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Before I begin this long ass post I have to say thank you to whatever anonymous person, maybe the one that sent me the drive Nic insane Secret Admirer message, that gave me a paid LJ Account. That was super nice of you and I had fun coding my new Rollergirls layout. It still has some minor bugs though so if anyone who reads this is good at LJ coding let me know because I have three minor questions about my layout.
I feel very teenage right now because I'm sitting in my parents house, in my old room, on my old Mac G4, fireplace roaring on the far side of the room, and listening to punk covers. I also feel very sad nerd geek stereotype since my old room at my parents house is in the basement. Oh yes, I will admit that I am indeed a proof product of that old joke. But dude, okay, people mock the basement parent dwelling nerds and I can see the validity of the mocking but if you're going to live at home the basement is the shit place to do it. lol. You can convert it into a studio apartment and stuff. That's the reason I picked to live down here as a kid. Also because it's huge, has a refrigerator, a bathroom, furnished living room complete with tv, dvd player, vhs player, and even a fucking pool table.
Yeah, my parents have a pimped out basement. Although the fact my old room is decorated with toys makes it less pimp. Even if Doozer figurines and wind up hopping Mokona toys are damn spiffy. lol. But the reason I'm here is not because I've had some weird roommate drama with Pip and Stacey or I'm fighting with Michi. It got suddenly really fucking cold recently and my mom has the flu as a result. While I love my father dearly, I mean, I'm such a sad fucking girl and I call him "Daddy" but it's not as weird as it sounds because my voice isn't all squeaky. I already talked about that once. It's low but not cool sexy low because I suck and cannot come close to being Dina Meyer husky voice. But I love my father despite the fact he's a really really bad patient when he's sick and even worse when attempting to take care of other sick people.
And that's why I'm here. I'm playing nurse to my mother and having a strangely fun time doing that because she helped me out earlier in the week and sort of spoiled me so I wanted to return the favor. I figure while I'm here I can maybe get more done for ATWH Part 3. Part of the reason I'm here is the fact that earlier this week my car broke down and I was two hours late for my evil accounting class as a result. Since my roommates and Michi work in the morning I didn't have anyone to drive me to Saturn to pick my car up the next day when repairs were done. I called my mom and asked if she could drive me since she's retired and as a substitute instead of full time teacher she can sort of make her own hours. She didn't have an assignment so she agreed but only on two conditions.
1. Go shopping with her that day
2. Go out to lunch with her that day
Ohhhhh god, the pain! The suffering! rofl. I immediately agreed because I get along really well with my mother and I do enjoy doing both of those two things with her. We're not that stupid cliche of claiming to be best friends because I think it's weird and unnatural to be close friends much less best friends with your parents. I mean, they CREATED you. There are certain things you should not have knowledge of that you should if you're a halfway decent friend. You know, crap about their romantic life and sexual life and blah blah... things that would make me scream in terror if I heard my mother talking to me about them and cover my ears while singing I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major General from my favorite musical of all time, Pirates of Penzance. Ah, how I love Gilbert & Sullivan.
To get totally off track my two favorite childhood movies are Pirates of Penzance and Zorro: The Gay Blade. The latter is the funniest fucking movie ever and everyone in gods creation must watch it. lol. Although probably most of them wouldn't be so into it as I am but I love that damn movie and I really love George Hamilton in it. He's at his wonderful cheesy humored best. Plus it costars Lauren Hutton and Brenda Vaccaro who is just funny as hell as Florinda.
Zorro: The Gay Blade imdb page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083366/
I think the reason I loved those movies as a kid is the sword fighting. I dig swords. But the sword fights in movies. Have you ever watched fencing matches? Boring. How can they make swords boring? Swords seem boring proof with their glorious shiny sharpness and death wielding capabilities. But they somehow managed to do it. Assholes. lol. I love Pirates of Penzance a bit more than Zorro: The Gay Blade if only because I was first introduced to the musical by watching the 1983 version that stars the best cast ever with Kevin Kline as The Pirate King, Angela Lansbury as Ruth, Linda Ronstadt as Mabel, George Rose as Major General Stanley, and super pretty Rex Smith as Frederic. I just listed the main cast but here's an info page anyway.
Pirates of Penzance imdb page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086112/
This still isn't out on dvd, this version of the play anyway, but I have it on vhs tape. Two copies actually. lol. One got worn out. Yeah, I'm sad. But maybe this song that I would sing would explain my obsession with this musical.
I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major General from Pirates of Penzance:
http://s42.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3E7PB6SNPKDE22KNVTQ2C898DL
Where was I? God, I get off track. If you think it's bad in here you can't even imagine what I'm like in real life. Babble babble babble what the fuck is Nic talking about that has nothing to do with what she started talking about babble babble babble oh well at least she's somewhat amusing. My car was broken and my mom took me to go pick it up after it got fixed on the condition I accompany here on a shopping trip and go out to lunch with her. She's such a total mom and loves doing that stuff.
First place we went shopping was Borders and then Walden Books because Borders didn't have the book my mom wanted but they called the closest Walden's and they did have it in stock. Going book shopping with my mom is something that my brother and I will like... pretty much drop our plans doing anything in order to be involved with. Reason? Okay, first off, my mom is a retired first grade teacher she's been teaching since she was twenty two and she just retired at the age of fifty seven. She still does substitute teaching gigs for her friends, which ironically, has her working usually three or four days out of the week because she hates sitting around.
Because my mom is a teacher, and a really good one I think, she's super into reading and books and getting kids to be into reading pretty much however she can manage it. I got into comic books when I was around eight years old, I forget how I bought my first single issue, but soon as my mom saw me with one she started buying them for me individually after a few months when she could see I wasn't losing interest in reading them she bought me year long subscriptions for five comic books. Captain America was my favorite out of those, and please DO NOT mock Cap to me. That was the absolute coolest thing ever to me as a kid. I got into it as during the Diamondback saga when Cap was dating this former bad girl from the Serpent Society. It was a really fantastic storyline and I have my first issue of it framed because I'm a super fucking nerd. lol. I think maybe a lot of people don't like Cap and his books because he's super old school, hell he was created in 1941, and it makes them think of the asshole super patriotic sheep we have in our country these days. But Cap, to me, is an example of what a good patriot is. I dunno. I'm fucking nostalgic and lame and I'll always love him because it was the first comic book I really loved and he was the star.
Anyway. When it comes to shopping my mom really has no budget to books. Seriously, it's sad. If my brother and I go shopping with her for books we usually walk out with like... two hundred dollars or more worth of stuff. And want to be fucking jealous of my spoiled ass? She pays for them all. Insists on it. I dunno.
I don't think my brother and I are particularly spoiled since we both have had jobs since sixteen and are paying our way through college since our parents can't pay for it entirely and we can't get scholarships since the family is in the middle class tax bracket but at the same time, I know we have stuff really good. Even despite the fact I moved out at sixteen because my mom freaked out when I told her I was gay. But by the time I was twenty we had all of that worked out and now she asks about my gf every time we talk and she's totally cool. I mean, she's the one who insisted Michi be there for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I was going to bring Michi anyway but it was nice to hear my mom on the phone being all, "If you don't bring your nice gf I'm going to be angry at you, Nicole!"
rofl.
She sounds just like that. Except add in a cuss word or two. Yeah, I got that from her. The shopping trip at Borders was great because they're hella discounting random cds and I found Punk Chartbusters Vol. 4 at 75% off. I practically did a happy dance when I found it. lol. I seriously love punk covers and my iPod playlist for cover songs is now up to, no fucking lie, 242 songs totaling out at a running time of 12:03:35 and using up 823.2 mbs of space. Yeah. So I was happy to find that cd really cheap. I would have bought it even if it wasn't really cheap but it being really cheap caused happiness.
Now because of how many fucking cover songs I've collected I sort of like to think I know a little bit about what makes a good one. Well, at least to me, anyway. And I think there are two elements to creating a truly kick ass punk cover song.
1. Possesses the original spirit of the song. What does that mean? Well, lets use this example from the latest cd I bought, okay? I'll list the original version of the song and then the cover.
You Might Think by The Cars:
http://s49.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=222I0EZYW07BI1BYACPRZZXPO9
You Might Think (Cover) by The Unknown:
http://s48.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0ZABWE9ZHGTQT2LPMZM3MG4ZGV
You Might Think is a super happy song, right? And The Unknown keep that totally in tact while giving it a more frantic speed. But the same upbeat sound is totally present in the cover and most importantly, even if you don't know the song lyrics by heart, if you've heard this song more than once you can immediately recognize it a few seconds into it, even if you can't recall the title and artist. They also keep many elements of the song in place. Such as the little slow down speech about halfway through the song when they say, "And it was hard, so hard to take. There's no escape without a scrape. But you kept it going until the sun fell down. You kept it goin."
The lead singer of The Unknown goes so far as to do a goofy impression of Ric Ocasek in that dialogue. All in all, the song is different but the arrangement remains in a way that it's recognizable to the average listener as a cover of a song they've heard before.
2. Creative new interpretation or transformation of the song. These are the covers that are so unbelievably different from the original song they are, in many rights, a new and separate song instead of just a cover of another. Here are two great examples from my new cd. Again, the original song is first and then the cover is after.
Overload by Sugababes:
http://s50.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0YZ83DRZT3HNT2D02O9MW3UT6I
Overload (Cover) by Billy Rubin:
http://s50.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2D3CI5300OUEC35NMIXCO7HC9X
Billy Rubin does keep a lot of the same elements as the Sugababes but the song has a different mood to it than the original which is why I feel it's a creative new interpretation. The Sugababes, whom I love, are the paramount of a dramatic R&B girl group and while Overload is by far one of their most mellow tunes there is that wonderful girl group feel to it. You know, that sort of bitchy my man isn't treating me right so I'm going to write a song insulting him. lol. Especially towards the latter end of the song where the mellow feeling has been altered and they're once again singing with booming epic feeling and a louder volume to reflect their emotions. That's the thing with girl groups, the louder they sing a lyric the more they're supposedly really emotional. Also the longer they drag the word out is a sign of emotional power for the girl groups.
Formula of Girl Group Song Interpretation In Emotional Resonance:
Volume + Increased x Angry Intonation Story Telling/Word Articulation Length = Strength of Emotions
While the Sugababes raise their voice and become more feisty in their anger at the romantic situation Billy Rubin twangs his fantastic punk accent and keeps his voice fairly even. Unlike the Sugababes he doesn't reflect his frustration through his voice becoming louder, which is good since it's fucking loud through the whole song, but lowers it and relies on a background singer shouting, "No!" I dunno if I'm explaining it right but this song, to me, is very different than the original with Sugababes. Particularly in contrast to the mellow soothing drums at the start for the Sugababes and their sweet smooth singing that greets you in comparison to Billy Rubin's somewhat threatening and low guitar riffs and his equally threatening twangy punk voice.
But lets move onto something that is probably the PRIME example of a truly new and different interpretation of a song. The cover of Madonna's Frozen by The Peace Brothers.
Frozen by Madonna:
http://s48.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2LCBJAD3LCT383HESFYRTD8VB1
ETA: For sheer nerdy Madonna fangirl sake I have decided to link her music video for Frozen since it's a wonderful visual example of the mood of the song that I've tried to describe below.
Frozen (Music Video) by Madonna:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1ux4LevO-g&search=madonna%20
Frozen (Cover) by Peace Brothers:
http://s50.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=10TRMT0LIVISY0WFQ76X4ZDE5A
Before I even start this goddamn prattle involving this kick ass cover I have to say that I worship Madonna. I love her absolutely and I praise the chance I got to see her live in concert. She rocks and that is that. Because she is so fucking fabulous there are tons of covers of her songs and I don't think I've ever really linked them in my LJ because while they were good covers there was nothing really stand out about them. They were covering already fantastic material, as many covers are, but they just didn't do anything that made them as good as or at least worthy of separate attention from Madonna herself. But with this song The Peace Brothers have totally accomplished that.
Frozen is one of the most beautiful and haunting songs Madonna has ever released and the video for it is equally as beautiful and goddamn mesmerizing with her outfit and the way it flows in the faded out background of the video. Giving everything this sad grey look of desolation that totally goes with the song. It's a fucking sad song but one that has such evocative intonation to it that the sadness sort of passes you by and you just sort of find yourself listening to it all quiet and fixating on how fucking beautiful the song is in both the music and the vocals from Madonna. The humming that accompanies the lyrics serves to sort of suck you into that weird daze as you listen to it as well as the on and off random techno sounds that vary in pitch and length as well as the backbeat of drums.
The Peace Brothers have taken the most important elements of the song that serve to make it so haunting and changed them around entirely to make it wonderfully cheerful. Mainly Madonna's almost even way of performing the song which is masterfully soothing but reflects quite clearly a repressed pain in how she sings and the consistent use of the humming and techno style backbeat which accents Madonna's voice perfectly. The Peace Brothers perform the song with clear relish and you can almost hear them smiling as they play along. Particularly when they replace the humming with them singing "doo doo doo doo doo doo" with utterly hilarious enthusiasm. After each doo doo doo doo doo doo they go for ever increasing gusto in how they sing the next lyrics, my favorite of which being, "Now give yourself to me." To me, it sounds like they had the most fun singing that part.
Drums are equally important to The Peace Brothers version but unlike the original they're a source of upbeat power and accent the happy feeling of the song. Frozen is a song that's brilliant and poignantly written to reflect a beautiful but very depressing plea from one person to another to accept their own humanity before it's too late. And amazing enough, The Peace Brothers have made it super happy and totally sing along worthy when you're on a long road trip and need to keep yourself hyper. I would totally take my hat off to them if I wore hats. But I don't. Despite managing a hat store at one time.
Man this is a long post. Probably because I'm sitting around doing nothing because now my mom is asleep and I don't want to go out in case she feels sick during the night. I made her promise to call my cell phone if she needs something instead of walking down here. Yeah. I'm lame and paranoid. I think I'm going to watch MST3K or something. I have still have some tapes of here, I think. I tend to leave my possessions all over the place. I have dvds, cds, clothing, and basically things you need daily like toothpaste and toothbrushes at my house with Pip and Stacey, Michi's, my parents place, and I think I even have some in LA with Rachel. My god. It's fucking sad. I need to collect my shit!
But hopefully my mom will be fine by the 25th which is the Grand Parade Day for St. Louis Mardi Gras and also the day they're doing the pet parade. Once again, Vlad won't be entered but Michi and I plan on taking him and Missy down there to watch. Ahh, Mardi Gras is so much fun. I love Soulard.
I feel very teenage right now because I'm sitting in my parents house, in my old room, on my old Mac G4, fireplace roaring on the far side of the room, and listening to punk covers. I also feel very sad nerd geek stereotype since my old room at my parents house is in the basement. Oh yes, I will admit that I am indeed a proof product of that old joke. But dude, okay, people mock the basement parent dwelling nerds and I can see the validity of the mocking but if you're going to live at home the basement is the shit place to do it. lol. You can convert it into a studio apartment and stuff. That's the reason I picked to live down here as a kid. Also because it's huge, has a refrigerator, a bathroom, furnished living room complete with tv, dvd player, vhs player, and even a fucking pool table.
Yeah, my parents have a pimped out basement. Although the fact my old room is decorated with toys makes it less pimp. Even if Doozer figurines and wind up hopping Mokona toys are damn spiffy. lol. But the reason I'm here is not because I've had some weird roommate drama with Pip and Stacey or I'm fighting with Michi. It got suddenly really fucking cold recently and my mom has the flu as a result. While I love my father dearly, I mean, I'm such a sad fucking girl and I call him "Daddy" but it's not as weird as it sounds because my voice isn't all squeaky. I already talked about that once. It's low but not cool sexy low because I suck and cannot come close to being Dina Meyer husky voice. But I love my father despite the fact he's a really really bad patient when he's sick and even worse when attempting to take care of other sick people.
And that's why I'm here. I'm playing nurse to my mother and having a strangely fun time doing that because she helped me out earlier in the week and sort of spoiled me so I wanted to return the favor. I figure while I'm here I can maybe get more done for ATWH Part 3. Part of the reason I'm here is the fact that earlier this week my car broke down and I was two hours late for my evil accounting class as a result. Since my roommates and Michi work in the morning I didn't have anyone to drive me to Saturn to pick my car up the next day when repairs were done. I called my mom and asked if she could drive me since she's retired and as a substitute instead of full time teacher she can sort of make her own hours. She didn't have an assignment so she agreed but only on two conditions.
1. Go shopping with her that day
2. Go out to lunch with her that day
Ohhhhh god, the pain! The suffering! rofl. I immediately agreed because I get along really well with my mother and I do enjoy doing both of those two things with her. We're not that stupid cliche of claiming to be best friends because I think it's weird and unnatural to be close friends much less best friends with your parents. I mean, they CREATED you. There are certain things you should not have knowledge of that you should if you're a halfway decent friend. You know, crap about their romantic life and sexual life and blah blah... things that would make me scream in terror if I heard my mother talking to me about them and cover my ears while singing I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major General from my favorite musical of all time, Pirates of Penzance. Ah, how I love Gilbert & Sullivan.
To get totally off track my two favorite childhood movies are Pirates of Penzance and Zorro: The Gay Blade. The latter is the funniest fucking movie ever and everyone in gods creation must watch it. lol. Although probably most of them wouldn't be so into it as I am but I love that damn movie and I really love George Hamilton in it. He's at his wonderful cheesy humored best. Plus it costars Lauren Hutton and Brenda Vaccaro who is just funny as hell as Florinda.
Zorro: The Gay Blade imdb page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083366/
I think the reason I loved those movies as a kid is the sword fighting. I dig swords. But the sword fights in movies. Have you ever watched fencing matches? Boring. How can they make swords boring? Swords seem boring proof with their glorious shiny sharpness and death wielding capabilities. But they somehow managed to do it. Assholes. lol. I love Pirates of Penzance a bit more than Zorro: The Gay Blade if only because I was first introduced to the musical by watching the 1983 version that stars the best cast ever with Kevin Kline as The Pirate King, Angela Lansbury as Ruth, Linda Ronstadt as Mabel, George Rose as Major General Stanley, and super pretty Rex Smith as Frederic. I just listed the main cast but here's an info page anyway.
Pirates of Penzance imdb page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086112/
This still isn't out on dvd, this version of the play anyway, but I have it on vhs tape. Two copies actually. lol. One got worn out. Yeah, I'm sad. But maybe this song that I would sing would explain my obsession with this musical.
I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major General from Pirates of Penzance:
http://s42.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3E7PB6SNPKDE22KNVTQ2C898DL
Where was I? God, I get off track. If you think it's bad in here you can't even imagine what I'm like in real life. Babble babble babble what the fuck is Nic talking about that has nothing to do with what she started talking about babble babble babble oh well at least she's somewhat amusing. My car was broken and my mom took me to go pick it up after it got fixed on the condition I accompany here on a shopping trip and go out to lunch with her. She's such a total mom and loves doing that stuff.
First place we went shopping was Borders and then Walden Books because Borders didn't have the book my mom wanted but they called the closest Walden's and they did have it in stock. Going book shopping with my mom is something that my brother and I will like... pretty much drop our plans doing anything in order to be involved with. Reason? Okay, first off, my mom is a retired first grade teacher she's been teaching since she was twenty two and she just retired at the age of fifty seven. She still does substitute teaching gigs for her friends, which ironically, has her working usually three or four days out of the week because she hates sitting around.
Because my mom is a teacher, and a really good one I think, she's super into reading and books and getting kids to be into reading pretty much however she can manage it. I got into comic books when I was around eight years old, I forget how I bought my first single issue, but soon as my mom saw me with one she started buying them for me individually after a few months when she could see I wasn't losing interest in reading them she bought me year long subscriptions for five comic books. Captain America was my favorite out of those, and please DO NOT mock Cap to me. That was the absolute coolest thing ever to me as a kid. I got into it as during the Diamondback saga when Cap was dating this former bad girl from the Serpent Society. It was a really fantastic storyline and I have my first issue of it framed because I'm a super fucking nerd. lol. I think maybe a lot of people don't like Cap and his books because he's super old school, hell he was created in 1941, and it makes them think of the asshole super patriotic sheep we have in our country these days. But Cap, to me, is an example of what a good patriot is. I dunno. I'm fucking nostalgic and lame and I'll always love him because it was the first comic book I really loved and he was the star.
Anyway. When it comes to shopping my mom really has no budget to books. Seriously, it's sad. If my brother and I go shopping with her for books we usually walk out with like... two hundred dollars or more worth of stuff. And want to be fucking jealous of my spoiled ass? She pays for them all. Insists on it. I dunno.
I don't think my brother and I are particularly spoiled since we both have had jobs since sixteen and are paying our way through college since our parents can't pay for it entirely and we can't get scholarships since the family is in the middle class tax bracket but at the same time, I know we have stuff really good. Even despite the fact I moved out at sixteen because my mom freaked out when I told her I was gay. But by the time I was twenty we had all of that worked out and now she asks about my gf every time we talk and she's totally cool. I mean, she's the one who insisted Michi be there for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I was going to bring Michi anyway but it was nice to hear my mom on the phone being all, "If you don't bring your nice gf I'm going to be angry at you, Nicole!"
rofl.
She sounds just like that. Except add in a cuss word or two. Yeah, I got that from her. The shopping trip at Borders was great because they're hella discounting random cds and I found Punk Chartbusters Vol. 4 at 75% off. I practically did a happy dance when I found it. lol. I seriously love punk covers and my iPod playlist for cover songs is now up to, no fucking lie, 242 songs totaling out at a running time of 12:03:35 and using up 823.2 mbs of space. Yeah. So I was happy to find that cd really cheap. I would have bought it even if it wasn't really cheap but it being really cheap caused happiness.
Now because of how many fucking cover songs I've collected I sort of like to think I know a little bit about what makes a good one. Well, at least to me, anyway. And I think there are two elements to creating a truly kick ass punk cover song.
1. Possesses the original spirit of the song. What does that mean? Well, lets use this example from the latest cd I bought, okay? I'll list the original version of the song and then the cover.
You Might Think by The Cars:
http://s49.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=222I0EZYW07BI1BYACPRZZXPO9
You Might Think (Cover) by The Unknown:
http://s48.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0ZABWE9ZHGTQT2LPMZM3MG4ZGV
You Might Think is a super happy song, right? And The Unknown keep that totally in tact while giving it a more frantic speed. But the same upbeat sound is totally present in the cover and most importantly, even if you don't know the song lyrics by heart, if you've heard this song more than once you can immediately recognize it a few seconds into it, even if you can't recall the title and artist. They also keep many elements of the song in place. Such as the little slow down speech about halfway through the song when they say, "And it was hard, so hard to take. There's no escape without a scrape. But you kept it going until the sun fell down. You kept it goin."
The lead singer of The Unknown goes so far as to do a goofy impression of Ric Ocasek in that dialogue. All in all, the song is different but the arrangement remains in a way that it's recognizable to the average listener as a cover of a song they've heard before.
2. Creative new interpretation or transformation of the song. These are the covers that are so unbelievably different from the original song they are, in many rights, a new and separate song instead of just a cover of another. Here are two great examples from my new cd. Again, the original song is first and then the cover is after.
Overload by Sugababes:
http://s50.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0YZ83DRZT3HNT2D02O9MW3UT6I
Overload (Cover) by Billy Rubin:
http://s50.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2D3CI5300OUEC35NMIXCO7HC9X
Billy Rubin does keep a lot of the same elements as the Sugababes but the song has a different mood to it than the original which is why I feel it's a creative new interpretation. The Sugababes, whom I love, are the paramount of a dramatic R&B girl group and while Overload is by far one of their most mellow tunes there is that wonderful girl group feel to it. You know, that sort of bitchy my man isn't treating me right so I'm going to write a song insulting him. lol. Especially towards the latter end of the song where the mellow feeling has been altered and they're once again singing with booming epic feeling and a louder volume to reflect their emotions. That's the thing with girl groups, the louder they sing a lyric the more they're supposedly really emotional. Also the longer they drag the word out is a sign of emotional power for the girl groups.
Formula of Girl Group Song Interpretation In Emotional Resonance:
Volume + Increased x Angry Intonation Story Telling/Word Articulation Length = Strength of Emotions
While the Sugababes raise their voice and become more feisty in their anger at the romantic situation Billy Rubin twangs his fantastic punk accent and keeps his voice fairly even. Unlike the Sugababes he doesn't reflect his frustration through his voice becoming louder, which is good since it's fucking loud through the whole song, but lowers it and relies on a background singer shouting, "No!" I dunno if I'm explaining it right but this song, to me, is very different than the original with Sugababes. Particularly in contrast to the mellow soothing drums at the start for the Sugababes and their sweet smooth singing that greets you in comparison to Billy Rubin's somewhat threatening and low guitar riffs and his equally threatening twangy punk voice.
But lets move onto something that is probably the PRIME example of a truly new and different interpretation of a song. The cover of Madonna's Frozen by The Peace Brothers.
Frozen by Madonna:
http://s48.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2LCBJAD3LCT383HESFYRTD8VB1
ETA: For sheer nerdy Madonna fangirl sake I have decided to link her music video for Frozen since it's a wonderful visual example of the mood of the song that I've tried to describe below.
Frozen (Music Video) by Madonna:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1ux4LevO-g&search=madonna%20
Frozen (Cover) by Peace Brothers:
http://s50.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=10TRMT0LIVISY0WFQ76X4ZDE5A
Before I even start this goddamn prattle involving this kick ass cover I have to say that I worship Madonna. I love her absolutely and I praise the chance I got to see her live in concert. She rocks and that is that. Because she is so fucking fabulous there are tons of covers of her songs and I don't think I've ever really linked them in my LJ because while they were good covers there was nothing really stand out about them. They were covering already fantastic material, as many covers are, but they just didn't do anything that made them as good as or at least worthy of separate attention from Madonna herself. But with this song The Peace Brothers have totally accomplished that.
Frozen is one of the most beautiful and haunting songs Madonna has ever released and the video for it is equally as beautiful and goddamn mesmerizing with her outfit and the way it flows in the faded out background of the video. Giving everything this sad grey look of desolation that totally goes with the song. It's a fucking sad song but one that has such evocative intonation to it that the sadness sort of passes you by and you just sort of find yourself listening to it all quiet and fixating on how fucking beautiful the song is in both the music and the vocals from Madonna. The humming that accompanies the lyrics serves to sort of suck you into that weird daze as you listen to it as well as the on and off random techno sounds that vary in pitch and length as well as the backbeat of drums.
The Peace Brothers have taken the most important elements of the song that serve to make it so haunting and changed them around entirely to make it wonderfully cheerful. Mainly Madonna's almost even way of performing the song which is masterfully soothing but reflects quite clearly a repressed pain in how she sings and the consistent use of the humming and techno style backbeat which accents Madonna's voice perfectly. The Peace Brothers perform the song with clear relish and you can almost hear them smiling as they play along. Particularly when they replace the humming with them singing "doo doo doo doo doo doo" with utterly hilarious enthusiasm. After each doo doo doo doo doo doo they go for ever increasing gusto in how they sing the next lyrics, my favorite of which being, "Now give yourself to me." To me, it sounds like they had the most fun singing that part.
Drums are equally important to The Peace Brothers version but unlike the original they're a source of upbeat power and accent the happy feeling of the song. Frozen is a song that's brilliant and poignantly written to reflect a beautiful but very depressing plea from one person to another to accept their own humanity before it's too late. And amazing enough, The Peace Brothers have made it super happy and totally sing along worthy when you're on a long road trip and need to keep yourself hyper. I would totally take my hat off to them if I wore hats. But I don't. Despite managing a hat store at one time.
Man this is a long post. Probably because I'm sitting around doing nothing because now my mom is asleep and I don't want to go out in case she feels sick during the night. I made her promise to call my cell phone if she needs something instead of walking down here. Yeah. I'm lame and paranoid. I think I'm going to watch MST3K or something. I have still have some tapes of here, I think. I tend to leave my possessions all over the place. I have dvds, cds, clothing, and basically things you need daily like toothpaste and toothbrushes at my house with Pip and Stacey, Michi's, my parents place, and I think I even have some in LA with Rachel. My god. It's fucking sad. I need to collect my shit!
But hopefully my mom will be fine by the 25th which is the Grand Parade Day for St. Louis Mardi Gras and also the day they're doing the pet parade. Once again, Vlad won't be entered but Michi and I plan on taking him and Missy down there to watch. Ahh, Mardi Gras is so much fun. I love Soulard.
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