Monday, October 18, 2010

Cover me, second installment.

I previously mentioned that I grew up listening to my parents' records and was blissfully unaware of "contemporary" music for the longest time. Prior to the Beatles and Beach Boys, I bopped around to ABBA as a baby. My sister (eight years older than me) had a tape recorder with which she made recordings of baby Wini learning to talk. The gem of this tape is of me singing along to ABBA's "Voulez-Vous" (in which I'd sing "VOULEZ-VOUS!" loudly and then babble/mumble the rest).

ABBA is pure pop, no way around it. Their songs sound happy and cheerful, and the lyrical content tends to come second. Sad lyrics? Doesn't matter, it'll still make me want to dance.

Comparably, Camera Obscura is somewhat similar. Their lyrics have a stronger effect; the twee melodies still make me want to sway, but with a heavier heart. Their cover of "Super Trouper" does the song justice - the music actually reflects the lyrics better than the original. In fact, I'm not sure if I ever really paid attention to the lyrics until I hear Camera Obscura's version. Tracyanne's mournful, melancholic voice rings out and I'm surely convinced of her homesick loneliness when she sings, "Facing twenty thousand of your friends / How can anyone be so lonely?" Hearing her sing that line causes such pangs in my heart!

Camera Obscura's version:


The original by ABBA:


Wonderful example of a cover version bringing a whole new dimension to a song I already enjoy.

2 comments:

  1. LMAO! :D My dad did the same thing! I have a casette tape of me at 3 reciting a bunch of Chinese songs and poems and even French numbers and in the middle of it all there's me singing the chorus to Phil Collins, "One More Night", bwahahaha! We could have formed a teeny girl group! *high five*

    Deb

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  2. hehe, that is SO awesome! i've actually considered transferring the recordings on my cassette to digital format but haven't really looked into it. since cassettes can get wonky over time and then it would be lost forever!

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