T and I were out running around this afternoon looking for dresser knobs (exciting, I know), I was flipping radio stations when I heard the beginning strains of Forever Young. I love this song. I've listened to it forever.
and so here is the point of my rant. I hate remixes and remakes. The Alphaville song I thought I stumbled upon was a remix AND a remake. I have no idea who did it or why, but I was not amused. Not only had it been made into some sort of a dance tune, there was some sort of rapping in the middle of it.
I don't know why songs need to be remade. I know people have songs they grew up listening to and think that just because they are an "artist" they can remake the song, make it their own and call it an homage or a tribute or whatever. But how many remakes are actually better than the original?? In my books, one.
Ok, now I don't know every remake made and maybe a song I love is actually a remake I don't know about, but for right now I claim only one remake as being better. Maybe it's because I don't care for the original artist...I don't know, I'm not a huge fan of the remake artist either, and why I like the song in general is beyond me, but I do. It's Suspicious Minds by Dwight Yokam. I know, SHOCK! Everyone knows I hate country music, but for some reason beyond me I enjoy this song by him. I don't like the Elvis original, but let Dwight put his twist on it and voila!
Some of the worst remakes I've heard:
- Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts...ugh it makes me vomit a little in my mouth every time I hear it. Tom Cochran's original is a million bazillion gajillion times better. Don't fight me on this, it just is.
- American Woman by Lenny Kravitz...just listen to the Guess Who
- Come on Eileen by Save Ferris. Why on earth would anyone need to remake this??
- Sweet Dreams by Marilyn Manson. Really, you think you can top the Eurythmics?? I think not.
- American Pie by Madonna.
- I'm a Believer by Smash Mouth
- Big Yellow Taxi by Counting Crows
Plus a plethora of more, but those are just some that make me hurry and turn the channel! I know I have left some good ones off my list and there are some remakes I like, not as much as the original though and like I said I probably love some songs not even knowing they are remakes. I do love the New Order remake of Blue Monday, but it was a remake of their own song....so does that even count?
So what remakes do you hate/love?
3 comments:
I have to respectfully disagree! I love remakes & often find them to be better than the original. Ryan Adams has done a lot of remakes and I generally like his versions better. Also, I've heard great remakes of pop songs that originally I thought sucked ie: Brittany Spears songs, but then heard them remade by actual artists and they are fantastic. Anyway, I'm a fan of remakes...I mean why not? It's not like you can't listen to the original as well. Oh, and PS that Forever Young remake you heard was Jay-Z & I like it :) I still love the original, I don't look at them as the same song really.
I hate all versions of Big Yellow Taxi equally. Nothing can get me to change a radio station quite as swiftly as that awful song!
I don't have anything against remakes in general, but there are some that drive me up a wall.Jack Ingram's version of Lips of an Angel is just silly. So is Blake Shelton's version of Home.
I like both The Fray and Kris Allen's versions of Heartless better than Kanye's original. I also like every version of When the Stars Go Blue almost as well as I like Ryan Adams original. I definitely like Jeff Buckley's Halleluajh better than Leonard Cohen's. I like Lili Haydn's Goodbye Stranger better than the Supertramp version. I love Greg Laswell's Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun, but that is so different from Cyndi Lauper's that you can't even compare them, really.
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