Music Appreciation
Tom has a theory on music appreciation. If he is correct, I am definitely part of the same group he’s in.
I have a theory on music application. If a white person/band covers a song originally performed by a black person/band, they will speed it up (exhibit a)
If a black person/band covers a song originally performed by a white person/band, they will slow it down (exhibit b).
Discuss.
March 27th, 2008 at 10:44 am
I can disprove your theory in two words: Proud Mary.
March 27th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Also, I’m not sure that exhibit B is noticeably slower than the song it comes from, and technically it’s not a cover, it’s a sample. 🙂
March 27th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Yup, exhibit b is a direct sample of “Every Breath You Take” and is not any slower.
“Every Breath You Take” incidentally is an example of those songs that bubble gum pop lovers like but don’t understand.
March 27th, 2008 at 10:49 am
And who originally did suffa? I think you need before and after examples for each.
March 27th, 2008 at 10:51 am
whoops. wrong link. Should not have been suffa. Changed.
March 27th, 2008 at 10:53 am
And I went back and listened. SOunded to me like the police cover chick sang it slower.
March 27th, 2008 at 10:56 am
I have a vague awareness that EBYT is about stalking. 🙂 But then, I never much liked the song.
Also, speaking of suffering…
March 27th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Hey, now wait a minute! By the time he did Smooth Criminal, Michael Jackson could not fairly be described as “black.” 🙂
I don’t think she sings it slower, I just think she holds out the notes longer. May be a distinction without a difference.
Anyway, I think whether a remake is sped up or slowed down is a function not of black/white, but of when it was made. Exhibit A vs. Exhibit B.
(Heck, in exhibit B, they remade their own damn song — and ruined it.)
March 27th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
How about the Fugee’s cover of that Ann Murrays song, killing me softly or whatever.
I could see this theory working for Elvis.
March 27th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
I agree with tgirsch. Early rock and blues tended to a slower groove. Also, Southern did tend to be slower than Northern. Listen to Southern blues compared to Chicago blues of the same periods.
Few today seem to able to play covers of early stuff from, say, Booker T and the MGs for example, without ruining the feel by speeding it up. A walking pace beat. A stroll– that’s one key to some of the rock and blues tunes of yore, but then some of us walk faster than others. There’ve been studies done on this.
Then there’s Eric Clapton, who slows down even his own material.
Here’s a thought: If a baseball player gets booted out of the hall of fame for taking “performance enhancing drugs”, what about musicians? Would there even BE a music hall of fame? Just askin’.
March 28th, 2008 at 2:09 am
5-yard penalty, SayUncle, for linking Puff the Magic Diddy without a vomit warning in effect.
I’m shocked he didn’t use the words ‘fine’ and ‘smoove’ to describe his lost friend. I thought it was compulsory in his – err – genre.