Apologies in advance for this post. It's basically a petty gripe that I feel compelled to share. Since most people who read this blog are interested in reading about Mindi Carpenter or her dear Aunt Karen, I figure it's somewhat safe to air my grievance here.
Yesterday, I was messing around on SingSnap and I decided to record an acoustic version of Stephen Bishop's "Separate Lives", a song I recently uploaded to the "community songbook". The community songbook, for your information, is a somewhat new feature on SingSnap that allows users to upload karaoke songs to the catalog, which other users are then free to record or listen to.
"Separate Lives", as many people know, was a huge hit in 1985 when it was featured in the movie, White Nights. The version that appeared in the film was a duet done by Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin. What many people may not know is that the song was actually written by singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop, who has made a successful career out of writing songs used in films.
Anyway, I found my karaoke version of Bishop's version of "Separate Lives" several years ago. I decided to add it to the songbook. Every once in awhile it gets featured. Sometimes I record it, as I did yesterday.
Last night, as I was about to go to sleep, I got a comment from some guy...
Uh... thanks.
No, really. Thanks for listening. However, I wonder why this guy felt the need to tell me that this was originally a Phil Collins song, especially since he's wrong. While Bishop's version may not have been released on an album until well after 1985, the fact is, he is the original performer because he wrote the song. Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin recorded it and made it a huge hit; but it's Bishop's composition. And I figure Bishop must have sung it a few times before Collins and Martin took their crack at it.
So my response was this.
I know this sounds really anal retentive, but if you're going to leave me music trivia on my recordings, at least be right.
Stephen Bishop sings "Separate Lives".
The famous cover by Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin.
I will admit that I don't like it when people try to school me about things I already know. I don't know where this hypersensitivity comes from. Maybe it's because I'm the youngest by many years in my family and people never take me seriously. Or maybe it's because I'm sick of mansplainers. Granted, this is a pretty minor thing to be mansplaining, but it's still annoying when some random guy pops by and tries to tell me my business.
I almost wonder if this man thinks I'm younger than I am. Does he not realize that 1985 was smack dab in the middle of my adolescence? Of course I've heard this song, especially when it was popular, played dozens of times on the radio. I've also seen the movie it comes from many times. But the fact remains that just because a song was made famous by a singer, that doesn't mean he or she was the original artist.
An excellent example of this phenomenon is the song "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman". That song was written by Carole King, Gerry Goffin, and Jerry Wexler. However, it was Aretha Franklin who made it into a big hit. Many people think it's her song, but really, it's more Carole King's song. She wrote it and released her own version of it on 1971's Tapestry. Frankly, I'd rather listen to Carole than Aretha because I like to hear songwriters sing their own songs.
Another example is the song "I Will Always Love You", which was made into a huge hit by Whitney Houston. It was written by Dolly Parton, who also had a hit with it. It was also covered by other singers, notably Linda Ronstadt, before Whitney sang it. In fact, it was Ronstadt's version that captivated Kevin Costner enough to suggest it for the soundtrack for The Bodyguard. Houston's version was epic, but it's not actually her song. It's Dolly's song.
And finally, here's a lesser known example of this phenomenon. Back in 2007, I was a fan of the TV show Army Wives. Bill gave the DVD set of the first season for Christmas. I decided to watch an episode that included commentary by a couple of the actors on the show. Part of the soundtrack for the episode I watched included the song "Wounded Heart". "Wounded Heart" was a song recorded by Bonnie Raitt for her album Silver Lining. It was Raitt's version that was used on the show and one of the actor's referred to it as Raitt's song. However, that song was written by Jude Johnstone. I happen to own the album Johnstone did that includes it and her version was the first I ever heard. So I immediately knew the actor had erred in calling "Wounded Heart" Bonnie Raitt's song, although I think Bonnie did a great job with it.
Jude Johnstone's "Wounded Heart".
Bonnie Raitt's cover.
I'm sure some will point out to me that I should be glad anyone listens to my recordings, let alone comments on them. However, most people don't understand that I don't make recordings for the comments. I do them because music is in my blood and I have no other musical outlets. Sometimes comments are annoying, though. I should probably turn them off, but that may make me seem bitchier than I actually am. Most people are nice, anyway... even the ones who rubber stamp comments on recordings I know they didn't actually listen to. Maybe this gripe is just a product of my artistic temperament.
Extra credit for the curious. It's a little low for me, but I like this key.
I think I like the Stephen Bishop version better. I'd never heard it.
ReplyDeleteI'm somewhat anal retentive about being "corrected" when I know I'm correct about something, especially since in the setting in which it most frequently happens to me, I am so very careful not to say anything I don't know for a fact to be 100% correct.
I don't like to pick a fight over a trivial issue or to appear to always have to be right, but sometimes I cannot help myself. I try to smile, say, "You might want to check that out one more time, " then let it go (it usually happens in person in this particular setting) but I'm not always that classy. My dad just laughs as soon as it starts because he knows if I pursue the matter, I will turn out to be right and the other person will end up angry and will accuse me of always having to be right. I never start the quarrel by contradicting anyone else, though. If they say something incorrect, as long as it's not about me, I let it go right over my head. I'm not so good at letting it pass when I'm "corrected" by one of my "betters," though.
My aunts sometimes dispute me, but it's usually one of their Peter Priesthood husbands with whom the real fireworks break out.
We were with a portion of my dad's family for one evening over the weekend, and a non-physician (non-medical person, for that matter) uncle had the nerve to dispute what I said to another uncle who is a surgeon (the disputer wasn't even a part of the conversation)about what I consider to be the ideal length of each suture for a 13-millimeter straight chin laceration. It was a bit of a silly conversation -- the sort you have with an uncle you don't know terribly well and haven't a great deal in common with but who shares, in a broad sense, your future profession. The uncle with whom I was originally talking just starting laughing. Usually no one other than my dad and maybe my mom (because my favorite aunts and uncles aren't usually there) defend me, but this time my Aunt Claudine, who is an RN, actually said, "Elon, did you have a career in medicine before you started teaching seminary, or are you alluding to a past-life experience?"
Elon mentioned having been a volunteer paramedic on his mission. My Uncle Corbin, who is a cardiac surgeon, said, "Let's compare . . . We have someone almost three-and-a-half years through a four-year medical school program who is regularly called in to the ER to suture children's wounds because she's so damned [he actually said "damned"] good at it, and we have someone who, maybe twenty-seven years ago, worked as an untrained paramedical volunteer in a third-world country. Who has more credibility here?"
Uncle Elon threw his solo cup full of some caramel-colored soda into the fireplace; the soda made a mess and the cup created an awful stench as it melted. My grandmother started to get mad at me, but my Aunt Claudine said, "Alexis didn't throw anything. Don't blame her!"
Elon and Celine and their tribe left shortly thereafter. My Uncle Michael cleaned the mess just to keep the peace.
It was one of the first times I've ever felt vindicated in any gathering on my dad's side of the family.
That's a funny story!
DeleteI find that the older I get, the more I feel compelled to speak up when someone contradicts me with an untruth. Sure, it's annoying, but it annoys me when people do that kind of stuff. And, as you pointed out in your story, neither you nor I started it.
Yeah, this sort of thing bugs me as well. I also get bugged by the copy/pasters - “listening from Puerto Vallarta”. “All the stars”. Etc etc
ReplyDeleteDidn’t we go through this same sort of crap at epinions?
LOLOL... You know exactly who I was referring to, then, when I mentioned the rubber stamper. That guy is shameless.
DeleteI think SingSnap is kind of like Epinions in some ways, except on SingSnap, you are militantly expected to be nice to everyone. That's why I vent about stuff on my blog.
I did recently get a nice comment from someone who thanked me for a rare Kenny Loggins upload and left a more personal note about what I posted on my profile. I think some people probably think I'm an antisocial bitch on that site, but honestly, I sing there for my mental health and musical expression, not because I'm looking for fake friends, positive feedback, or "ratings". If your singing is bad, I don't want to hear it. But if you can sing, bring it on... especially if you're a guy, so I can do duets with you! :D