Quote:
Originally Posted by blackflower
The one cover which really bugs me is "Umbrella" because it's part of a trend I really hate - male guitar bands covering great pop tracks by women. It always comes with a whiff of irony and sexism which riles me. There is no way in which the Manics' "Umbrella" is better than Rihanna's original, which is an absolutely perfect pop song. I mean, I enjoy their version, because it's a competent take on a great song, but if I want to listen to "Umbrella" I'm absolutely going to listen to Rihanna, not the Manics.
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Velocitygirl
I agree with all of this so, so much. And, naturally, female dominated pop music is seen as worthless compared to male dominated rock music. Therefore people automatically say the rock version is way better than the original without so much as a second's thought.
While I'm sure this was not the Manics' intent, it plays into that mindset regardless. Female-sung pop song suddenly becomes culturally acceptable thanks to all male rock band cover version. Yeah ... no!
|
Yeah.. it's almost as if it's a joke or novelty with a lot of bands. Can't think of many specific examples off the top of my head, think the Radio 1 Live Lounge is quite guilty of it. Didn't Arctic Monkeys do Love Machine? Or someone like that did.. Futureheads can get right to fuck with their Hounds of Love though.
Suppose it depends on how and why you've done the cover. If it's a sincere tribute, great. I am leaning towards letting Manics off for that one though cos I love em and they wrote Little Baby Nothing. They're not cock rock. And to be honest, I think there are a couple of bits of Umbrella that read like they could've been written by Wire anyway!
"These fancy things will never come in between
You're part of my entity, here for infinity
When the world has took its part
When the world has dealt its cards
If the hand is hard, together we'll mend your heart"
It's quite a dark and bittersweet for a pop song really. I don't think they covered it for a laugh or out of any chauvinism but I wonder if it was their way of showing that they're not dinosaurs and they are aware of modern music. I sound like a grandad...
You forget just how many covers they've done. Wouldn't say there's any I think are particularly shit, they've made some interesting choices over the years. Think my favourite is probably the version of Clampdown James did on his solo tour.