Quote:
Originally Posted by posternutbag
What about changing the key of a song to better fit your voice? Is that "a big no no"?
What about changing a melody note that is either too high or too low for your voice to a harmonized note? Is that verboten?
Will you allow me to rephrase a melody?
What if I don't play the solo or break just like it sounds on the record? That must be a terrible offense, no?
The idea that lyrics are somehow sacrosanct is absurd.
|
It's a little different, in that lyrics and melody are copyright. The identity of the song resides in them. The key of the song is irrelevant (nothing to do with its identity), the chords are secondary, and as for improvised solos then the sin is arguably the reverse: to copy a recorded one
instead of improvising your own.
Quote:
Originally Posted by posternutbag
People change songs to fit their own ideas about what a song should sound like. Did Hendrix offend your sensibilities when he almost completely re-wrote All Along The Watchtower, or is that OK because the lyrics were more or less the same?
|
He didn't rewrite it, he re-arranged it. He sang the same lyrics, and hardly changed the melody at all. He certainly seemed to be trying to sing it the same way Dylan did. But he obviously designed a monster arrangement around it, which highly impressed Dylan himself.
My feeling on changing lyrics depends wholly on the song. If it's a traditional folk song, or a blues, where the original composer is either unknown or never existed (because the existing lyrics are a combination from various unknown sources), then clearly the lyrics are fair game. You sing the ones you like. I don't think I'd rephrase anything, or add new words, I'd just choose the verses I liked. I might sometimes modify a line if I felt it sounded too archaic or unnatural - but if that became a big issue, requiring a lot of modification, I might just not sing the song at all. (Being English, I naturally feel a bit weird singing African-American songs....)
If the composer is known, then I wouldn't change anything - not the lyrics anyway. If I didn't like some of the words, I just wouldn't sing the song in the first place. Why bother? Why not just choose songs where you're 100% happy with all the words? There's surely enough of those about. If not - then write your own songs!
It's not because I care about what an audience might think. I'm sure I would care much more about the content of the song than they will. The point is that I only choose a song to perform in the first place because I
love it - meaning all of it. The words as written would speak to me as powerfully as the tune does.
That doesn't mean I'm going to perform it as an accurate copy of an original recording. I might change the key, I might change the arrangement (how I play the guitar, whether I play it with a band). I will certainly improvise my own solo, if appropriate.
On very rare occasions I might even change the chords - but then I know how much I hate it when other people change the chords of songs I like: it always sounds to me as if they just haven't listened properly to the original - if they don't care, why are they bothering at all?
Having said that, I know there are Dylan songs where substantial re-arrangements - including new chord sequences - can work wonders. He does it himself, after all! I think he's a rare case, in that his original songs (i.e., words and melody) are strong enough to take that kind of treatment. Most jazz standards are similarly strong. Not many rock songs are.