Cover versions
July 30th, 2008 | by Ben Hoare |Cover versions are interesting to people because they combine something familiar with something unexpected. They are a deviation from something we already know.
In some cases, the success of the cover version relies on our knowledge of the original. Punk covers are like parodies of the originals - deeply referential, usually quite one-dimensional. Me First & the Gimme Gimmes are good at this kind of cover.
At other times, the cover version supercedes the original, and takes on its own life. Many people say they like ‘Hallelujah’, but only the Jeff Buckley version. So a cover version can be an improvement on the original. But, if you know both songs, the second version is still referential, defined by its relationship with the original.
Some cover versions I like:
- Save Ferris - Come on Eileen
- Barbara Gaskin & Dave Stewart - It’s My Party
- Joey Ramone - What a Wonderful World
- Muse - Feeling Good
- Chesney Hawkes - Surrender
Stories have cover versions too. To appreciate Roald Dahl’s ‘Three Little Pigs‘, you really need to know the original folk tales it departs from. Cruel Intentions is a cover of Dangerous Liaisons, they say.
Maybe every re-telling is a cover version. So, Disney’s output consists almost solely of cover versions.
But is it as simple as that? Are adaptations, re-makes, parodies, dramatisations, translations, spoofs, tributes, all cover versions?
I’d like to think about this some more, later.
