Smells Like Teen Spirit, Miley Cyrus and the art of the Cover Song.

If a new band really wants to get themselves into some deep shit then I can't think of a better way to do it then defile an iconic song.

Making your band create a crappy version of a great song doesn't just cause people to get annoyed because they enjoyed that original song, it also causes people to hate your band because they now have an instant reference point; Limp Bizkit once did a number of covers of songs by The Who, causing me to hate them before even listening to their own unique output. Why? because I'd heard what The Who had done with these songs, making them into operatic yet conservative pieces of enjoyable rock, clearly songs made in the 60s/70s yet also not at all trapped into the cultural landscape like so much music from that time is. I could instantly compare that sound - which represented all that The Who was (and apparently still is, despite wanting to "die before I get old") - with the sound of the Limb Bizkit version, which felt like another piece of generic rock music. Their cover of "behind Blue Eyes", my favorite Who song, was their biggest offense, mainly because they took off the uplifting second half of the song and replaced it with some weird technology-heavy weirdness (or so I remember, I'm listening to Zeppelin right now and sure as hell aren't turning them off to listen to Bizkit).

So where am I going with this? and what the hell does it have to do with the title. Well  I could scour the internet for every cover version of all your favorite songs, but I want to draw your attention to just one of your favorites: Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", and the Miley Cyrus version I first heard only last week. For your own viewing pleasure (instant disapproval?) I've embedded the video below:

Now before I talk about that I want to say that i do know what the generally accepted terms of a good and bad cover song is. The obvious choice for what a bad cover song is obviously one that ruins the original music simply through a strange instrumental choice, bad music skill, or bad singing, but I'd also argue that a bad cover would also be a song which boringly tries to replicate the original exactly how it is. A good cover on the other would be a musical act using the original song as the basis to create their own piece of great music. I'm not saying it has to deride that far from the original source, but a carbon-copy of the original song isn't a cover, it's band practice.

And into the blogosphere I go...

What the hell is this your reading? Having the moniker Eternal Thoughts should explain to you at the very least that this isn't ign. I won't be posting news updates or marking on my calendar when my review of the latest release is supposed to be ready for. If theres an image in my head of what this blog would look like mortalized into the real world then I picture a calm stream, with an endless flow of my most pointless and controversial thoughts forever floating down it. Just to get the pleasantries out of the way, here is some basics about me and my blog:

1) I'm a hig-school student, and a British one at that (just incase that sends some of you running for the hills) meaning my blog posts will unfortunately have to take second propriety to my school work. I live in the most boring town in the world (not that I know a whole lot about many other towns) and can't wait to get out of here; unlike most people who seem to crave the calm breeze of a country home I would love to live somewhere busy, at the center of activity, which is why I plan to live in America when I'm older.

2) I already started a blog before called Culture Vulture, as you can maybe tell from the name it was a bit of an undertaking, trying to deal with all culture in it's entirety. My ambition is to be a film director/writer so you'd think a film blog would be perfect for me, yet I read so many of them and can never think of any words to say on the latest films that some other blogger doesn't say 10 times better. This blog is much more for personal thoughts (I doubt I'll get far into this blog before I post a sloppy, rage-filled post that comes from a dark place of my psyche that has just been triggered by something horrible) but I'd hope to write a lot about films and music and games and what not. The title "high-schooler" does stop me from seeing a lot of the latest releases in cinemas (well, atleast the Tarantino-esque bloodfests that spike my interest) so a lot of my posts will probably be splurges of movie history and those most dreaded of things: all time favorites lists.

3) I've always been interested in writing and they say writing everyday helps you out a lot. Thats probably the main reason I've found my way here. I'd like to look back at this post years down the line and laugh at the horrific quality of the writing. Yet don't think my posts will be the work of days of re-writes and feedback sheets, I hate writing that feels overwrought; it makes you feel like all of the thoughts that were in the writers heads while they spent days writing something are hitting you in the face for the five minutes it takes you to read it. Thats not to say I don't go back over my writing, I want it to flow well and I'd hate for someone to stumble onto my blog only to puke everywhere from the ever-growing allergic reactions to grammar issues (damn the internet is changing).

4) And this last point may seem like a cheap plea for help, but hell doesn't ever blog start out in need of help, so if you do end up finding this blog then I'd highly appreciate it if you tell everyone about it, link to it on your own blog, hell if you really feel like it you could print out leaflets and hand them out around the office (just some thoughts!).

So whatever your here for I hope you enjoy the blog and return for more posts.