Scars

Battle scars lining me;
Perfect forms of symmetry.
Pale shades of light;
Blinding my sight.

Pages of pathetic poetry,
A toxic taste of poison;
I can feel the potency,
Pieces of shit that have broken.

The cuts run deep inside;
I wait for my demise.
Lingering on morbid thoughts;
My stomach twisting in knots.

Feigning my emotions,
Betraying my promises;
Everything ending in an explosion,
Losing my confidence.

The colors seem to fade;
As I lay in the shade.
The walls are washed white;
I am losing the fight. 

Sleight of hand and twist of fate

This week I will be comparing "With or Without You" by U2 and the cover done by Allred.

 

Musicality

The original by U2 is much softer and has a much slower pace and the vocals work better with the instruments and tone to really evoke powerful emotions. The version by Allred is done with an acoustic guitar, it has a faster pace and they make the song sound much more modern with their vocals and the use of their instruments. The song was originally released in 1987 so of course the original song has more of an 80s feel to it. However, I personally feel like the original is much more timeless and I still love it as much now as I did as a kid.

 

Lyrics

The lyrics are basically the same except that Allred incorporated the chorus from "Shadow of the Day" by Linkin Park closer to the end of their version. I'm not the biggest fan of mashups, I don't understand why some bands feel the need to do covers and mash two different songs together. Sometimes it sounds good sometimes not so much. However in this case it does work for Allred, I do like the original song by Linkin Park as well.

This song in general consists of very powerful lyrics. One of the stanzas that really stands out is: "Sleight of hand and twist of fate/ On a bed of nails she makes me wait/ And I wait without you." I always thought that was the first stanza in the song. But after looking at the lyrics it's actually the second stanza. I'm actually surprised I never noticed that before.

Another stanza that stands out to me is: "Through the storm we reach the shore/ You give it all but I want more/ And I'm waiting for you." I especially like the use of second person narrative in this song. It's as if the singer is referring specifically to the listener.

The song itself and the lyrics are pretty straightforward. He seems to be singing about not being able to live without the person he loves and that he's willing to endure anything and everything just to be with them. The stanza that seems to signify this is: "My hands are tied/ My body bruised, she's got me with/ Nothing to win and/ Nothing left to lose." Either he likes it kinky and rough or he's singing about how much he probably went through and the obstacles he faced to be with them. This specific stanza isn't really clear but I like to think of it as him saying that he would do anything.

The stanzas that Allred added from "Shadow of the Day" are: "And the sun will set for you/ The sun will set for you." "And the shadow of the day/ Will embrace the world in grey." "And the sun will set for you." These three different stanzas are the chorus of the original Linkin Park song. These lyrics give the song a bit of a more depressing feel. The song itself is a bit depressing, but the instruments in the original and even in the cover make you forget how depressing the song actually is. I'm not sure how relevant the additional lyrics are to the song as a whole. However, they made it work by choosing lyrics that also happen to use the second person perspective as well.

I think both versions are good, but I still prefer the original to the cover. I didn't even realize that there was a cover done on this song. I'm impressed that Allred managed to make it sound more modern without changing the lyrics. Instead all they did was add a set of lyrics at the very end of the song. The additional lyrics caught me off guard. I don't think they really needed additional lyrics and I'm still confused as to why they felt the need to do that. Other than that I don't see anything wrong with the cover.

Splitting at the seams of now

This week I will be comparing "No One's Gonna Love You" by Band of Horses and covered by Cee Lo Green.

   

Musicality

The original has a bit of a slow feel to it, they sing it more softly. The instruments do a good job of making the pace of the song sound much faster. Cee Lo Green's version sounds more sensual than the original. His deep and more baritone voice gives it a different sound altogether. Cee Lo Green is more of a rapper while Band of Horses is more of a Southern rock band. The versions don't sound too different, Green's version sounds faster with the tempo and pace as well as his strong and powerful voice. The original has a slower pace compared to Green's version.


 

Lyrics

The lyrics of both versions are still relatively the same. The title of the song seems to say it all. The singer/song writer is talking about how much they love someone and that they would do anything for them. The best lyric that exemplifies that is: "And anything to make you smile/ It is my better side of you to admire." The singer seems to be saying that they want this person to only focus on the good things and not on the bad things.

The first stanza really stood out to me: "It's looking like a limb torn off/ Or altogether just taken apart/ We're reeling through an endless fall/ We are the ever-living ghost of what once was." The singer seems to be saying that their relationship has taken on a different level. Maybe he's saying that their relationship isn't the same as it used to be and he misses what it was like before. It seems very jarring compared to the title of the song. The singer states that no one will love this person the same way that they do, but the "it" in the beginning sounds like it's referring to the same love. So this "love" looks "like a limb torn off" that's a very gruesome way to put it.

Another lyric that stands out to me and gets repeated is: "When things start splitting at the seams of now/ The whole thing's tumbling down." I'm assuming that the "things" the song is referring to is the relationship between the singer and the person he's singing to. Their whole relationship is falling apart because it's just not the same as it used to be. Their relationship is now "the ever-living ghost of what once was" and it can't go back to the way that it used to be.

The instruments in both versions give a very upbeat and happy tone. Closer inspection of the lyrics show that this song is not has happy as it may seem. The singer goes on to say: "I never want to hear you say/ That you'd be better off/ Or you liked it that way." This lyric is referring back the line "the ever-living ghost of what once was." The singer doesn't want to go back to their past relationship, or maybe he likes her better now that she's changed from who she once was.

Overall, both versions are good. I can't really choose between the two because I like them both equally for different reasons. The versions don't even sound all that different, even the instruments sounded very much the same. It's just the vocals that are different, but even the lyrics stayed the same.

Strumming my pain with his fingers

This week I will be comparing "Killing me softly with his song" by Lori Lieberman and the cover done by The Fugees.

 

Musicality

I assumed the original was by Roberta Flack, but after researching more so about the origins of the song I realized that I was wrong. The original by Lori Lieberman is much softer and more soothing. The Fugees have a better tempo and emphasize more on their lyrics. Lieberman's version is played more so with a guitar. The Fugees' version is played more so with drums in the background. Lieberman's version sounds more like a lullaby with the sound of the guitar and her soothing vocals to back her up. Lieberman's version has a bit of a country feel with the singing whereas The Fugees' version has more of a hip hop feel.

  

Lyrics

There isn't much of a difference between the two songs as a whole. The Fugees switched some of their lyrics around, I believe they were going off of Roberta Flack's version rather than the original. Their first stanza is "Strumming my pain with his fingers/ Singing my life with his words/ Killing me softly with his song/ Killing me softly with his song/ Telling my whole life with his words/ Killing me softly with his song." In Lori Lieberman's version that is the second stanza not the first.

There are a few more stanzas in the original song than in the cover. I'm not quite sure what the song is trying to say. The most powerful line is the title of the song itself. I believe the song is trying to talk about how some songs just touch people and remind them of their own life. Especially the lines: "I felt he found my letters/ And read each one out loud." The only other difference between the two different versions is the title of the song itself. The original is called "Killing me softly with his song" whereas the cover is called "Killing me softly." 

One of the stanzas in the original that is not a part of the cover is: "He sang as if he knew me/ In all my dark despair/ And then he looked right through me/ As if I wasn't there/ But he was there, this stranger/ Singing clear and strong." This stanza does seem more like a reiteration of one of the other stanzas. These lyrics are a bit more powerful though with words like "dark despair" and "looked right through me." This stanza is just as powerful and suggestive of depression as the words that are repeated in both versions "Killing me softly with his song." 

Overall I prefer the cover over the original because I'm not a very big fan of country. The original has too much of a country feel for my liking. I'm much more familiar with The Fugees' version and Roberta Flack's version than I am with the original. I'm actually really shocked that the original is done by a Caucasian woman, because I'm so used to thinking of it as a song sung by an African American. It was hard for me to imagine anyone else singing it aside from those versions.

Glaciers have melted to the sea

This week I will be comparing "Crystalised" by The XX and the cover done by Gorillaz.

 

Musicality

The XX are more of an indie pop band whereas Gorillaz is more of a mixture of techno, alternative, rock and hip hop. The original is mainly played with electric guitars, bass, drums, a keyboard or a synthesizer. The cover done by Gorillaz seems to include a xylophone and a piano. The original sounds a bit slow in the vocals, but the instruments keep the tempo and pace making it sound faster than it is and the songs seems to sound more like a duet with the guy singing one line and the girl singing every other line. The cover somehow manages to make the song sound even slower than the original. The instruments don't help as much in the cover, the vocals are slow and soft as are the instruments. The slow vocals in both the original and cover make some of the lyrics hard to understand. The cover however is harder to understand because the tempo and pace of the instruments and the vocals.



Lyrics

There's no difference between each of the lyrics. I'm not quite sure what the song is talking about, the lyrics are a bit jumbled. At times it seems the song is talking about a bad relationship and a few lyrics sound like they're talking about drugs. The stanza that best exemplifies this confusion is this one: "Things have gotten closer to the sun/ And I've done things in small doses/ So don't think that I'm pushing you away/ When you're the one that I've kept closest." The first half sounds like it may be talking about drugs especially the part about "small doses." The second half sounds like a bad relationship.

Both versions sound a bit depressing. The cover manages to sound even more depressing simply because it has a slower tempo and softer vocals. The stanza that best exemplifies the feel of sadness is: "Glaciers have melted to the sea/ I wish the tide would take me over/ I've been down on my knees/ And you just keep on getting closer." At first I thought the "you" in the last lyric was referring to the person the singer has a bad relationship with. Now I believe that the "you" may be referring to the "tide" the song refers to in the first half of the stanza. It sounds like the singer is waiting for their demise. Another stanza that is really depressing is: "You say I'm foolish/ For pushing this aside/ But burn down our home/ I won't leave alive." This also seems to back up the claim that the singer is expecting to be killed. 

The title of the song itself sounds strange "Crystalised" the song title seems to suggest drugs. I usually pair the word crystal with the drug meth. The XX's titled their song with the letter 'S' or "Crystalised" while Gorillaz titled their version with the letter 'Z' or "Crystalized" which I find interesting. The cover done by Gorillaz didn't change any of the original lyrics but they changed the title of their version. I don't understand why they felt the need to distinguish between the two titles.

I personally prefer the original because the cover sounds so much more depressing and too slow for my taste. The original keeps a good tempo and pace coupled with the lyrics which I find very intriguing. I guess it is kind of weird that I prefer the original because I only know this one song by The XX whereas I've heard plenty of songs by Gorillaz that I love.

Stupid and Contagious

This week I will be comparing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana and the cover done by Tori Amos.

 

Musicality

Nirvana is a grunge band so their version sounds much more loud and intense almost making their lyrics incomprehensible. They use guitars and drums that drive the intensity of the song making it more about the instrumentals and less about the lyrics. Whereas Tori Amos is more of a classical and alternative rock singer who sounds more calming and soothing. She only uses a piano in hers but even her lyrics are hard to understand because her voice ranges from really low to really loud at different moments. The way she sings it makes it sound much creepier than the original while the original is just really strange.

 

Lyrics

There's not really a whole lot of differences between the lyrics in the original and the cover. However Tori Amos didn't include all of the original lyrics and placed the lyrics in different places within her version. One example of that is the stanza: "I'm worse at what I do best/ And for this gift I feel blessed/ Our little group has always been/ And always will until the end." In the original that stanza shows up after a few stanzas and in the cover it is the second stanza in the song.

It's not really clear what the song is really supposed to be about. However the song seems to be talking mainly about teens. The music video seems to show a bunch of teens at what looks like a gym class banging their heads and rocking out to the song. The band plays in the middle of the room with a bunch of cheerleaders in the front. The words are all jumbled but I believe it is talking about how teens tend to follow what everyone else is doing and being unoriginal. There's a stanza that even sounds like they may be talking about drugs and going to parties or raves. That stanza is: "With the lights out, it's less dangerous/ Here we are now, entertain us/ I feel stupid and contagious/ Here we are now, entertain us." The words "stupid" and "contagious" are both very different from each other and the "contagious" part sounds like it could be a drug that it is similar to a disease. In contrast the "entertain us" part sounds like either a party or a bunch of teens trying to pass the time. That and I find the chorus a bit strange which is: "Hello, Hello, Hello, How low" repeated throughout the song. I'm not why that's the chorus, it's like they're trying to say hello to their audience in the music video. However when they wrote the song I highly doubt they were writing it as a form of greeting.

The only stanza that Amos didn't include in her version is: "And I forgot just why I taste/ Oh, yeah, it makes me smile/ I found it hard, it's hard to find/ Oh well, whatever, nevermind." I find it interesting that in that particular stanza he goes from saying "found" the past tense to saying "find" the present tense as if they are still trying to find a specific meaning to something only to form the last lyric of the stanza to say that they have given up. The original song is longer than Amos' version. Overall I believe that both versions are good, except I prefer the original because I'm not a big classic music fan.

Wash away the rain

This week I will be comparing  "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden and the cover done by Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme.

 

Musicality

Soundgarden is more of a grunge band so their version sounds a bit more gritty and angry. They have guitars and drums to emphasize their points within the song.Whereas Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme are a jazz group so they have more of a calm and soothing tone. Their song mainly features a piano which makes it much less gritty and much more soothing. Since Lawrence and Gorme sing it more so as a duet, the song seems more like a love song or a happy song rather than a sad or angry song. Which really changes the whole tone of the song and the meaning of the lyrics seem more irrelevant in their version than in the original version.

 

Music Video

Though the song isn't really about anything particular, the music video by Soundgarden seems to depict the apocalypse.The music video shows a bunch of people in a neighborhood with over exaggerated features and grotesque, fake smiles plastered on their faces. The stanza that stands out the most is: "Black hole sun/ Won't you come/ And wash away the rain?/ Black hole sun/ Won't you come?/ Won't you come?"  In the middle of the video a tornado comes out of nowhere and sucks all of the people up into the sky like a vortex or a black hole at which point everything erupts into chaos, the music and the guitar seems to blare out. Which I believe is supposed to show the apocalypse sweeping everyone in the neighborhood because they are all bad. They all only seem to care about superficial things that they themselves become artificial caricatures. It shows a lady putting on lipstick to look pretty while staring at a buff guy exercising to look good. It also later shows a woman sunbathing to get a nice tan as well as a bunch of cruel kids trying to kill a harmless bug. The whole music video is strange and one of the strangest parts is a little girl eating vanilla ice cream and at about 2:40 in the video she seems to be regurgitating the ice cream back up right at the part in the lyric where they say "Won't you come" which is very suggestive.

Lyrics 

In the beginning of the song another lyric stood out to me "Boiling heat/ Summer stench/ 'Neath the black/ The sky looks dead." Which makes it sound like the neighborhood depicted in the music video is already living in a depressing world. The last lyric "The sky looks dead" seems to foreshadow the fact that world is coming to an end. There's a "boiling heat" except that there is no sun which is why the song keeps saying "Black hole sun/ Won't you come." How could there be any heat without any sun? The sky is black and I'm assuming it's raining because of the lyric "And wash away the rain." Even though in the music video there is no rain, but as I mentioned earlier a tornado comes and starts to sweep the people in the neighborhood up into the sky like the rapture.

The lyrics that best exemplify the idea that the song is about an apocalypse is: "Stuttering/ Cold and damp/ Steal the warm wind/ Tired friend/ Times are gone/ For honest men." Going back to the music video, none of the people in the neighborhood seem like good people. They all look evil and therefore they are characterized as dishonest and egotistical. The song goes on to say "In my shoes/ A walking sleep/ And my youth/ I pray to keep/ Heaven send/ Hell away/ No one sings/ Like you/ Anymore." The lyrics seem to say that the singer wants to stay young and go to Heaven and not Hell, but all of the people in the music video seem to be lifted up into the sky which is the place we associate with Heaven. Except that none of the people are what most people would consider good enough to be sent to Heaven.

Lawrence and Eydie didn't change their lyrics only the sound of the song from gritty to jazzy.  The song starts off with Lawrence singing and then Eydie joins in right at the chorus when they start singing the stanza I listed earlier "Black hole sun/Won't you come/  And wash away the rain?/ Black hole sun/ Won't you come? / Won't you come?" Turning it more so into a duet and downplaying the intensity of the original song and the creepiness of the music video by Soundgarden. There also doesn't really seem to be any emphasis on the concepts of Heaven and Hell or any apocalypse in their version. It sounds more like a love song or a lullaby of some sort. Since it is more of a duet, it seems they are singing more so to each other like a type of serenade rather than singing to the audience.

Overall I prefer the original because I am more familiar with it despite the crazy music video. I am not a big jazz fan, however Lawrence and Eydie's version is still just as good as the original by Soundgarden. A lot of covers don't do music videos which I find a little frustrating, because the music video usually gives more of a sense to what the singer or songwriter was trying to say about the song in general. If they had done a music video it would give a better sense as to what Lawrence and Eydie were trying to say about their version.

Jeremy spoke in class today

This week I will be comparing "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam and the cover done by Courtney Love.

    

Musicality

The original by Pearl Jam sounds intense and a bit angry. The guitar, the vocals and the drums really make the song come alive and make the listener feel the intensity that the singer feels. While Courtney Love manages to sound even more grittier than Pearl Jam in her version. Her version is played with an acoustic guitar and some of her words are harder to make out compared to Pearl Jam.

 

Background

The song talks about a boy that constantly gets bullied at school and ignored by his parents. The uncut music video done by Pearl Jam was hard to find. The video shows the deterioration of Jeremy, from drawing pictures to being yelled at by his parents and bullied in school. At about 3:36-3:40 in the music video the kids are all shown doing the Nazi salute which I found really strange. The music builds up in crescendo showing scenes of the boy, Jeremy, going through all of these different scenarios to showing the lead singer Eddie Vedder singing. This all leads to the end of the video where Jeremy comes into class, puts a gun in his mouth and pulls the trigger leaving his classmates shocked and some drenched in his blood.

The song was inspired by two different things. The first was a newspaper article about a 15 year old kid named Jeremy Wade Delle that shot himself in front of his classmates on January 8, 1991. Here is a hyperlink to that article: http://www.fivehorizons.com/songs/aug99/jeremy_article.shtml

While the other story is based on someone Vedder knew in junior high who ending up shooting up one of the classrooms but didn't actually kill himself. Which I believe really makes the song even more intense because its based on a true story as opposed to being made up. Since Vedder actually knew someone who did this, it makes the song a bit more personal. As for Courtney Love, she too has experience with suicide, her husband was Kurt Cobain who was also the lead singer for Nirvana. He committed suicide back in 1994, so this song is probably very personal to her as well.

Lyrics

The original lyrics and Courtney Love's version aren't really different when it comes to the lyrics. The lyrics are really what paint the picture of the song and adds to the effect of what the singer is saying about how Jeremy feels. One lyric that seems to get repeated throughout the song is: "Jeremy spoke in class today" which I guess is supposed to be shocking because Jeremy probably doesn't talk in class unless he's called on because he gets bullied so much in school.To the couple stanzas on how is parents don't really seem to care about him: "Daddy didn't give attention/ To the fact that mommy didn't care/ King Jeremy the wicked/ Ruled his world." The last two lyrics referring to Jeremy as a "King" seems to signify that Jeremy lives in his own world trying to forget who he is and trying to be someone else.

The first lyric that introduces us to Jeremy is; "At home/ Drawing pictures/ Of mountain tops/ With him on top/ Lemon yellow sun/ Arms raised in a V/ Dead lay in pools of maroon below." The first half of the lyrics sound pretty upbeat. Jeremy drawing pictures of himself being somewhere else where he doesn't get bullied and is the "King" of the world as he is portrayed later. The last lyric though sounds very cryptic talking about being dead in a pool of what I'm guessing is referring to blood.

The stanza that really pushes Jeremy over the edge and what ultimately makes him lash out from everything is: "Clearly I remember/ Pickin' on the boy/ Seemed a harmless little fuck/ But we unleashed a lion/ Gnashed his teeth/ And bit the recess lady's breast." The bullying and everything else is really what made Jeremy so bitter in the first place. I know what its like to be bullied and I know what its like to feel like a loser being a loner myself. Jeremy is pictured as a kid that escapes through his drawings, I always escaped through writing music lyrics and poems. This song is one of my favorites because I can relate to it. If the real Jeremy had received some counseling or therapy and talked to someone he probably wouldn't have killed himself.

I believe that the versions of both Pearl Jam and Courtney Love are intense and good for different reasons. The song is more powerful because Vedder and Love both know someone that has done that. Although Love probably has more experience because her husband committed suicide while Vedder said that the kid he knew he had gotten into fights with. Which gives more of an explanation on the stanza about him "pickin' on the boy."

Born in a dead man's town

This week I am comparing the song "Born in the U.S.A." by Bruce Springsteen and the one covered by Ballboy.

 

 Bruce Springsteen usually exudes raw sexual appeal through both his singing and his live performances. In this song, Springsteen sounds much more serious and takes on a more gritty voice. While the band Ballboy are a Scotland indie band that sounds more sensual and sweet in their version. Springsteen's version emphasizes their instrumentals in the song, with a heavy set of drum sounds in the background and what sounds like a synthesizer. However this is Springsteen's second version, the first one he released was apparently a bit different with the instrumentals. While the band, Ballboy's instrumentals involve an acoustic guitar playing in the background.



The song lyrics are talking about the Vietnam War and the aftereffects on Americans. Springsteen is singing about how people were drafted into fighting in the war. Which is clear from this stanza: "Got in a little hometown jam/ So they put a rifle in my hand/ Sent me off to a foreign land/ To go and kill a yellow man." Springsteen refers to the people in Vietnam as "a yellow man" which I find interesting because he probably considers himself "a white man" and referring to the enemy as a different color seems to promote a type of discrimination. Even though the song seems to be patriotic there are some lyrics that contradict how being an American is a good thing. The best example of this contradiction is the very first stanza: "Born down in a dead man's town/ The first kick I took was when I hit the ground/ You end up like a dog that's been beat too much/ Till you spend half your life just covering up." It seems he is comparing being an American to being treated like a dog. Which really doesn't sound appealing and doesn't sound like a very good thing either.

While Ballboy changed a few lyrics here and there I find it interesting that they are a Scottish band originally from Scotland and the song itself is called "Born in the U.S.A." which is a lyric that they didn't change. One of the lyrics is: "I had a brother at Khe Sahn/ Fighting of the Viet Kong/ Well, they're still there/ But he's all gone, gone, gone." They change the spelling of "Cong" to "Kong" and the original song says gone once. The last stanza of the song is changed as well; the original lyric is: "Born in the u.s.a., I was born in the u.s.a./ Born in the u.s.a., I'm a long gone daddy in the u.s.a./ Born in the u.s.a., born in the u.s.a./ Born in the u.s.a., I'm a cool rocking daddy in the u.s.a." While Ballboy's last lyric is: "I was born in the USA/ I was born in the USA/ I was born in the USA/ I've got nowhere to run/ I've got nowhere to hide." Although Springsteen does say that he's got nowhere to run or go in the second to last stanza, he never says he's got nowhere to hide.

I think both versions are good for different reasons, although it is harder to connect with the Ballboy's version simply because it is clear from their accents that they were not born in the U.S.A. While the song is considered a patriotic song, the Ballboy's version could be misconstrued as them mocking the song since they are technically not Americans. I don't think they are mocking the song in any way, I believe they did a good version of the song because it does sound more happy despite how sad some of the lyrics are. While Springsteen sounds more angry and a little sad in his version which seems to change the meaning of the song even though the lyrics are still basically the same. 

Uncomfortably Numb

So far I have been doing cover songs that I believe are generally good, this week I am doing a cover song that really pales in comparison to the original. "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd and the cover done by Scissor Sisters.



The original by Pink Floyd sounds depressing and more like they're tripping on some drugs while singing it or possibly even when they were writing it. While the Scissor Sisters sound more like the Bee Gees or some other disco era band, I actually thought for a split second as I was listening to the Scissor Sisters' version that they were the Bee Gees. The Scissor Sisters' version sounds a little like techno too, throughout the song my ears felt like they were being raped by the beats from the song. They have too many unnecessary beats and tones in their song that really gives me a bit of a headache. While Pink Floyd sings their version really slowly, the Scissor Sisters sing their version extremely fast and a bit flamboyantly with their beats and tones.



The original lyrics by Pink Floyd make it clear that they are talking about being on some type of drugs. The best example of that being this stanza: "O.K./ Just a little pin prick/ There'll be no more aaaaaaaah!/ But you may feel a little sick." The pin prick they're talking about sounds like a syringe of some sort used for intravenous drugs like heroin. They also paint an interesting picture with this stanza: "There is no pain you are receding/ A distant smoke's on the horizon/ You are only coming through in waves/ Your lips move/ But I can't hear what you're saying." This stanza seems to show that they're probably high off of drugs and they're seeing things that aren't actually there.

The Scissor Sisters didn't really change any lyrics aside from making their version sound a lot more inappropriate. I couldn't help but notice that they seem to stress out the word "relax"which reminded me of the song "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood which is all about sex except that they're song is way more subtle than this one. They also changed the lyric from "Comfortably numb" to "Com-Com-fortably numb" I don't understand why they felt the need to stress out that particular word. They have to be alluding to sex, from the album cover that the song is featured on to the words they stressed out to their band name Scissor Sisters. It's like they were purposely trying to make the listener feel uncomfortable. Everything about the band seems to scream sex and it is really annoying that they seemed to miss the point of the original song altogether.

I think it's pretty obvious that I didn't particularly like the cover done by Scissor Sisters. Honestly it felt like they were mocking the song more so than trying to do a good cover of it. They really managed to change the whole meaning of the song though with the words that they stressed out. Some of the lyrics were sung so quickly that you can't even make some of them out especially with the beats and tones in the background overpowering the lyrics. However I've only ever listened to one other song by them that's not a cover which is good and they might be singing about sex in that one too, but it's more subtle and not as obvious.

It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

The songs I am going to compare this week are "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen and the cover done by Jeff Buckley. Now more people are familiar with the cover by Jeff Buckley than they are the original. Honestly I myself was surprised to learn that Jeff's version is not the original because I have always heard his version, I had never even heard the original before.

 

Musicality
Leonard Cohen sounds more gruff and has a bit more of a baritone voice. He sings much more slowly like he is talking it out instead of singing it which reminds me of how Johnny Cash sings in most of his songs. While Jeff Buckley sings more softly and he has a mellifluous voice as if he is serenading the song to someone he loves. The way Buckley sings it makes me feel more connected to his words than when Cohen sings it. I still believe Cohen did a good job but I feel more connected when the chorus kicks in and they start singing "Hallelujah" over and over again. Cohen seems to be a bit more of a jazzy singer while Buckley sounds more depressed with the way he sings it compared to Cohen.

 

Lyrics
Jeff Buckley and Leonard Cohen both have the same lyrics. Jeff only changed a couple of random words that do not make much of a difference to the meaning of the song as a whole. Though Leonard Cohen has a few more lyrics that Jeff did not include in his cover. This song seems to be talking about faith and how people sometimes go through things that really affect them in profound ways that may make them lose that faith. One of the most powerful lyrics is this stanza:

"Your faith was strong but you needed proof/ You saw her bathing on the roof/ Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you/ She tied you to a kitchen chair/ She broke your throne, and she cut your hair/ And from your lips, she drew the Hallelujah."

The song itself is interesting because it takes a second person perspective, talking about a person namely the "you" who has been humiliated by this random woman. Another lyric that really shows how this person has lost their faith in either love or God is: "Love is not a victory march/ It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah." This person has been through love and knows what it's like to either have your heart broken or been through the highs and lows of being in love with someone.

It is never made clear as to whether this person has lost their faith in love itself or God for what he/she has gone through. I always assumed that the song was referring to a man, however it is unclear as to who the singer/songwriter is really referring to because it is in a second person perspective. The stanza that shows that this song is either talking about losing faith in love or God is:

"Maybe there's a God above/ But all I've ever learned from love/ Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you/ It's not a cry that you hear at night/ It's not someone who's seen the light/ It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah."

I take "Hallelujah" to mean thank God, however I do not understand why anyone would thank God for making love so complicated and hard for this person. Maybe the singer/songwriter meant that if love was not as complicated as it is, no one would grow and everything would be tedious and predictable. I always took this song to have some sort of religious connotations in it. Maybe love is supposed to be a manifestation of what God should or would be if you met him.

I would also like to touch up on the lyrics that Buckley did not include in his cover that seem to give more clues as to what the song is supposed to be about.

"You say I took the name in vain/ I don't even know the name/  But if I did, well really, what's it to you?/ There's a blaze of light in every word/ It doesn't matter which you heard/ The holy or the broken Hallelujah."

Personally I believe the whole song has beautiful lyrics, even though I myself am not a religious person. I also noticed that the singer/songwriter starts with "I" then switches to "you" then goes back to "I" and it is unclear whether he is talking about himself the whole time or just some random person when he says "you". The other stanza that Buckley did not include is:

"I did my best, it wasn't much/ I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch/ I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you/ And even though it all went wrong/ I'll stand before the Lord of Song/ With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah."

Cohen continues to mention God in some way or refer to God by saying Hallelujah in every stanza in the song. In the end the only lyric that Buckley changes is instead of the original lyric "how to shoot someone who outdrew you" he changes the "someone" to "somebody".

Crown of Shit Versus Crown of Thorns

I believe that some cover songs are good and some not so much. So this week I am going to start off with the song "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails.



The cover is done by Johnny Cash. I like the original, however I prefer Johnny Cash's version. Nine Inch Nails sound very raw in their singing while Johnny Cash sounds a bit more worn and depressed. Some of the lyrics really resonate and stand out like the first stanza:

"I hurt myself today/ To see if I still feel/ I focus on the pain/ The only thing that's real/ The needle tears a hole/ The old familiar sting/ Try to kill it all away/ But I remember everything."

These lyrics seem to work better for Johnny Cash because he has more experience with pain and loss. When he sings it I can feel his pain and relate to it more so than I can with the Nine Inch Nails version. Even the music video for his version of the song is interspersed with several different clips of when he was young which shows his nostalgia for being young again. The last stanza in the song is a perfect example of this:

"If I could start again/ A million miles away/ I would keep myself/ I would find a way."

After assessing the lyrics it is seems that Nine Inch Nails is singing about doing drugs or cutting themselves when they mention the line “The needle tears a whole.” While Johnny Cash seems to be singing about possibly committing suicide because he has gone through this loss and there really is nothing left for him to live for because he's already so much older and I can feel his pain when he sings "Everyone I know goes away/ in the end". Which is why Johnny Cash's version sounds so much better, because it's more understandable for him to want to do that and his soulful voice adds to the song and the lyrics. Nine Inch Nails also paint a picture with the lyrics with the lines “You could have it all/ My empire of dirt” as well as the lines “I wear this crown of shit/ Upon my liar’s chair.” It’s interesting that they refer to their empire as a “pile of dirt” and their crown is made of shit. I normally associate terms like empire and crown with royalty and wealth not as something as negative as shit or dirt. Except in Johnny Cash’s version he replaces “crown of shit” with “crown of thorns” which somehow sounds more painful and depressing than the original lyrics.

Though both the band and Johnny Cash seem to be implying suicide in the song I believe that each of the songs is good for different reasons. I also find it interesting that Nine Inch Nails is considered an industrial rock or alternative rock band whereas Johnny Cash is better known as a country singer. Though Johnny Cash did not try to make the song sound country at all, it still sounds like a rock song. I find it very ironic that “Hurt” was Johnny Cash’s last hit before he passed away and the song happens to be talking all about suicide. Johnny Cash’s lyrics are not all that different from Nine Inch Nails’ lyrics since he only replaces one word and where some of the stanzas and lines start and end. I believe the main difference is how both of the songs are performed and what kinds of emotions both the band and Johnny Cash manage to evoke in the audience. I would have assumed that Nine Inch Nails’ version would be more depressing, however after looking at the lyrics and listening to the songs again I have come to the conclusion that Johnny Cash’s version is much more depressing.

Breaking Waves

I plunge deep into the sea;

The waves overtake my sanity.

An electrical current runs through;

As I dive deeper into the murky blue.

The light flickers overhead;

As my world turns blood red.

The emptiness resonates inside;

As I try to fight through the tide.

The jewels of time unwind;

As I stumble through the grit and grime.

Lightning bolts across the sky;

Thunder rumbles with nowhere to hide.

I'm troubled with the guilt;

The knife buried to the hilt.

The blood coagulates from the wound;

As I let my thoughts consume.

Purple rain falls on my head;

Embers and flames come in shreds.
Bursts of light in a broken world;
Empty promises and thoughts swirled.

Isolated in desolation;

A look of concentration.

Surrounded by sand;

On another unfamiliar land.

Treading on shards of glass;

Trying to forget the past;

A rush of adrenaline in my veins;

Tears of anguish feeling ashamed.