September Redux: Interpretations · Jan 7, 01:14 PM by Don
Last September, Chaka posted this painfully sincere cover of the Poison ballad, “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” by former Green Bay Packer Don “Majik” Majkowski. Chaka had this to say in his original post:
But I can soothe my anguish by cueing up the 1990 solo single by the frosted-mulleted 1989 NFL MVP runner-up (I kid, but let’s not forget the AP’s voters considered him second only to Joe Montana (whom Majkowski beat on the road that year) in ’89 – quite the accolade) and remembering that hey, every night has its dawn. I’m still waiting for the Majik Man’s follow-up single. And yeah, I know the title of the original – he done just personalized it a little.
mp3: Don Majkowski – Every Rose Has A Thorn [Poison cover]
Where did the term “cover version” come from? Let’s see what Reference.com had to say:
While it is all but impossible to trace the actual history of the term “cover version,” it is likely the term began to be used by record collectors once the early rock’n‘roll records had become collectible. A widely-accepted origin of the term is that it relates to the record company “covering a bet” by placing a bet on a song someone else has already bet on, hoping to ride the coattails of their good luck. It has also been suggested that the term “cover” may have its origins in an attempt by the artist who recorded the newer version of the song to have his/her version literally “cover” the original version in the sales racks. Woolworth, a discount chain store, even had its own label (Embassy) specializing in low-price copies of popular tunes. Another commonly-suggested origin, also apocryphal, is that a new recording by a white artist was intended to “cover up the blackness” of the original and make it acceptable to white listeners.
In 1988, Sonic Youth and Mike Watt teamed up for a cover of Madonna’s “Burning Up.” Like Majkowski, Watt and co. personalize the title.
mp3: Ciccone Youth – Burnin’ Up [Madonna cover]
“Silent Night” (“Stille Nacht”) is a popular, traditional Christmas carol. The original lyrics of the song, “Stille Nacht,” were written in German by the priest, Father Josef Mohr, and the melody was composed by Austrian Franz X. Gruber. The version of the melody that is generally sung today differs slightly from Gruber’s original. Blacksmoke use the song as the cornerstone of a haunting and horrific 9/11- themed sound collage.
mp3: Blacksmoke – Silent Night
You can find plenty of remixes of music by artists like Feist, the White Stripes, Fiona Apple, and Sufjan Stevens, at MC DJ’s site.
mp3: MC DJ – Predatory [Remix of the Sufjan Stevens song, The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us!]
One of my favorite first verses of any song is the first verse of “Summer of Drugs” by Victoria Williams:
My sister got bit by a copperhead snake
In the woods behind the house
Nobody was home so I grabbed her foot
And I sucked that poison out
My sister got better in a month or so*
When the swelling it went down
But I’d started off my teenage years with a poison in my mouth
*Soul Asylum changes the line to, “My sister got better in month or two.”
mp3: Soul Asylum – Summer of Drugs [Victoria Williams cover]
Chaka posted “The Summer” by Yo La Tengo and “Lovers of Today” by The Only Ones, as he had noticed some clear connections. Were Georgia and Ira listening to “Lovers of Today” when they wrote “The Summer”?
mp3: Yo La Tengo – The Summer
mp3: The Only Ones – Lovers of Today
Commenting is closed for this article.
Re: Yo La Tengo and The Only Ones. I love both of those songs, but it had never occurred to me that they have “similar” lyrics at times.
It could be a tribute. OR it could not.
Bruce K.
— Bruce K. Jan 7, 03:35 PM #
I love that Ciccone Youth cover. It’s so goofy, how can you not love it?
— Jeff Jan 7, 06:55 PM #