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Tuesday, July 10, 2007
When I was a child, I caught a fleeting glimpse...The other day my boyfriend and I stepped into the Hot Topic store at a local outlet mall. I thought maybe I'd score some cheap t-shirts for my kids.
Hot Topic, for those who don't know, is a little boutique for kids. It has t-shirts emblazoned with the names of all the coolest bands, plus t-shirts related to anything else that could be considered trendy and/or edgy. They sell jewelry made of vinyl, studs, and chains. They have, like, fake nose rings, for thirteen-year-olds whose parents won't let them get the real thing. My two older sons aren't really into that look, but my ten-year-old makes me stop every time we pass one. So, even though my kids are with their dad for the summer, I went into Hot Topic, looking for clearance rack bargains.
As we browsed, a quick, high-pitched disco tune blared over the store speakers. It was kind of catchy, and something about it seemed familiar. I found myself swaying a little to its beat, kind of like I already knew it. The vocal came on, sounding very much like the BeeGees... like the BeeGees on acid, more like.
You are only coming through in waves! [Boom... boom... boom!] Your lips move! I can't hear what you're saying! [Boom, boom!]
"Oh, my god," I told my boyfriend. "Listen -- this is a cover of Pink Floyd's 'Comfortably Numb'!"
I wasn't the only parent in the store. Across the t-shirt rack, a woman about ten years my senior shopped with her son. She looked unhappy. She winced. Then, she muttered, at no one in particular, "Who had the audacity to cover this song?"
"I know! Pink Floyd!" I couldn't resist saying to her. "I was just saying that!"
"It's horrible," she said.
"Really, you think? I don't know... It's kind of catchy," I said.
She shook her head no, and I gave her my most sympathetic smile.
As we left, I asked the bleached and pierced clerk who was singing that song on the speaker.
"The Scissor Sisters," he said. And I felt proud of myself, a little, because I'd actually heard of them before.
Sometimes, among old people, cover songs cause strong emotion.
My boyfriend is Tad. His best friend is Mike. As far as boyfriend's best friends go, Mike is pretty cool and I feel lucky that he's my friend-by-boyfriend.
Mike and I are closer in age than Tad and I, and Mike and I share an old-school love of hard rock. For instance, Mike and I are planning to go to the upcoming Rush concert with one of Tad's other friends. Tad, however, will only accompany us if I buy his ticket, and even then he'll be physically inable to keep from remarking on Rush's lack of synthesizers. Because he is younger, and he needs synthesizers to survive. He simply can't help it.
Anyhow. The other day, Mike and Tad and I were at a noisy eating establishment. A song came on the speaker and Mike said, "Oh, that's that song I like."
I listened. The song said, Take a look at my girlfriend. She's the only one I've got. I said, "Oh, Supertramp."
Mike said, "Is that who it is? No, I thought it was by someone else."
I listened closer. "Yeah, that's a cover. Of a song by Supertramp."
Mike said, "Really?"
I said, "Mike!" Because I was ashamed of him, at that moment. I mean, that's the kind of thing I'd expect from Tad -- not recognizing a rock song from the '70s -- because he has only freshly entered his thirties. But not from Mike, who likes Rush and really should know better.
At that moment, then, I went on a two-hour-long diatribe about the fact that people keep covering Supertramp lately, and no one gives them proper credit. The Goo Goo Dolls' cover of "Give a Little Bit"? Did nothing but rip off the complete awesomeness of the original, without giving Supertramp the proper respect. Just thinking about it now pisses me off. Dammit. Whoever's covering "Breakfast in America"? Same thing. Damn you people! Damn you uncreative young pop stars!!
At least the Scissor Sisters took a Pink Floyd song and did something new with it, you know? Personally, I don't think you should cover a song unless you're adding something artistic to it. Otherwise, you're just plagiarizing, basically, as far as I'm concerned.
I think the law should state that, when a band basically plagiarizes an old song, DJs should be required to say so on the radio. You know?
This means I am old now.
Sometimes I have to laugh at myself, for being so old and curmudgeonly about things like that. Mostly, though, I'm glad I'm old now, because I don't want to wear the clothes at Hot Topic. I don't want to get my face pierced.
All I want to do is listen to my CDs in peace, and then crankily point out unoriginal covers to the younger generations.
I'm glad kids have Hot Topic, though. I like to take my son there, and see his face light up when he uses his allowance to buy a wristband with an embroidered happy-face skull or whatever. That lady who got pissed off about the Scissor Sisters cover -- she cracked me up. She was curmudgeonly, but she was there, you know? She went into Hot Topic with her kid, braving the music, instead of telling him "no we can't go there," or else sitting at home in front of her TV, ignoring her kid altogether. Because of that (and because she recognized that song), she is my secret sister.
It's okay to get old, as long as you can watch other people enjoy being young, without begrudging them any of it. That's what I tell myself, now that the eye wrinkles are setting in. Then I pop The Yes Album into my CD player, and roll down the road.
Labels: parenting, pop culture
6:02 AM #Comments:
I love this post terribly, because it is so, so true.I thought my dear friend A. was going to have a CORONARY a few years ago when a young band covered Brown-Eyed Girl, and she was angry for the very same reason. I thought it was kind of catchy, much like yourself with the Pink Floyd.
The cover that made me insane was a few Christmases ago when Sixpence None the Richer covered "You're A Mean One, Mister Grinch," because apparently I cannot cope with anyone who is not a bass singing that song.
# posted by
Ali : 10:20 AM
LOL....I had to laugh at the whoile post as my husband just got a cd from Amazon called " Twisted Willie"...I kid you not. A tribute to Willie Nelson with the Rev. Horton Heat singing " Hello Walls"
It's a hoot. Covers and tribute lps ( oh krep..lp's ..not that shows my age.) oops cd's are fine . They at least give a sense of one artist respecting another work, at least in my perfect world.
LMAO..When I see the young kids in the trendoid shops, I always think " Enjoy your time in the sun sweetie..it is all to brief. " I am reminded of how I would haunt Lerners and SPencer's Gifts.
Still toiling in 2 A
# posted by
Aunty Pol : 11:00 AM
LOL....I had to laugh at the whoile post as my husband just got a cd from Amazon called " Twisted Willie"...I kid you not. A tribute to Willie Nelson with the Rev. Horton Heat singing " Hello Walls"
It's a hoot. Covers and tribute lps ( oh krep..lp's ..not that shows my age.) oops cd's are fine . They at least give a sense of one artist respecting another work, at least in my perfect world.
LMAO..When I see the young kids in the trendoid shops, I always think " Enjoy your time in the sun sweetie..it is all to brief. " I am reminded of how I would haunt Lerners and Spencer's Gifts.
Still toiling in 2 A
# posted by
Aunty Pol : 11:01 AM
The song with the Supertramp sample is called "Cupid's Chokehold" by Gym Class Heroes. They only sample the song but the rest of the song is pretty forgettable. Every time it comes on I get a little excited that it is the original and then there is the letdown. I had to explain Supertramp to my son and his girlfriend. He knows most of the classic rock stuff but Supertramp was not high on the list of "great bands I must teach him about".
# posted by
: 11:40 AM
I had a long argument with my co-worker, who tends to suck, about the Scissor Sisters remake. She thought it was blasphemy but I liked it because like you said it had something new to it. Plus I love that comfortably numb is now a dance tune. I normally don’t have problems with remakes as long as they don’t make a great song suck.. such as the Used’s remake of the David Bowie/Queen song Underpresser. Now that pisses me off.
# posted by
LaLizard : 1:19 PM
Aw, your rage at the the inadequately credited Supertramp covers reminds me of the year I spent cursing Kid Rock for doing a cover version of 'Feel Like Makin Love'. The number of people I encountered who both thought it was good and thought he wrote it made me tear my hair out. And I wasn't even alive yet when Straight Shooter was released. But it's the ORIGINAL and IT'S BETTER.
Unfortunately now I'm all confused because I really like the Scissor Sisters but have an intense allergy to Pink Floyd. That's going to require some cost/benefit analysis.
# posted by
MaggieCat : 3:00 PM
Yeah. You wanna get really pissed off? Listen to Radio Disney with your nine-year-old and marvel at the horribly re-made and sugarfied versions of the songs of your childhood. I almost ran the car off the road once to explain that Earth Wind and Fire actually did "Let's Groove" before whatever High School Musical related group they were playing at the time. I almost got into an argument with my child in the car. I simply cannot be mature about these things.
-greer
# posted by
: 6:39 PM
Gwen, I think you are my concert stalker. First The Police, now Rush. Well, maybe Rush. I have sort of the same problem you do with getting anyone to go with me, except minus the bonus of the cool boyfriend's friend. Apparently none of my crowd can stomach Geddy Lee's voice for an extended period of time. I wish we were in the same city so I could be your internet stalker and you could go with me.
Also, I just bought Breakfast in America on vinyl for myself so I don't have to worry in case someday my mom disowns me and decides not to leave me her entire record collection. And I, too, roll on down the road to Yes. And I, too, am not impressed with covers, especially when people don't know they're covers. Let's not even talk about the Pink Floyd thing. I hadn't heard of it 'til now. I'll just pretend I didn't because otherwise the bile will rise up in my throat and someone will find me wandering the streets muttering under my breath about the state of music today. I'm only 29, but this is the music I have loved since I was a kid. Stop messing with it, a-holes!
# posted by
: 9:30 PM
I asked for (and received) Breakfast in America for Christmas a few years ago, and I have loved it every since. Then I collected some ELO. My husband wonders why I am so into soft rock from a certain time period and nostalgia is the only reason I can think of.
Speaking of nostalgia, we saw Morrissey last night. I last saw him 22 years ago and it was CRAZY.
I cannot spend more than a minute in a Hot Topic.
# posted by
pinky pinkerson : 9:42 PM
Best post ever!
# posted by
Marigoldie : 9:59 PM
I love that you gave that Mom in Hot Topic her props!!!
I haunt Hot Topic for my son too, and every once and a while I totally go in myself and score him some sale shirt that makes his week!
Gwen I so love that you love music like this. You really take each song like a gift. No matter who or what sings it and I appreciate that about you. You appreciate so much and do so honestly and with gusto.
(I've been lurking for so long, I'm haveing real probs with my blogger account)
pixielyn
http://youvebeenpixied.blogspot.com/
# posted by
: 11:09 PM
I agree. Remakes can be horrid. Or a remake can be great if there's some change-up, a different artist putting a new spin on the song, etc.
But, for example, Gnarls Barkley doing 'Gone, Daddy, Gone'? It's like karaoke. It's the exact same song with someone else reciting the exact same lyrics at the same pace to nearly identical instrumentation. So what, exactly, was the point?
# posted by
Claudia : 2:11 PM
i'm glad you wrote this blog cuz it's totally how i feel about the new cover of the cranberries' 'zombie'. i realize it's popular around here cuz it's a local band covering it, but come on, that song's a classic. and if you're not gonna bring it up to date in your cover, then leave it alone. they basically copy everything about the original, but add an extra guitar and a guy's vocal. eh.
good song now. better song in the early 90s.
anyway. now i'm gonna take a half hour or two going over other examples in my head. quietly and spitefully here at my desk. as always, thanks for the distraction. :-)
# posted by
Blake : 10:43 AM
May I point you to this? http://retrocrush.buzznet.com/archive2007/badcovers/index.html
I don't think the list covers the Scissor Sister's remake, but there are plenty of other offenders out there.
# posted by
: 12:27 AM
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