while I've been working, I've been listening to a play list I found on youtube called, 'TOOL Greatest Hits'. like all great bands, their sound is distinctive, but their work is endlessly original and constantly evolving.
there's the heaviness, but there's an intricacy || subtlety || sublimity
some of their lyrics and song titles are a bit unseemly. like, when the O'Keefe Music Foundation kids covered a couple of their songs - which, as always, they did superbly - they had to change the lyrics in some interesting ways
what I like about O'Keefe Music Foundation is that they don't just cover the song and play it note for note like the original - they do their own arrangement and do the song in their own style, and the results are extraordinary
i was thinking the other day when I was in a shop and heard an old song that had been re-released by a different artist recently, and he sang it exactly as it was sung originally. Maybe the music was slightly different but the singing part was exactly the same - same timing, same notes....and I just felt like, what is the point of this? Is it just to cash in on a good song? maybe my negative reaction was partly because I didn't like the original version that much anyway, but, for whatever reason, I just thought, this is not good. original creation is good - even putting your own spin on an old song is good, but singing it in the same way, is not good in my opinion.
i was thinking about this issue in relation to U2's version of Helter Skelter. Bono very cleverly said, Charles Manson stole this song from the Beatles - now we're stealing it back....but the problem is they didn't really steal it back /// they didn't take ownership of it and make it their own.
maybe this is partly just an issue of my preferences though...like, if an artist I really like sings a song I really like, it may not matter to me that they sing it in the same way as the original version. A good test of this is Mazzie Star's version of wild horses, which I really like. Maybe it's just coz of Hope Sandoval's exquisite voice. I'm going to try an experiment - listening to Mazzie Star's version then listening to.....The Rolling Stones' version (they sang the original), and I'll listen for differences.
It's kind of jarring listening to the Stone's version straight after Mazzie Star, but it's definitely really good. amazing to think they produced it in 1971.
just out of interest, I'm listening to Guns n Roses do a live version of 'Wild Horses'....it's so funny.....Guns n Roses (known for being a heavy rock band) and Axl Rose says, 'we're gonna play some rolling stones (also known for being a heavy rock band, albeit it a different style/ era)....and then the song is a ballad. It was a bit disappointing though \\\ I loved the start - it was a long, intricate guitar solo, but then they just sang a couple of lines of the chorus and then it finished....
oh - Miley Cyrus has done a cover....let's see....it's pretty good, but interestingly, she's singing it very much in the style of Mick Jagger....that's the good bit....but then when she sings the chorus - the actual 'wild horses' part, she kind of lets loose and just sings it, and I don't like it as much. But bottom line, it's a note for note version. It's not too bad. It's live and it's a pretty good performance, but I doubt that she would ever release a studio recording of it.
so, my conclusion: i think Mazzie Star does take ownership of 'wild horses'. not only are the vocals different, but the arrangement sounds different - the guitar playing sounds different.
i discovered something very interesting when I was watching the Miley Cyrus video ￫ she does a version of the Led Zeppelin song 'Babe, I'm gonna leave you'. Here's Led Zeppelin performing it live in 1969(!): Led Zeppelin - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You (Danmarks Radio 1969).
And here is Miley's version: Miley
with Miley's version, at first I wasn't that impressed....it was good, but not stellar, but then once she really got into it, I was pretty impressed. and I think she really does make it her own.
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