Opposite Gender Covers?
 

How do you feel about the opposite gender covering a song, specifically if the song contains clear references to the vocalist's gender?

I think Bow Wow Wow did one of the best "opposite gender" cover songs, I Want Candy. The Strangeloves did the original. I know I know a few examples, but I can't think of any of them right now, except the one mentioned.

I love the Raincoats cover of Lola, I don't even think about the gender difference.

Certainly never mattered any to me. If an artist is really so concerned with the thought that their fans might think they're a homosexual just because they've covered a song and haven't changed the gender pronouns to suit a heteronormative point of view, maybe they ought to be a little more focused on the music.

Here's a classic example of a cover in which the lyrics were not changed, and it still turned out great.

edit: tried to post a video, just got a white box, wtf

Joan Jett's cover of "Crimson and Clover" is lovely as can be.

The songs that I have heard do that usually change the gender pronouns to fit.

I don't care if they do or not but they usually do it.

Well ****.

I came in here all pissy and about to rant off but LiLs done beat me to it

I'm torn on it. On the one hand, it shouldn't matter, and faithfulness to the original material should be taken into consideration purely as a matter of respect on top of it. However if a chick's screaming 'I'M JUST A LONELY MAN!' it's hard not to giggle and hard not to notice she's indeed not a lonely man, taking away from the power of the song. It might be more powerful to change those lyrics slightly, lest people lose focus.

It is a cover though, I don't feel like artists that do covers have to be extremely faithful to the original song. I rather they put their own spin on it.

I can see that. Maybe some songs you just have to approach in a really over the top way to compensate for the difference? I dunno, just thinking out loud.

I guess it'd depend on the prevalence of gender in the song. If it's not a major focus, nobody's gonna care or notice, but if you got the chorus or some loud lines bringing up that identity it's probably best to change it. Not out of fear of being seen as something you're not, just for the sake of the audience and ensuring they can focus on the main point.

I know I'd be pretty annoyed if I was enjoying myself headbanging to a song and then had to hear a dude say 'I'm just a young girl with dreams' or some ****. I'd bust out laughing, sure, but it'd totally ruin what was previously meaningful.

I don't understand why it would be an issue. Singers often sing lyrics where they're expressing the words of a character rather than being autobiographical. How is this any different than that?

I really think this depends on the song, as in both methods are acceptable, but changing the pronouns may suit some songs better than others.

In other words I'm going with the beads for this poll.

I think it`s mainly dj and Carpe M who are saying "Go ahead and change the lyrics" and I`d agree with them.

Firstly, gender changes are not always about appeasing homophobics as some posters seem to`ve assumed. As Carpe demonstrates with her well-chosen examples, it`s about how convincing the song sounds.

Secondly, isn`t the whole point of doing a cover song to put something of yourself into the original ? Musically and lyrically, a slavish imitation of the original is a pretty sterile exercise imo. No need to treat song lyrics like Moses treated the word of God; I say change lyrics around as much as you like and let time -or the public- decide if it`s an improvement or a travesty. In effect, what dj said.

Usually I like a vocalist to sound sincere and sometimes a gender change helps that along. As Janszoon mentions, there are plenty of songs in which the singer adopts the voice of a different persona, but my suspicion is that those are less common and often less powerful than the confessional "this is the real me" song. Which rather brings us back to this thread:-
http://www.musicbanter.com/general-m...-matter-3.html

A song with a male voice singing what was originally sung by a female voice or vice versa is, by its very nature, not a slavish imitation of the original though. And keeping the lyrics the same while changing the gender of the singer is potentially more of a change to the context and meaning of the lyrics than switching them.

I'm not opposed to changing the lyrics by the way, I'm just saying I don't think it's a big deal or find it distracting if they stay the same.

I think one can tell a powerful and sincere fictional story without pretending it's autobiographical. Some of my favorite lyricists—people like Nick Cave and Tom Waits—have made careers out of doing this. We don't question the sincerity of the emotions in a film just because it's not a documentary about the director's life. We don't question the sincerity of the emotions in a novel just because it's not a memoir. I've never understood why there's this weird double standard that's so often applied to song lyrics.

^ That`s a good point that didn`t occur to me.
^ I didn`t really consider that either. You`re saying that a song that (typically) celebrates heterosexual love is deliberately re-used to suggest homosexual love, right? Yes, I can see that as being quite effective.


"... there are plenty of songs in which the singer adopts the voice of a different persona, but my suspicion is that those are less common and often less powerful than the confessional "this is the real me" song. " It did occur to me that this was a rather monstrous generalisation, so you`re quite right to be picking me up on it! :laughing: :-
^ I thought about this myself for a while, and in my case I think it`s connected partly to my expectations and partly to how the material is presented:

Watch a movie or open a novel and usually I am already thinking, "Ok, I want to hear a story", but that`s not my usual plan when I listen to music. Maybe my attitude is more, "Ok, tell it like it is."
In terms of presentation, I think there`s a significant difference here: in a movie or a novel, you can lose yourself in the story and forget the director or novelist if you want. At one level, they are just a name in the credits. A singer`s presence is harder to ignore, though; it`s very clear who is delivering the material and sometimes that works as a restraint; it`s not so easy to make an imaginative leap of the kind that seems so natural with books and movies. That is not to deny though, that there are many great songs involving empathy/imagination or interpretation of someone else`s experience...maybe I need to type less and think more on this topic!!

yasss I love that cover sfm. I feel the same way about the Slits' cover of I Heard It Through the Grapevine.

I like it MORE when they keep the original pronouns because to me it's the musical version of no homo to think it's mandatory to make the pronouns heteronormative. It's almost like being represented in media!

It really depends on the artist, and song being covered.