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Well, hello. I’m still testing this.

Music Notes

A blog, generally about music, usually for projects hosted by Jeff

. I may also write about the 48-Hour Media Prompt Challenge if I don't feel like writing a story or poem inspired by the given song. Other bits of poetry or different topics of discussion might end up here as well.

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

SAD Holiday Potato

Oct 15, 2024 at 12:09pm
In response to "500 Miles (I'm Gonna Be) (ID cover)"

That was an amazing performance. Dan certainly has a sense of showmanship..

1 Like

Merry QPdoll

Oct 12, 2024 at 8:00am
In response to "I Heard It Through the Grapevine (CCR)"

I've only known the Marvin Gaye version. I have to say that CCR did it justice. The drums and that bass. So cool.

Excellent choice!

1 Like

♥HOOves♥

Oct 12, 2024 at 7:45am
In response to "I Heard It Through the Grapevine (CCR)"

Great song choice! There is also a version with Gladys Knight and the Pips that may or may not have been the first one. It was the first one that I heard.

1 Like

Dave Ryan

Oct 11, 2024 at 8:19am
In response to "If I Had a Hammer"

Puff the Magic Dragon is a great song for traumatising the kids. There's nothing like a happy ending, and that one is definitely nothing like a happy ending.

1 Like

Merry QPdoll

Oct 10, 2024 at 7:57am
In response to "Fast Car (Jonas Blue cover)"

This is great! I love this song and have heard a couple of different versions, but I've never heard this one. Thank you for sharing.

1 Like

♥HOOves♥

Oct 9, 2024 at 9:07am
In response to "Fortunate Son"

Love Centerfield and Have You Ever Seen the Rain, also!

So many wonderful songs!

1 Like

♥HOOves♥

Oct 8, 2024 at 9:00am
In response to "I Won't Back Down"

Great song choice!

1 Like

Merry QPdoll

Oct 8, 2024 at 6:15am
In response to "I Won't Back Down"

I like Tom Petty, too. My favorite song is Mary Jane's Last Dance. However, I like the message of I Won't Back Down. It's a fine choice.

1 Like

tracker

Oct 7, 2024 at 12:23pm
In response to "Creeque Alley"

This is when I like AI. The song is a story about when the group was formed. It was released when I had first started college. Where? In California! Good choice of song.

1 Like

Merry QPdoll

Oct 6, 2024 at 7:58am
In response to "Three Little Birds"

It's been a long time since I've heard this song. I don't know if I've heard it from beginning to end. I think it's just been in pieces in different instances. Thank you for sharing. I don't have a playlist, but the song is fun.

1 Like

October 21, 2024 at 6:58am

#1078668

Blank Space (ID cover)

My eighteenth and final choice is a cover, by Imagine Dragons, of… you'll never guess: Taylor Swift's Blank Space! In 2015 they appeared at the BBC 1 studio to perform her infamous song.

I got such a chuckle out of this when I first saw it on YouTube in 2017. I couldn't believe a male band would even think of singing a female song, and lead singer Dan Reynolds didn't do me any favors by keeping the female pronouns: "you're the king, baby I'm your queen!"

Blank Space was the first song I ever learned from Taylor Swift, and, being ultra fastidious, I was appalled at her apparent declaration of looseness. I didn't understand she was making a parody out of how others see her. So it bothered me every time I heard it. After watching the Dragons covering it, I felt more comfortable with it and eventually began to appreciate Taylor's expressive voice and sense of humor. And besides, "I can make the bad guys good for a weekend" sounds like a rather intriguing story prompt…

It's been at least seven years since I watched this video. When I was recalling it as I compiled my list of six covers for Jeff's "Invalid Item"

challenge, I couldn't remember if Dan sang Taylor's original bridge or not. You know, "boys only want love if it's torture… don't say I didn't warn you!" I couldn't imagine him saying that.

Well, he didn't. Instead, the Dragons mashed up the bass melody of Ben E. King's Stand By Me and used those words as the bridge. Delightfully perfect and unexpected. I'd completely forgotten. If you take it seriously, it gives Blank Space an entirely different meaning. Either that, or it's just a band having fun mixing up other people's songs.

The young Dan keeps his voice on a natural, even keel with this performance, avoiding the exaggerated yelling type of vocal he uses for his own work. In that regard, I've frequently seen him pressing a finger under his nose as he holds the mic, apparently a technique to recreate his studio sound.

And no, his voice is not usually electronically modified unless the result is obviously intended to sound that way (ie, distorted). I know I wondered why he never sings the chorus of Believer live in quite the ferocious way he did on the original. Then he released a video sample showing him bellowing out the original chorus vocals a capella in studio. Yikes. I don't know how he did it, and I don't think he could ever duplicate it.

Overall, this "Invalid Item"

project has been a fun challenge for me. I've revisited old favorites, discovered new facts about artists long gone, and added a few tracks to my playlist. It gave me something to take my mind off Hurricane Milton. I hope you enjoyed reading (and listening to) the series as much as I enjoyed putting it together.

Words: 503.

1 Like • Comment

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