right in.

Tori Amos

Although Ms. Amos looks like a strung-out troll here, this version kicks unmitigated ass. It's actually one of my all-time favorite cover versions. I think that her interpretation of the song is transcendent, which is saying a lot because I abhor that word. I think that this version both respects Kurt Cobain's song while being completely original.

Paul Anka

This is an abomination. While "Smells Like Teen Spirit" works both as a rock anthem and as a mournful piano ballad, it absolutely cannot work as a fucking big band swing piece of shit. Mr. Anka should be shot for being so far off the mark. He shouldn't have even attempted this. And, really, who wants to hear him talk about his libido?

The Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain

This might not actually have been that bad except that the singer is unbelievably terrible. As it stands, it's hilarious--look at the ukelelists bang their heads!--but it's not good per se. In fact, I'd say it's bad per se.

Some orchestra

It seems like everytime there's a really popular song, someone tries to arrange it for an orchestra. Sometimes it's successful, although I can't think of an example right now. Most of the time, however, it's not. This is an example of when it is not. The main problem, I think, is that the song just doesn't lend itself to this sort of instrumentation. It's pretty hard to expand what is essentially a very repetative, sparse, simple song into something that is both recognizable and interesting when played by that many instruments.

Eric Roche

It cannot be denied that, technically speaking, this version is very impressive. And Mr. Roche certainly puts his own unique spin on the song. The problem is that his spin sucks. He essentially takes the song and adapts it so that he can show off what an amazing guitarist he is. There's no feeling here, just sterile virtuosity. I'm also extremely annoyed by the way he moves.

Some random guys

Athough it's not perfect, I like this version, especially the vocals, which I think are pretty well done. The lead guitar is pretty unimaginative but, overall, I think it's pretty good. I appreciate that they tried to do something different with it without stripping it of its essence.

Futile Quest

I've saved the best--by which I mean "the worst"--for last. God, this is awful. The kid actually says "bwing your fwiends." And then, during the chorus, he says "hawhoa." These kids seem pretty young, but that's hardly an excuse--they should definitely be prosecuted as adults.

Anyway, there you have it. Good covers are hard to come by.



8 Comments


dicta said:

some of these were pretty funny. unfortunately, though perhaps musically talented, tori amos' version was just like most of her other songs, and made me want to cut myself.

August 30, 2007 1:16 PM



estefanita said:

so after that long and interesting rant i'm commenting only on the first paragraph....and it's not really a comment....where did you see much ado about nothing? in spring green put on by APT?

September 1, 2007 3:02 PM



Ismael Tapia II said:

That's correct, estefanita. It was my second time there, and I have to say that I really like it.

September 2, 2007 12:28 AM



estefanita said:

maybe I told you... I worked there two summers. In fact I worked there the summer of 2004, the same summer that I last saw you. That was a fun night, i enjoy being introduced as "Your prom date" but anyway....if you make it out to Spring Green again, go early, drive into the tiny town and have dinner at the Shed. Good memories there!

September 2, 2007 12:08 PM



Ismael Tapia II said:

What did you do at APT? Were you an actor?

Yeah, I totally remember that night. It was you, me, and Julie. I was wearing my skirt. And we went to Flag Brew. And it's not like I just randomly decided to introduce you as my prom date--we actually went to prom. Although, as I remember, we were only there for about fifteen minutes.

September 2, 2007 1:25 PM



estefanita said:

no i was a stitcher which by the way, is not a word in the english dictionary, but if you look on a theatre job web site, it's everywhere. I made costumes for them.....and drank lots of beer for myself.
I think we stayed a bit longer than 15 minutes! And I wasn't being mean....I really did like being introduced that way. It has a different feeling...think about it "This is my friend Steph" or "This is my prom date Steph" Even the chicks you were with had a different reaction. "Nice to meet you" versus "Ohhh really? You and Ismael went to prom? Nice to meet you" ....

ps I know know. I'm full of shit...

September 5, 2007 3:04 PM



Ismael Tapia II said:

Yeah, Wisconsin is conducive to drinking beer. Did I ask you earlier what you're doing now to pay the bills?

And of course I introduced you as my prom date rather than as my friend--if you've got that choice with a cute girl, you've gotta go with the former.

September 5, 2007 3:58 PM



estefanita said:

mooching off the french government!! Americans are crazy if they think illegal aliens mooch off our system....what system? We hardly have anything to mooch. If you really want to see mooching in action come to France. BEFORE I was married and working, I just went to school a few hours a day to learn French, my boyfriend supported me. But I also latched onto his social security, so I get free health care and we get a monthly stipend of 298 euros for living expenses. When my boyfriend went into the social secu office to sign me up, the poor office woker had to have two other colleagues help him search for the proper proceedure when someone actually worked. That means they have so many people come in to sign up for the free health care that don't work that the employees themselves forgot how to sign people up who actually work. When French people that I meet ask me about the whole illegal immigration issue in the US, they are usually supprised to find out that the immigrants come to work. In France they come and get paid but don't work!
so in answer to your question....I am a cashier at a grocery store.

September 6, 2007 3:49 AM



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