Songs you love being massacred

[Redlight]

Imaginative or "brave" covers of great songs can be welcome but on the other side of the coin are the truly hideous "interpretations" that can be so traumatising as to make it harder to listen to the original.  I would include the Children in Need / Comic Relief onslaughts on Perfect day and God only Knows in this category.

However, this one, which I gather was on a BBC light entertainment show at the weekend, I think takes the genre to new depths:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03vbc5t

I'm sure other readers have their own "favourites"

[mattc]

That link requires a warning. I think the caption should ring enough alarm bells:

Katherine Jenkins performs a majestic version of David Bowie's Heroes.

Run away! Run away!

[caerau]

Ah yes I saw that.     (though I could look at Katherine Jenkins all day  ;-) )


Was it All Saints who completely massacred Under the Bridge by them Red Hot Chilli Peppers? 


I've never heard it personally but I had a student a couple of years back who was a big Pink Floyd fan.  It was a good idea to not mention the Scissor Sisters' cover of Comfortably Numb to him (well he started the mentioning of  it).  Given the Scissor Sisters usual thing I can only imagine at the horror - I quite like them in principle but Pink Floyd covers?  Really?

[mattc]

p.s. we already have 2 threads (and 7 pages) on this subject. One started by Mr Redlight!

https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=29352.msg538874#msg538874

Both of Caerau's "favourites" have been mentioned, I believe (and rightly so!)

[citoyen]

Madonna's "tribute" to Prince at last night's Billboard Music Awards...

Top tip: avoid it if you can.

[caerau]

Tributes are a very nice thought but can be horrific also.


As a big Queen fan I recall my ears being assaulted by hours of bad singing at the Freddie Mercury tribute concert.  I did love the bit at the beginning where the bands were allowed to play their own stuff - that was cool.

[red marley]

I've never heard it personally but I had a student a couple of years back who was a big Pink Floyd fan.  It was a good idea to not mention the Scissor Sisters' cover of Comfortably Numb to him (well he started the mentioning of  it).  Given the Scissor Sisters usual thing I can only imagine at the horror - I quite like them in principle but Pink Floyd covers?  Really?

I like that cover (which therefore makes it compatible with my reading of this thread title as 'Songs you love to see being massacred'). To me it does much the same as Punk did to Prog Rock - sticks two fingers up to the self-important pomposity of 'serious' rock (for which Roger Waters has been found guilty on more than one occasion).

Related to songs I love, but then get massacred, there's a category of them that don't even need to be covered for that to happen. Usually because their irony is either wilfully or naively ignored. Two examples spring to mind: Springsteen's Born in the USA being used to rouse Republicans and US patriots, and Joplin's Mercedes Benz used to sell Mercedes Benzes. Playing Perfect Day at a wedding, whether Lou Reed or a cover, also falls into this group.

[mattc]

So can "massacred" be a positive adjective?

(Personally I thought the Scissors' cover was bland and pointless - but it was very different to the original, so I defend the right of some poor misguided souls to enjoy it.

Most of my favourite covers are major reworks - whats the point otherwise? Except as a fun filler in live shows, but theyre of little interest if you werent there. )

[citoyen]

Most of my favourite covers are major reworks - whats the point otherwise?

Agreed.

[Redlight]

p.s. we already have 2 threads (and 7 pages) on this subject. One started by Mr Redlight!

Put it down to early onset of you-know-what ('cause I can't remember what it's called)

I'll go upstairs to fetch something next and come down empty-handed as usual

[Mr Larrington]

Madonna's "tribute" to Prince at last night's Billboard Music Awards...

Top tip: avoid it if you can.

Madonna has previous.  "American Pie" for starters.

[caerau]

I've never heard it personally but I had a student a couple of years back who was a big Pink Floyd fan.  It was a good idea to not mention the Scissor Sisters' cover of Comfortably Numb to him (well he started the mentioning of  it).  Given the Scissor Sisters usual thing I can only imagine at the horror - I quite like them in principle but Pink Floyd covers?  Really?

I like that cover (which therefore makes it compatible with my reading of this thread title as 'Songs you love to see being massacred'). To me it does much the same as Punk did to Prog Rock - sticks two fingers up to the self-important pomposity of 'serious' rock (for which Roger Waters has been found guilty on more than one occasion).

Related to songs I love, but then get massacred, there's a category of them that don't even need to be covered for that to happen. Usually because their irony is either wilfully or naively ignored. Two examples spring to mind: Springsteen's Born in the USA being used to rouse Republicans and US patriots, and Joplin's Mercedes Benz used to sell Mercedes Benzes. Playing Perfect Day at a wedding, whether Lou Reed or a cover, also falls into this group.

Like I said, I've not heard the Scissor Sisters version but it does sound a bit odd that they'd do Pink Floyd - however it was not me that was offended, I am intrigued enough to look it up now... this could be dodgy.


Your last paragraph there is always a hilarious one - didn't Springsteen actually try and put a stop to that sort of thing at one point?  My peeve on that front is the Cowell-esque (not just him others have done it too) of getting 12 year olds to sing either My Way or 'You were always on my mind' - just how the feck can a 12 year old have the life experience to even dream of doing those songs justice 

[citoyen]

Like I said, I've not heard the Scissor Sisters version but it does sound a bit odd that they'd do Pink Floyd

Yes, but it works despite that.

I agree with mattc that the best covers are those that do something different to the song, but I'm not sure if in the Scissor Sisters case it's because they're sticking two fingers up at the pomposity of prog rock - I think it's a sincere, heartfelt cover of a song they genuinely love. And it works because whatever you think of Pink Floyd, it is a genuinely good song, and good songs transcend genre, which is why they can survive being taken from their original context and given a wholly different treatment.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

I don't like Pink Floyd, but I do like Scissor Sisters and I do like their cover of Comfortably Numb. It's way better than the original. 

Madonna's American Pie is bilge, as is 5ive's We Will Rock You.

[Jaded]

Without You

Because the first cover was a massacre, and set the tone

[citoyen]

Without You

Because the first cover was a massacre, and set the tone

I didn't even know Nilsson's version was a cover until Radcliffe & Maconie discussed it on the radio the other day.

[T42]

That bunch of talentless wankers who call themselves Dead Belgian.  I'll not find a link, they're too horrible.

[mattc]

I don't like Pink Floyd, but I do like Scissor Sisters and I do like their cover of Comfortably Numb. It's way better than the original. 

Aha, now I understand. Liking the SS version is very odd, but clearly you have much deeper problems - not liking Pink Floyd is a serious disorder. You may need professional help - do you know anyone in Social Services that could show you the ropes?

[caerau]

, as is 5ive's We Will Rock You.

Hmm yeah, what were Roger and Brian thinking on that one - they played on it 

[ian]

I don't like Pink Floyd either. Sorry. From a childhood of my father forcing me to listen to it with the phrase 'now this is proper music' before opening the audio slurry pipes up. For the record, Falco's Rock Me Amadeus is proper music.

[mattc]

I don't like Pink Floyd either. Sorry. From a childhood of my father forcing me to listen to it with the phrase 'now this is proper music' before opening the audio slurry pipes up. For the record, Falco's Rock Me Amadeus is proper music.

Ian, are you one of those people that gets to vote on the Eurovision "juries" ?

[ian]

Still waiting for my invite.

[Mr Larrington]

Will I get away with Community Service if The Man finds out my Floyd collection (deliberately) lacks The Wall and The Final Cut?

I do have a cover of Comfortably Numb by USAnian singy-woman-with-a-guitar Dar Williams, which I didn't recognise at first.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

I don't like Pink Floyd, but I do like Scissor Sisters and I do like their cover of Comfortably Numb. It's way better than the original. 

Aha, now I understand. Liking the SS version is very odd, but clearly you have much deeper problems - not liking Pink Floyd is a serious disorder. You may need professional help - do you know anyone in Social Services that could show you the ropes?

No, all elderly social workers like Nick Cave, and the younger ones like Erasure. Trufax.

I don't like Pink Floyd either. Sorry. From a childhood of my father forcing me to listen to it with the phrase 'now this is proper music' before opening the audio slurry pipes up. For the record, Falco's Rock Me Amadeus is proper music.

Er war ein virtuouse, er war ein rockidol!

[rogerzilla]

Mark Ronson.  Need I say more?