Love Covers A Multitude Of Sins

I like cover versions of songs. A lot of the artists that I like have recorded cover versions of songs that I enjoy. Great artist, great song, seems to make sense to me. So Mercy Me performing Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” or Adie Camp’s take on the Byrd’s “Turn, Turn, Turn” find a place on my IPOD.

For some reason the contents of my IPOD shuffle has become the source of much humor and ridicule from various family members. It seems that the high percentage of cover versions of hits by other artists seems to trouble and cause concern to my wife and brother in particular.

The main purpose of my IPOD is to provide a custom listening experience for me while I take my daily lunch time walk. It does not include what are necessarily my favorite songs, but what I have found to be perfect traveling tunes.

My mistake however was connecting the IPOD to the stereo in the car while driving with my wife. “That’s on there?”, “You like that song?” or “Who’s singing that?“ followed every song. When Prelude’s cover of “We Can Work It Out” and “And Your Bird Can Sing” by Susanna Hoffs & Matthew Sweet played, I know I tumbled a notch off my husband pedestal. “Here Comes the Sun” by Mayfair Laundry was immediately followed by her next question, “Exactly how many versions of Beatles songs do you have on there by THE BEATLES?!”. I sheepishly admitted that there were none.

My brother doesn’t care if I have any Beatles songs at all. He was always ambivalent about the Fab Four. His concern seems to be that I have cover versions of classic songs and not the originals. “Why do you want to hear some obscure artist covering a hit instead of the original?” is what he keeps inquiring before he begins his mocking of Amy Grant’s cover of “The Things We Do For Love” or Nicole Nordeman’s cover of “Time After Time”.

Cover versions have a long history in popular music. In decades past the composers and arrangers were almost as famous as the artists. Before the 50’s it was rare for an artist to compose his own material. “Hound Dog” and “Blue Suede Shoes” by Elvis were covers as was “Twist & Shout” and “Roll Over Beethoven” by the Beatles.

After a lot of careful consideration, I have decided to stand my ground. I refuse to succumb to IPOD peer pressure. I have to be who I am and let my music be what it is. I have to be true to the music that was made for my ears. If I give in to the taunts and derision of music elitists, music freedoms will be set back decades. I demand my right to covers!