5:00PM
I like cover songs. I really enjoy when an individual or a band will take a song from the past and reinterpret it, adding their own personality and flavor to it.
Why am I writing about this? One, I realized that I often write here about the things that scare me or worry me and I wanted something a little more light-hearted. Two, I was just listening to a rendition of Mr. Brightside by Run River North and have it stuck in my head.
There’s just something about the cover song, the hybrid of an old song that brings me so many feelings and vivid memories, blended with the soul of a new singer. It plays with my heart and tickles my spirit, in a totally platonic way.
Some of my favorite songs are actually cover songs. I love Jason Mraz’s rendition of Rocket Man, originally sung by Elton John. It doesn’t mean I love the original any less, just in different ways.
Some cover songs I don’t even know are cover songs until maybe even years later. Dave Matthews Band sang All Along the Watchtower and up until recently, I believed it was theirs (it’s not, Jimi Hendrix played it, and apparently, I think it was originally from Bob Dylan).
I guess what I love about them is the ability to maintain a cultural element and adapt it for new times. It allows people to play, recreate, respect, and bring others into the journey. I wonder what impact copyright has had on the creation of cover songs—do we have fewer or more since the publishing industry began? Actually, before there were intellectual property rights on songs, could there even have been something called a cover song? Doesn’t a cover song imply that one person originally came up with it and owns it?
I smile and laugh sometimes when I think about how we define intellectual property. Isn’t learning just taking different elements from other parts of society and putting it together? Once I’ve learned something and it’s in my head, how do I tease out who owns what and give credit (or money) to those people?
I don’t know too much about copyright and intellectual property. Sometimes I think it’s just a story we tell ourselves to pretend as if we have more control and ownership over the world than we do.
Regardless, I’m grateful to be listening to a band and hear them cover a different song, to hear them add their spin, to hear them meld my two worlds together. Plus, it’s easier to sing along to it.
5:10PM
