by zutgorak | Jun 7, 2009 |
It is a phenomenon that has shown its head more and more these days.
Musicians are making covers of this and that, and well, some might be
an utter waste of time, but some are actually worth listening to, and in
some aspects might even be better then the original. My taste in music
is very broad and hence, I come across covers pretty much everywhere.
One favourite song of mine, is Disturbed’s “Land of confusion:
What many dont know, or maybe dont care about is that the song is actually
a cover of an old Genesis song. Yeah, Genesis, you know, those who had that
famous drummer named “Phil Collins”. Here’s the original:
Not a bad cover by David Draiman and his band ey?
A cover is one thing, but making a bad cover is another story really.
There are of course, hilarious covers out there aswell, and I will get to
those later on in this little show of mine.
Some people, like “the king of rock” Elvis Presley make a living on covers
and some release covers just to boost a low or waning career. Whatever the
reasons are for an artist to make a cover, the only thing I ask for is
that you do something that pay homage to the original artist, not to
slice and dice the song in a futile effort to make the song seem like it
is “yours”.
Depending on your voice, you may, or may not be suited to do certain
covers, here you have what I personally think is an abyssmal choice of
song.:
I seriously hope I dont have to tell you wich band made the original.
Dear Avril, you have a good voice, much better then I have, I will freely
admit this, but couldn’t you have picked a better song to cover out of
Metallica’s wide arsenal of musical rockets? How about Sanitarium (Welcome home)?
Then of course, there are those that just likes to twist your arm and force you
to start listening to something that you never would have listened to in the
first place. This is a song that pretty much everyone can sing along to, but
I am pretty sure that there isn’t that many that openly admit to liking it.
And I can honestly say, I really dont like the Bee-Gees, but hey, they made
money didn’t they?
However, when you stumble across an old hero making a cover of THAT,
it either brings a laughter out of you, or a tear. For me, its a mixture of both.
Do you have more examples? Feel free to mail me or leave a comment
and I will take a look.
Oh, I dont need Hallelujah by Mr. Cohen, because I know that both Jeff Buckley and
Rufus Wainwright does beautiful covers of it.
by zutgorak | Jun 2, 2009 |
Im sitting here listening to some music just to relax a tad and the song
that just ended was “Too much love will kill you” by Queen.
Isn’t it the ultimate irony that 
a voice, that spanned over four
octaves, who entertained more
or less the entire globe, who
came from such a small, legendery
place as Zanzibar, should die at
what can be called a young age.
Sometimes you have to wonder if he
was aware of that fact already while
recording songs way before he
contracted the HIV wich would
develop into AIDS, and later lead to
his demise.
You can analyze his songs and of course,
if you only take snippets out of context, you
can find anything, but I really think that the
song “Too much love wll kill you” sums it best.
This artist that, as many of the great artists,
received most of his fame posthumously.
Who could have imagined that young Farroukh Bulsara would give
so much of himself to the world, creating works of art way into
the very last. It is impressive that he managed to hide the fact of
his disease all the time, up to the day before his death.
The one whom the Gods love, dies young
it is said. I can’t really say if Freddie was
young, but I think he should have had more
years on this godforsaken rock in space.
He doesn’t see the awareness he became
a part of, neither does he see what his legacy
accomplishes today, but one thing is certain,
the world did loose one of the great ones when
Freddie passed away in his Kensington home.
Say what you will about his sexual preferences
but that man had a voice unmatched in its versatility.
From metal, to opera, he could do it all. How many
singers today can boast that fact and then own up
to it? I would say that you would be hard pressed
to find even one with the vocal abilities to equal
Freddies.
Anyhoo, If you haven’t heard “Too much love will kill you” I strongly
urge you to listen to it, at least twice. First time to just enjoy the song
and second, to pay attention to the lyrics. Just to make it easier, I’ll
give them to you here.
Im just the pieces of the man I used to be
Too many bitter tears are raining down on me
Im far away from home
And Ive been facing this alone
For much too long
I feel like no-one ever told the truth to me
About growing up and what a struggle it would be
In my tangled state of mind
Ive been looking back to find
Where I went wrong
Too much love will kill you
If you cant make up your mind
Torn between the lover
And the love you leave behind
Youre headed for disaster
cos you never read the signs
Too much love will kill you
Every time
Im just the shadow of the man I used to be
And it seems like theres no way out of this for me
I used to bring you sunshine
Now all I ever do is bring you down
How would it be if you were standing in my shoes
Cant you see that its impossible to choose
No theres no making sense of it
Every way I go Im bound to lose
Too much love will kill you
Just as sure as none at all
Itll drain the power thats in you
Make you plead and scream and crawl
And the pain will make you crazy
Youre the victim of your crime
Too much love will kill you
Every time
Too much love will kill you
Itll make your life a lie
Yes, too much love will kill you
And you wont understand why
Youd give your life, youd sell your soul
But here it comes again
Too much love will kill you
In the end…
In the end.
Freddie Mercury / Farroukh Bulsara passed away at the 24th November, 1991, at the
age of 45.
If you are a little bit more interrested in this marvellous performer and want to know
a little more about his life, I recommend purchasing the DVD
“Freddie Mercury – The Untold Story” It takes you from the streets of
Zanzibar, to Eeling school of arts where Freddie Studied design and fashion
and on to becoming the icon he is today. The documentary contains
interviews with lovers, like his last one, Jim Hutton, his mother and sister.
