deefstes wrote:
PeteM wrote:
lindsmuse wrote:
'Tears in heaven' is pretty sad ... altho I know it's been sung/done taught to death.
I refuse to sing it or to teach it because I think it can only be done by Eric... it's too personal for anyone else to do it justice.
'sactly!
I think that if people put a song "out there" then it's up for grabs.
So many songs stem from personal turmoil or unhappiness. Some of Robert Johnson's songs stem from personal fear or trouble in his life. Eric Clapton recorded them. John Lennon's "Mother" was covered (and was a big hit and John was happy to take the royalties). Linda Ronstadt recorded Richard Thompson's "Burns Supper" which was written as a farewell to his late father. John Martyn's "Solid Air" was written for and speaks to Nick Drake (a man that Martyn loved dearly and who comitted suicide). Clapton wrote two very different songs conveying two very different emotions, "Layla" and "Wonderful Tonight", for Patti Boyd. There's been plenty of recordings of Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight" which, contrary to the myth, was written about his divorce. Bob Dylan, Loudon Wainwright III and Bruce Springsteen (to name but three) got several good songs out of their divorces, and Wainwright wrote and released quite a few about the death of both of his parents.
We might sing one of these songs and it might not sound authentic to the audience or feel authentic to the singer, but it's fair game and I don't see it as disrespectful or intrusive. I don't have a rule about it myself - and I'm not well enough known to need one (thank goodness!).
I also respect the individual decisions to not perform a song out of respect to the artist. That's valid too.
You know, sometimes sad songs are written from a point of personal grief but touch on something universal that resonates within the hearts of other people. I guess that's why they are treasured.
