Calum Scott - Dancing On My Own

Ideally this should serve as a wake up call, but it won't. Trends don't truly go away until they overexpose themselves to the point that everyone recognises them, but this is one that not only crops up just on occasion, but one that inherently relies on the very same obfuscation to keep it going.

It's just a shame that it's rooted in such systemic bigotry because this is something that we should not have to see ever. I'm sure you know the drill, Britain's Got Talent finalist covers a song by Robyn, removes the pop and dance elements and turns it into a SERIOUS BALLAD. Public laps it up because it fills in that SERIOUS BALLAD market who are disillusioned by a market of Chainsmokers & Calvin Harris.

The underlying problem is that ironically, it's devoid of substance, or at the very least, goes some ways to remove some of it from the original recording. When Robyn sings "Dancing On My Own", she draws strength from the context of the record. It's a euphoric dance, she's not in the mood, because she can see her ex with another woman, well and truly moved on from her. Dancing is her tension release. It's one of the saddest pop songs of the decade.

This version relies on artiface and expectations based on associations. Because the general public will have a built in perception that pop music, particularly modern pop music and especially dance music is frivolous and disposable. We're built up to believe that music performed on organic instrumentation, is inherently music of class & substance. There's also another underlying problem that either through social expectations or hubris, women are far more likely to give out kudos to music performed by men than vice versa, something not helped by decades upon decades of canonisation.

The bottom line is that every time this happens, where a pop song is stripped back for a cover, there will be armies of people who insist that the cover is objectively better or more emotional than the original, even though it's literally the same song, with literally less substance because there's more removed than there is added.

There has been no shortage of offensive covers in the charts of late, but this is the most offensive because of what it stands for. No one's hailing Jonas Blue's version of "Fast Car" as a masterpiece, it's just that frivolous, disposable fun, while the original is already too canonised to be shaken by this. But this version threatens to overwrite the original. This is the version of "Dancing On My Own" that will get played on radio for decades to come. You'll never be able to discuss the original version of the song without having to call back to this. I'm going to download Robyn's version and never listen to this again.
Laatst gewijzigd: 24/11/2016 09:06