So this is Christmas...
...and what have you done?
HOLIDAY MUSIC TRANSGRESSIONS: PART TWO IN AN ONGOING SERIES
Today I was eating lunch at Jimmy John's (where the music, by the way, is always bad and oppressively loud, just like the decor) when I heard a recent and very earnest cover of John Lennon's "Happy Christmas (War is Over)." I'm not sure who sings the version I'm talking about, as apparently dozens of people have covered this song, but I've heard the version a few times before, and judging by the rich tones and dreadful moaning inflections of the voice, I'm guessing it's someone from the nightmarish late-90's-to-present phase of bad rhythm and blues. Or Celine Dion. It reminded me of Yolanda Adams' cover of "Imagine" at that John Lennon tribute show that was on TV in 2001. So bad. So damn bad. Instead of "nothing to kill or die for," she sang "nothing to live or die for." Well, shit!
It's really impossible for a cover of this song to go down smooth, because it just hasn't earned the attention it gets. This is not one of those astoundingly great John Lennon songs. It's from Lennon's "pompous tripe" phase, just like "Imagine." The reason he could get away with this—apart from being really fucking famous—was the relaxed grace of his voice. Give "Imagine" to any other singer and all you've got is a bunch of generic barking hippe/humanist crap. Lennon sounds at least patient, if overly optimistic. Same with "Happy Christmas." Even if it would irritate me to sit down and read the lyrics, I like the mellow and worn-out sound of the original. This cover is like a huge balloon from the Macy's parade crashing into your house.
HOLIDAY MUSIC TRANSGRESSIONS: PART TWO IN AN ONGOING SERIES
Today I was eating lunch at Jimmy John's (where the music, by the way, is always bad and oppressively loud, just like the decor) when I heard a recent and very earnest cover of John Lennon's "Happy Christmas (War is Over)." I'm not sure who sings the version I'm talking about, as apparently dozens of people have covered this song, but I've heard the version a few times before, and judging by the rich tones and dreadful moaning inflections of the voice, I'm guessing it's someone from the nightmarish late-90's-to-present phase of bad rhythm and blues. Or Celine Dion. It reminded me of Yolanda Adams' cover of "Imagine" at that John Lennon tribute show that was on TV in 2001. So bad. So damn bad. Instead of "nothing to kill or die for," she sang "nothing to live or die for." Well, shit!
It's really impossible for a cover of this song to go down smooth, because it just hasn't earned the attention it gets. This is not one of those astoundingly great John Lennon songs. It's from Lennon's "pompous tripe" phase, just like "Imagine." The reason he could get away with this—apart from being really fucking famous—was the relaxed grace of his voice. Give "Imagine" to any other singer and all you've got is a bunch of generic barking hippe/humanist crap. Lennon sounds at least patient, if overly optimistic. Same with "Happy Christmas." Even if it would irritate me to sit down and read the lyrics, I like the mellow and worn-out sound of the original. This cover is like a huge balloon from the Macy's parade crashing into your house.
posted by Scott at 3:05 PM
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