I DIDN'T PLAN THIS, BUT: On my ipod this afternoon, consecutively:
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" -Cat Power
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" -The Rolling Stones
The Cat Power version is better--it captures the despondency of the lyrics more effectively, the gender inversion puts an emphasis on the consecutive verse-pictures Jagger draws, and the total absence of the song title in the track is haunting: you wait for it, but it never comes.
That said, Cat Power's version is parasitic on the Rolling Stones'. Without a set of expectations about what the song ought to sound like, you can never have a sense those expectations have been violated. It may not be a lesser accomplishment because of that (I don't really believe rock and roll is art*), but the cover song as a genre is a great reminder of the distance between two versions of exactly the same thing.
*which is not to say it doesn't have redeeming aesthetic or emotional features, or to give it lesser status. Not worse; just different.
"Thou shalt not extinguish thine anger, but shall master it,
that thy conscience may not be blunted by adjustment
to wrong causes."
-The Dutch Ten Commandments to Foil the Nazis
No comments:
Post a Comment