Musical primacy
[NOTE: This post of mine sparked the following reflections.]
Our responses to music are closely tied to emotion as well as memory. People who are brain-damaged and cannot speak can sometimes access music and even lyrics; different parts of the brain seem to be involved. A person going through a difficult emotional time—particularly romantic heartbreak, the subject of so many popular songs—can find music acting as a cathartic releaser for emotions otherwise kept hidden.
Although some people are disinterested in music, most of us are very very drawn to it. We have our favorites, and our favorites can be tenacious. Like Proust’s madeleine, a song or piece of music can vividly conjure up a lost time and place, distant people, and heartache or joy and almost everything in-between.
I have long thought that we all have a general tendency to prefer the first version we ever heard of a particular work, especially if we’ve grown familiar with it before hearing other versions. Of course, that first version must be a good one, but given that, it seems that the first one embeds itself into our minds and hearts in a way that makes it difficult to dislodge from its place of primacy.
There are many pieces, classical music and popular, that I know so well in their first versions that I can sing along (albeit badly) with every note, every nuance and hesitation and diminution, every accelerando and crescendo and shade and color. New versions just seem so wrong, even if other people might love them.
I’m sure there are exceptions where I’ve grown to love the later versions. But right now I can’t think of any. Well, maybe this one—but I wasn’t all that fond of the original in the first place:
The original:
Or was this the original? I think it was the original original (it sounds a lot more familiar to me):
As I said, neither is a big favorite of mine, but I think the Taylor version is more interesting. And the public seems to agree with me.
One exception to the primacy rule for me is Mark Knopfler. My favorite Knopfler version of any Knopfler song is usually the one I’m listening to at the moment. With Knopfler, it’s all good.
Neo, you’ve enlightened me about my preferred version of Prokofiev’s “Classical Symphony”, the first piece that got me hooked on classical music. I’ve always wondered why all the subsequent versions are simply wrong!
And I agree with you about Mark Knopfler. His style is recognizable even in background music that is new to me, such as for a movie.
Back in the 80s, I worked second shift in a product testing lab with four or five other guys. The first night we all started working together, one of the them pulled out a radio and asked if we minded if he played it. Unfortunately, we said OK. Turns out he listened to one station, and one station only, the “Classic Rock” station, eight hours straight. The station had two playlists: the Monday/Wednesday/Friday playlist, and the Tuesday/Thursday/ Saturday playlist. After a year or two of that, I would rather listen to any version of a song so long as it isn’t the original one.
roc scssrs: 🙂
I’ve been in department stores that do that, especially at Christmastime. They play the same music over and over in a loop. It’s enough to drive a person crazy.
I’m pretty sure Jimmy Jones’s was the original. Or rather I’m almost certain Del Shannon’s was not.
Mac: oh, I’m certain Jones’ version came before Shannon’s.
What I meant was: there may have been an even earlier version (the Wiki entry hints at that).
Also, I’m not sure which was MY original—the version I first heard.
Perhaps someone can help me a question along these lines that has been bothering me for a couple of months.
Bobby Bare and others (including Peter, Paul, and Mary) recorded the song 500 miles. Most versions are rather slow and mournful.
But some artist or group came out with a recording in the late 60s or early 70s that was much more upbeat, vaguely rock, and featured one or more female singers.
Who were they? I’ve looked everywhere on the Internet for this– Wikipedia, Google, ITunes, Youtube — and can’t find the answer.
Can anyone help?
Thanks.
NCC: I don’t think this is the version you’re talking about, because it was just a banjo version, but The Weavers did it in the 50s (1955).
Here it is; it starts at minute 0:50–
I was not aware of those Handy Man songs by those artists. Alberta Hunter has a witty song in My Handy Man. I believe she was in her 80s when she recorded it.
Another song I am aware of which has references to a handy man is by Lord Kitchener, the Calypsonian from Trinidad. I couldn’t find his song on YouTube, so here is a sample.
http://www.target.com/p/klassic-kitchener-vol-2/-/A-11681453 Handy Man by Lord Kitchener- sample
Of brain damage and music: I have friends with a severely disabled child whose speech is limited to one or two words at a time, laboriously uttered and hard to understand. But since she was small, this same child has been able to SING words (such as the lyrics to “Old MacDonald’s Farm” with fluent, normal diction. She doesn’t understand the meaning of the lyrics, as far as anyone can tell, yet somehow can learn long complex verses and utter the very same syllables and sentences that entirely elude her when she is trying to speak. Plus, she sings on pitch. A mystery. The music must reach some part of her brain — perhaps undamaged? — that is entirely different from the parts that control her speech.
Generally I prefer the original version. There are occasional exceptions to this; for instance I slightly prefer Jose Feliciano’s version of “Light My Fire” to The Doors’ version. But initially I did not, briefly considering it to be almost sacrilegious.
I think it comes down to which performance (singer, arrangement, etc) overall ‘nails’ the song. IMHO, Taylor’s version stands head and shoulders above Jones’ and Shannon’s which to my ears sounds dated. In fairness, Taylor’s version was the original for me but I still feel that its a superior rendition, more sophisticated and ‘texturally’ interesting as well.
Neo, thank you, but it wasn’t the Weavers. The arrangement was much more modern, designed to be a pop 40s song of the early seventies. Earllier I wrote upbeat, but I really meant up tempo. The lyrics were still depressing, but the music almost presaged disco. The vocals sounded like either one woman on multiple tracks, or multiple women.
None of my usual sources — who were certainly around them — have been able to help me. I’m beginning to feel like Dr. Crusher in ST: TNG’s “Remember Me.”
NCC: well, this is uptempo, but it’s men:
This one’s upbeat, and a woman, but I’m pretty sure it’s not what you’re talking about:
Here’s the original, Hedy West, who wrote the song in the early 50s:
And here’s a list of possible candidates, although not a complete one.
I recommend you hunt down two things
1) The Beatles’ Past Masters, v1 — this is a lot of early stuff that they recorded before they stopped releasing covers of anyone’s songs but their own.
2) The Beatles’ “Ultra Rare Trax”. This one is easy to find if you accept it from “spurious” sources — it’s a set of bootleg CDs derived from master tapes that someone got ahold of during the 80s, and got released on CD. The quality is excellent, the original source is believed to be surrepetitiously duped when the studio was planning to make an album called “Sessions” in the mid-80s. The plan was scrapped when the Beatles objected.
Here is a listing of the contents of the six CDs
Its interesting to hear variants of their other songs as they played with instrumentation and speed.
Another interesting one here is “Come And Get It”, associated with Badfinger, but Paul wrote it. The Beatles never released it.
This is one of my favorites, by Paul:
Besame Mucho
Also this one, by John:
Bad Boy
And here’s one by George:
Not guilty
P.S., on the Past Masters v1 disk is are versions of “Sie Liebt Dich” and “Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand” — Versions of “She Loves You” and “I Want To Hold Your Hand” — German versions that the Beatles did in 1964.
Supposedly they refused to do this ever again, because they had to take and re-take it so many times as they’d absent-mindedly switch to English again and again.
Maybe the most spectacular example of a cover surpassing an already-great original was Aretha Franklin’s recording of “Respect” by Otis Redding. As for James Taylor, he should stick to songwriting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handy_Man_%28song%29
Gary Rosen: funny you should mention “Respect.” I was planning to put up a post about that, and probably will in the next few days.
These song comparisons fascinate me, and YouTube makes it easy.
Mrs. Whatsit:
Lazaro Arbos was a contestant on this year’s American Idol and finished in the top 10. He had some kind of speech/brain problem and spoke with a severe stutter, but he could sing.