The Rock Cover Song

Book excerpt: Cover songs operate as a form of cultural discourse across various musical genres and different societal, historical and political conditions. Case studies include a comparative analysis of Jimi Hendrix's and Whitney Houston's versions of "The Star-Spangled Banner" as well as a mapping of the trajectory of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" from the original version by the Rolling Stones through cover versions by Otis Redding, Devo, and Britney Spears. The radical deconstruction of pop and rock songs by the Residents and Laibach is also examined, with additional studies of cover songs by such as Van Halen, Kim Wilde, Rufus Harley, the Four Tops, Pat Boone and Johnny Cash. Rather than questions of quality or how a cover song measures up as "better or worse" than other versions, this book focuses on the ideological implications and social stakes of the "same old songs" as they are reconfigured to consider, comment on and confront political issues of gender, sexuality, race, the nation-state and the generation gap.