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"Maps"

September 12, 2007 2:24 AM

started working on a cover of "Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs a while ago, then abandoned it because I got distracted by some other stuff. I found it today as I was looking around my harddrive and decided to give it another go.

I usually go overdub crazy, so I originally wanted to buck that trend and include only one guitar and one vocal track on this one. Ultimately, there are five tracks: two guitars and three voices. Still, I think it's pretty sparse.

Also, I took tRJ's comments from my "Tiny Dancer" attempt to heart and sang this in a more comfortable octave. I think it works. Let me know what you think.

The Lovers of Sight and Sound - Maps



9 Comments


tRJ said:

It starts off a little rocky, vocally, but it gets pretty good. I like the overdubs in particular. I am not familiar with the original, but I like it.

Update: Ok, I actually went and listened to the original. I like your version better actually. What a weird-ass band.

September 13, 2007 9:31 AM



Lauren said:

Without having heard the original, I have to say this is my favorite of your covers. I don't think there's any rockiness vocally at all. You sound genuine and you pitched it right to get the most out of your voice. Nice work! I don't particularly like the overdubbed voice work, but I think it works well for the guitars (I think you overdubbed the guitars, didn't you? If not, nice guitar work). All in all, better than Tiny Dancer and my current favorite.

September 13, 2007 10:32 AM



afs said:

I think, actually, you should try starting out the song with lower vocals. part of the charm of this song is that she, for once, isn't yelling or straining her voice, as she does on most of her other songs. it's almost like she's singing this song to herself rather than to an audience - so it comes across as a much more genuine song. Anyway, you should also start out singing lower for two reasons: this song isn't meant to be belted out and it sound a bit like you're straining in the beginning, but more importantly because then you can do that awesome thing where you go up the octave later in the song. btw, looks like I'm going to be in madison over the weekend of october 5th, will you still be there?

September 13, 2007 11:03 AM



estefanita said:

holy fucking shit!!!!! thats you???? what?!?!? see what happens when we don't talk for years? you blow me out of the water with a singing voice!!!! Fucking shit.
this is the first song i've ever heard you sing (and it happens to be one i love) but so you can never say i don't bullshit you, for me, it lacks emotion in your delivery. but did i mention fucking shit!!!

September 13, 2007 1:47 PM



Ismael Tapia II said:

tRJ,
Yeah, the more I listen to it, the more I really hate the first part's vocals. Part of the problem, honestly, is that it's hard to sing as loud as I need to sing in order to have that sound decent in my apartment without pissing off my neighbors. Or having them hear me--I always get really self-conscious about what someone would think if they walked past my door while I was recording the singing part. All they'd hear is me singing randomly. Thanks for the kind words, though!

Lauren,
Yeah, there was one overdubbed guitar, during the little pseudo-solo part. I tried to keep the vocal overdubs simple--it's just a doubling of the main part and then another part an octave lower. Can I ask what, specifically, you didn't like?

afs,
I really like that idea. I'll take a stab at it and then potentially put up a better version. The more I think about it, actually, the more I think that would be perfect.

estafanita,
You can listen to a bunch of other songs I've sung if you click on "The Lovers of Sight and Sound" on the right but, really, those pretty much suck. I should actually take them down--they're pretty bad. Also, I fixed the Tiny Dancer link, so that should work now.

And thanks for the compliments!

September 13, 2007 7:17 PM



TheExpat said:

Sorry to miss the train on this one. Dee tried to download the song and it wouldn't budge.

I think it's good. It's an honest representation of a song you obviously like. You put more emotion into the vocal delivery this time around, too. Kudos to Yew-does.

Next time fuck the neighbors and the cats. But don't actually fuck them. Not unless their hot. The neighbors. Shit. Anyway...

I like the original, but I only have one question:

What possessed you to cover this song? It's just a strange choice is all, so I thought I'd ask.

September 14, 2007 11:24 AM



Ismael Tapia II said:

You know, I don't really know why I covered this song. When the song first came out, while we were still in college, I didn't like it at all. In fact, I hated it and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I actually haven't heard any of their songs other than this one. Then, a few months ago, the song popped into my head while I was looking around for new music. So I downloaded it on iTunes and I played it continuously for a while. Eventually, I realized that I could do a pretty cool cover of it because it's so distinctive.

I always like it when people take a song from one genre and redo it in another--like Dolly Parton's awesome bluegrass cover of "Stairway to Heaven." Because the original is really, really, really simple, doesn't involve any actual chords, and is also kind of loud and driving, I thought that an acoustic version with arpeggiated chords instead of the single-note parts from the original might be kind of fun. I also really loved the line "They don't love you like I love you."

I'm not sure if my cover of "Maps" is necessarily in a different genre than the original, but I think it's a stark contrast, which is what I was going for.

September 15, 2007 8:29 AM



afs said:

what? you didn't like this song when it first came out? this song is GREAT. obviously. but don't bother listening to most of their other songs..

September 15, 2007 10:47 AM



lily said:

This is one of my favorite songs on my favorite mixes. I like your version. The middle-to-ending is much stronger than the beginning. I didn't expect to like it, because I really think the arrangement of the song is poorly suited to a male protagonist; it's a little too much of the sappy heart full of love and hand wringing sissy stuff for a male vocal. I think when most men try to pull off this sentiment they either sound petulant or delusional. But you didn't, so that's huge.

September 25, 2007 12:59 AM



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