posted
What exactly do you see in the track? I've listened to it, now, and it seems almost completely meritless.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
The thing I like about the Fugees version, off the top of my head - the beat. Anytime a song causes my head to bob unbeknownst to me, it's a good thing. This is a symptom of listening to too much Michael Jackson during my formative years. I love a good beat.
I also think Lauryn Hill's voice has phenomenal depth and tone. So the main difference to me between the original and this one is it seems to mean a lot more when Hill sings the words.
I like the vocal adlibs at the end, probably because I have vivid memories of being in a car full of people, everyone singing along to that at the top of their lungs.
But if you listen to it for the first time ever on your computer, already convinced it's no good, it's no surprise you find you're right. I think psychology calls that a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The only things I prefer in the original is how clean it is, and the fact that she does all three verses.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote:I don't see how you can possibly not have heard this version. Were you alive during the eighties?
Yes, but I was in elementary school and the only music I really listened to back then was Kiss, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Young MC, MC Hammer, and weekly top 40 radio.
Posts: 1336 | Registered: Mar 2002
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posted
I was going to try to explain why I like the Fugees version of "Killing Me Softly". As I formulated my thoughts, I was reminded of the time that I tried to explain to my wife why I'm such a big fan of the movie Doctor Strangelove.
Strangelove is one of my all time favorite movies. The acting, the writing, the directing, the cinematography, the satire, the characterizations, the way Peter Sellers plays his different characters, the way George C. Scott parodies his own onscreen persona, Slim Pickens' earnestly goofy fighter pilot... there isn't a single element of that film that isn't absolutely brilliant. So when I was introducing my wife to my favorite pieces of classic American culture, I couldn't wait to show her this. Imagine my disappointment when she never laughed once, and fell asleep halfway through.
She wanted me to explain to her why I loved this movie so much. And I tried--lord help me, how I tried. But the fact is, I can see it from her point of view. When I watch it, I can understand how she can see this brilliant piece of cinema as two hours of dry, pointless black-and-white footage of stupid people doing inane and worthless things. I still adore Strangelove, and the vast majority of scholars and film buffs agree with me, but I've surrendered to the inevitable fact that my wife, intelligent and tasteful as she is, will never share that adoration.
Trying to explain why I like The Fugees' version of "Killing Me Softly" is very much like that. I can see Tom's point of view, and in this case there aren't many hard facts I can use to back up mine. Listening to it from his point of view, I can hear a dry version of a song he likes, with a simple drum and bass line and some perfunctory rapped ejaculations from Wycleffe. I still love it. Yes, it works better in the context of the album (IMHO) than as a single, but even as a single, I think it's pretty damn great. And, from what I can tell, most scholars and music historians share this point of view. But that's not going to change Tom's mind. Nor should it.
Everyone in the world can find some ways their artistic tastes differ from established norms. I don't think Nirvana is as great as most people in the biz. My wife thinks Doctor Strangelove is overrated. And Tom doesn't like The Fugees. So what? That's what makes us human. Tom may never get why JT and I like The Fugees, and that's fine. As long as we're both judging with open minds, and neither of us decide that our arbitrary way of thinking somehow makes us more intelligent, cultured or tasteful than the other, I'm okay with his opinions. I may as well be... I'm not going to change them anyway. Posts: 2804 | Registered: May 2003
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posted
In fact, what you said is one of the reasons I love music so much. Everybody likes what they like, and they don't like certain other stuff. And for the most part it's totally arbitrary. You can't change people's minds about music because it's so subjective.
That's why I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadow. No wait, that's not what I decided.
I decided never to criticize anyone's taste in music. Even if I don't like an artist, it's alright with me if people do like them.
quote:Originally posted by El JT de Spang: I decided never to criticize anyone's taste in music. Even if I don't like an artist, it's alright with me if people do like them.
posted
Not to re-rail the thread, but here're some more definitive covers:
Santana's version of Oye Como Va They Might Be Giants' version of Istanbul (Not Constantinopol) And I may get some crap for this one, but I'll always consider Cowboy Junkies' version of Sweet Jane to be definitive.
Posts: 2804 | Registered: May 2003
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quote:but Ike and Tina's version of Proud Mary is much more well-known than the original Creedence version.
Same planet as I, apparently. I too prefer the CCR version, but any time I request the song, I can count on hearing the Ike & Tina version.
-o-
quote: All Along The Watchtower is a Hendrix song. I like the Indigo Girls version better though.
I own every Indigo Girls album, and I don't believe I have this cover. Where can I get it?
-o-
quote: Celine Dion's version of The Power Of Love is far better-known than the original by Laura Brannigan, due to it being one of the top tracks of 1994.
That is so wrong on so many levels.
I agree with you, but Laura Brannigan's remake is apparently better known than the earlier remake by Air Supply--not to mention the original by some chick whose name escapes me.
-o-
And speaking of Laura Brannigan, Michael Bolton's cover of "her" song "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You?" which he actually wrote, was a bigger hit than her hit version.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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