Growing up in the mid-north coast town of Forster was a lot of fun. I remember the beautiful beaches, the good friends and the music. Everyone in town loved music. It was something that struck me immediately upon arriving from Sydney — there was the School Captain, Paul Davis sitting on a bench strumming a guitar and singing to the other kids around him.
Of course, he wasn’t singing Kumbaya … he was singing The Clash. He was singing Sex Pistols or Siouxie and the Banshees — but importantly, he was singing. And in many ways, this single incident set the tenor of my engagement with my new town and its people — it was to be a deep and musical connection. Even now the songs from my late teens remind me of specific moments, people and places — these songs have created a soundtrack to my own life — and none moreso than the songs of the Australian band, Cold Chisel.
Imagine how excited I was then to discover a whole album of Cold Chisel songs reinterpreted by some of Australia’s finest contemporary musicians. Called Standing on the Outside, it brings together many of my favourite songs in a new context. Exciting!
But the reason I am most interested in this, is because it touches on a theme that has been occupying me for the last few weeks. It is about authenticity, truth and "fakes". I will be writing more on this over the coming week, but there is something about PERFORMING the fake that seems to me, to reveal a greater truth. Sometimes the cover version reveals more than the original. Think on Johnny Cash’s version of U2’s One. That is where I am starting my next post. Stay tuned.
Gavin, this is very true that sometimes the cover version is more revealing than the fake. This week I stumbled across this video of Alanis Morissette covering, of all things, that cheesy song “My Humps” originally by the Black Eyed Peas.
At first I thought it was a joke, like since when is Alanis becoming Weird Al Yankovick? But upon watching it, it just haunted me.
I keep on trying to tell people to look at it, that it’s amazing that by singing the same words in a different way, that the song is now a poingant social commentary, but I haven’t gotten much response beyond folks saying that it’s a hilarious video. I personally don’t find it that funny. I find it more poignant than humorous.
Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W91sqAs-_-g
I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with on this “performing the fake” idea.