Song Obsessed

A lot of us become song obsessed from time to time. I've been obsessed with Let Down by Radiohead for over a month now. I became conscious of my obsession and started thinking of previous song obsessions, which led to me making a playlist that went on and on. There are currently 64 songs in the list and more may be added as my memory keeps bringing old obsessions to the fore.

Obsession comes from the Latin obsessus, meaning "besiege, occupy." Occupied by an idea, besieged by a persistent influence. That's cool. Music does it to me all the time.

I'm talking about playing a song all the time and singing it, and when you do those things you occupy a different reality. I'm not talking about song sung when very young, but music you hear from the radio or album and you are very conscious of it. Right now, my first memory of playing a song all the time involves the Help Me Rhonda. (Maybe I was in 5th or 6th grade).

I've chosen a few of my songs from past until now--less, I think, to share with you and more to just work out my memories. A life examined!

Help Me Rhonda: although important because of its primacy in my memory, it's more the fact that I liked and understood the lyrics. Understanding rock lyrics shows you ain't such a little kid anymore.

L.A. Woman (The Doors) and Going to California (Zepp) and Can't Stand Losing You (The Police) and The Message by Grandmaster Flash: all from 8th grade. See sentiment above about rock lyrics and intensify it.

Heroes by Bowie: first listened to in the eighties--Junior and Senior years in high school--and definitely tied to a great girlfriend and all those teen feelings of angst and romance.

Resposta by Skank: when I hear this song everything turns gold and I'm still living in Brasil. This is a great song from my favorite Brasilian rock band. It's a live version from an epic concert in Ouro Preto. I'm seen them live twice and the shows rank as top ten.

Bolero by Ravel: One of the songs to make me feel epic. I used to listen to this song quite a bit when running around Lagoa in Rio. It took my pace up so naturally and then I would cruise.

What I Got (Reprise) by Sublime: boy this one typifies the 90's for me. Lots of road tripping around Colorado with this on. 90's + Colorado = A Golden Age

Of course Loving Cup by the Rolling Stones: just see a previous post of mine.

Well, that’s it for now. Maybe more from the list later. Write in about a song you’ve become obsessed with, from whatever time of your life.

Better than the Original?

Today I’m going for something light. Recently I was discussing music with a colleague of mine and we got into 80’s music. Luckily we were on the same wavelength about that decade: for a lot of reasons it sucked musically; and, if you listen to all the same old stuff people keep playing on 80’s Hits stations you keep hearing the worst of the decade. Anyway, I brought up New Order’s Love Vigilantes as a great song from a great band that was unfairly typecast. From there I told my friend about Iron & Wine’s new cover version and how I couldn’t decide which was better.

We all know great examples of cover versions that have been deemed better than, or at least equal to, the original song. I’ll jump in to this old argument, hoping that you comment with your picks.

I’m going to say that I vote a tie between New Order’s Love Vigilante and Iron & Wine’s very recent version. They are so different and both work. Laura Cantrell does a great version and others who cover the tune are Oysterband, Poi Dog Pondering, Hungry Lucy, and Jimmy Ryan. Give them a listen and tell me which you like and why.

All Along the Watchtower by Hendrix is a better version than Dylan’s original. Now wait, I wasn’t comparing Hendrix to Dylan, it’s about the song itself. As a rock song, Hendrix’s version is better.

Eva Cassidy’s version of Song Bird exceeds the impact of the Fleetwood original, but only for subtle reasons and in small degrees. And some might give me grief but I’m going with the Fugee’s Killing Me Softly over Roberta Flack’s original. I know “old school” style seems to be always better but I’ve had a wicked crush on Lauryn Hill and part of it is her earnest, smooth and sexy voice.

If you google any variation of “cover version better than original” tons of hits pop up. For example, The Website hearya has a list of 33 (http://www.hearya.com), where I think they hit some right and missed others. Example: No way is The Rolling Stones’ version of Just My Imagination better than the Temptations’ original. Mick and the boys can pull off all sorts of American styles and intonations but I don’t think they can match the smoothness of the Temptations.

But I do agree with hearya that the Foo Fighters version of Baker Street by Jerry Rafferty is much better. The energy is there, simple as that. And The Pogues And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda wins!

Your thoughts? Any song, any genre.