Monday, January 25, 2016

A worthy effort



"Suddenly I turned around and she was standin' there
With silver bracelets on her wrists and flowers in her hair
She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns
"Come in," she said, "I'll give you shelter from the storm""

11 comments:

bagoh20 said...

Even Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was treated better than this.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Hillary got shelter via the storm. link

bagoh20 said...

I think the term is "snow job".

Chip Ahoy said...

strum strum strummy STRUM STRUM strummy
strum strum strummy strum.

Oh, strum strum strummy STRUM STRUM strummy
strum strum strummy strum.

Everybody, strum strum strummy STRUM STRUM strummy
strum strum strummy strum.

Oh, strum strum strummy STRUM STRUM strummy
strum strum strummy strum.

Where's the pathos?

Dylan's got pathos up to here *cuts neck*

Don't you think a cover should make it better? More pathetic? More weird? More off?

For example Running Up That Hill by Placebo is pretty good. It taps into the weirdness and goes with it, elaborates it a bit.

Conversely Mad World by British band Tears for Fears has an off kilter tempo, a disorientation to it and a teenager's pace that ALL the covers lack, instead they all slow the tempo and take a song that is somewhat challenging to interpret and make something sad and wearisome and overly simplified, and did I mention they're ALL way too slow? Way way sad and depressingly slow, not confused chaos, depression.

It's like when you're accustomed to Beethoven conducted by George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra then everything else, everyone else is wrong.

Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong and not right.

Just not right. She needs to take singing lessons from a guy who cannot sing and put a little scritchy-scratchy sandpaper to that song, not to smooth it, rather to rough it up.

I really dig Dylan sometimes. He tells a great story. I should show you some time. Maybe I will. Maybe I'll show you a weird Bob Dylan story. Strange mythological Egyptian fiction pulled out of his butt just like Norman Mailer. Quite extraordinary, the imagery and it's all made up b.s.

Also, another favorite song an island explodes, he's got everything in it, Panama hat, noose, poker game, diamond ring, frenetic homosexual encounter, verandas, staircases, suicide, cranes flying away from a sinking island. The guy is very imaginative and all his lyrics display very well, for he is a visual lyricist and storyteller.

chickelit said...

Me likey, deborah.
That song is from my favorite Dylan album. Great tag, too!

Gotta run, but I'll be back.

deborah said...

I grade nonprofessional covers on a curve. Her guitar sounds very much like Dylan's strumming and she had the coordination to add the harmonica. If I were a negative downer I could post at her site, 'hey really nice, but I think your voice needs to be just a tad louder than the guitar.' But I compare her abilities to mine, which are nil. I dig the slightly flat notes, even though they're not intentional.

rhhardin said...

Cover of Bach for guys.

MamaM said...

Couldn't listen past the first verse. Too intense and strident in sound for my liking, with the discordant visual of someone singing about shelter from the storm while sitting in a non sultry, suburban style bedroom was more than my eyeballs and ears could handle.

Putting it on today's list of annoying listening experiences.

rhhardin said...

Cover of Sibelius for guys.

deborah said...

Thanks, rh, Chang is brilliant.

Meade said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl_PMHpUQyQ