Covers/Blog Assignment 3A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIb6AZdTr-A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_dSjHmmOOM


The song I chose was “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” an upbeat pop song originally recorded by Cyndi Lauper in 1983. Greg Laswell then covered it last year for the film Confessions of a Shopaholic.

Lyrics
The lyrics stayed near exactly the same. One slight variation was the ordering of the verses. In the original the first verse features the singer speaking to her mother, and in the cover the singer is speaking to his father. The second verse is also switched up in this way, though I cannot conceive what purpose this holds other than some kind of personal significance to the performer. Laswell also says “those girls they wanna have fun” rather than “girls just wanna have fun.”

Melody
The melody was exactly the same lyrically, but changed completely in terms of notes and instruments. I believe in all some main chords stayed the same, but the music is really quite different in general. Before the melody was extremely upbeat and synthesized, in the cover the only instruments being used are the singer’s voice and a single piano.

Timbre
The timbre of the song changed the most from the original to the cover. While the original was the picture of 80s pop; bouncy, light, and upbeat, the cover was a very simple ballad.

Speed
While the speed did not change as much as the timbre, it certainly changed quite a bit. The original featured an extremely steady and upbeat tempo. The cover was slowed down a lot and the tempo was slightly less consistent as it sped up in certain areas and slowed in others, something the original rarely did.

Tension vs. Release
Both songs feature a build up of tension and the chorus is used in both to release this tension. However, in Lauper’s original version the release of tension is much more dramatic. In the cover by Laswell, the chorus does not release the tension dramatically, instead it’s much more subtle. Since most people have at least heard Lauper’s version, the slow and somewhat melancholy in comparison release of tension in the chorus seems much less theatrical.

Objective vs. Subjective
The lyrics in the song “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” are, as most song lyrics tend to me, completely subjective and mean different things to different people. However the common impression most got from Lauper’s version was positive, and the song was used in movies and shows when the female characters went out to lunch or on a shopping spree. This causes the listener to feel as if the song is more melancholy than it actually is or would seem to someone who had never heard Lauper’s version. The fact that this song has, for the past twenty years, been used as a sort of symbol for carelessness and fun-times helps aid the metaphorical message Laswell appears to be sending with his cover. Considering the change in tempo, lyrics, and timbre it seems possible that Laswell is taking this anthem and satirically using it in order to make a bitter point about women who he believes only want to have fun. Though he doesn’t change any significant lyrics the implication is certainly there.

I like the Greg Laswell version better, personally, but that’s probably just because I’m a fan of ballads and Greg Laswell. Poor Miss Lauper never stood a chance.