Marcel’s Miracle……The Return of Marcel the Swan

 

John Cafarella

Photo courtesy of Jan Olsommer

 

 

This is a story of both extraordinarily good fortune and extraordinary people.   Some of you may even call it miraculous. A couple of years ago we told you the story of Marcel, the resident swan of Lake in the Clouds.  We ended our tale with winter approaching and Marcel unable to fly. What would happen to her? We were all concerned about her, but we knew she was a survivor.

Well, Marcel is still with us and therein lies our story.  She is out there honking as I write this.  Marcel is afflicted with “Angel Wing” on her left side leaving a badly deformed wing.  It has rendered her unable to fly. The Water Fowl Society informs us that “Angel wing occurs when the growth of the wing feathers outstrips the muscle ability to hold the wing in the natural position. It is nearly always due to an imbalance in feeding: too many calories and a deficiency of essential elements. (White bread is usually the villain here). Left untreated, the bird will be unable to fly properly.” 

Whatever happened to Marcel, probably occurred after her arrival as clearly, she was able to fly here. When her fellow swans left (flat leavers that they are) for warmer climes, Marcel remained here at the lake.  When first seen, she also had a fishhook stuck in her beak and fishing line entangled in her left wing.  Initially, we thought that was the cause of her deformed wing. Our friends and neighbors, Tina and Bob, kind and caring people, were bravely able to remove the fishhook and untangle and remove the fishing line. Fish and Wildlife organizations were called by several residents and callers were told that they (the organization) would care for the swan if “we captured it and brought it to them”.  Easier said than done. Swans are big, strong and can be mean and violent and they don’t like to be captured. 

 

Marcel is a trumpeter swan. There are three species of swans in North America. The Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) and Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus), sometimes known as the Whistling Swan, are native to North America. The Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) is an invasive Eurasian species that has been introduced and now breeds in the wild. Trumpeter Swans are the largest. Although awkward on the ground due to short legs set behind their center of gravity, swans can walk more than a mile at a time.  That is a key element in our tale.

 

So, what happened during that winter years ago?  Swans require open water to survive, even just a little bit of open water. Our Lake in the Clouds will freeze during the winter. The neighboring lake, Lake Jamie, does not freeze completely. There are people at Lake Jamie who take care of her during the winter.  Collectively, the group of Clouders and Jamiers captured Marcel - not without some effort - and transported her to Lake Jamie for that winter. Evidently, through the years, Marcel has now discovered a path to Lake Jamie from Lake in the Clouds.   In subsequent winters and springs, she has been able to walk over to Lake Jamie where she is fed and spends her winter vacation. A new connotation of the term “snow bird”?  Recall that swans can walk up to a mile.

 

That brings us to this winter when Lake in the Clouds did its annual freeze.  Marcel kept retreating to open water until by late December, there was none. She was marooned on a lawn. Her friend Tina tried to feed her.  Just like in past years, she would not eat if there was no open water. That night it began to snow. The next day she was gone. That same day, Dave, who takes care of Marcel during her Lake Jamie residence was taking a walk on the appropriately named and very rural Misery Road. This was a walk he does not usually take. Today he did. He was both a mile from his home and a mile from Lake Jamie.

Recall that this was during a snowstorm.  Suddenly, he saw a swan trying to run through the woods, flapping its wings and honking frantically. Who else could it be but Marcel? He ran into the woods in front of her and herded her towards the open space of Misery Road.  Recognizing Dave and his voice, she calmed down but continued to walk slowly towards what she thought would be Lake Jamie although she was not even close.  There is almost no cell service on Misery Road.  Yet, somehow, Dave got a signal and called Constance of Wildlife in Need Emergency Response of Pennsylvania. They know Marcel and have assisted in the past. He also called Bob and Tina. Marcel, now exhausted, sat down to rest.  Tina and Bob arrived shortly afterwards, and Constance arrived after a 45-minute drive through the heavy snow. Marcel, still exhausted, was carefully encircled, and gently captured with large fish nets.  This obviously took a lot more time and trouble than I have described and was not done easily.  It was snowing.  It was cold. And Marcel was not happy. She was then put in a large animal transport container, covered with a blanket and transported in Constance’s van to Dave’s house.  There she was released to find open water and food (corn is a favorite) and her winter home.  

 Evidently, while making her trek from lake to lake, Marcel became confused and lost in the snowstorm.  What are the odds that she would encounter someone she knew when she was over a mile from the safety of the lake, in deep woods.  In turn, he was a mile from his own home taking a walk he almost never takes.  Also, who’s cell phone worked in a “dead” area, enabling him to contact the perfect people, who just happened to be at home, or in the office, and available for assistance?  A miracle?  We’ll let you decide.  Certainly, these were miracle workers. 

 

Spring has now come (barely, after all its April in the Poconos).   A few days ago, Tina’s husband, Bob, in his boat, paused during his fishing for a chat as I was sitting at our dock.  We heard Marcel honking and I asked how she was doing. He related the tale of Marcel’s winter snowstorm adventure and rescue and how Marcel had discovered how to walk between the two lakes.  He continued with a description of further adventures. 

With Marcel safely headquartered at Lake Jamie he and Tina believed that was it for the winter. She would return in the Spring.  He was wrong. In February he heard a familiar honk on the front lawn. Marcel was back and hungry.  She had a couple of reasons return to LITC. First, there was now open water thanks to the mild winter and secondly, she had been bullied by migrating swans at Lake Jamie.  Swans are very territorial. We note that Marcel has been bullied periodically through the years at both lakes. Tina defends her when she retreats to their lawn. She waves a hockey stick at the attacking swans while Marcel hides behind her, peeking and watching.   So, Marcel was back and even though it was a surprise early arrival, they were ready for her. “You won’t believe our basement!” he said.  “It is filled with bags of corn and assorted treats donated by kind people at both lakes.” 

Last year Marcel had a mate.  Tina named him Miguel. Miguel deserted her as winter came. I asked if he was also back.  “Not yet” was the reply, “but Marcel has a new beau”.  Evidently, she met him at Lake Jamie - no name yet.  He is lame.  Walks with a limp. She has Angel Wing. Kindred souls? He followed her over from Lake Jamie.  They have been keeping company for weeks now. I remarked on how the tale of being lost in the snow and the extraordinary rescue was inspiring and heartwarming.  Then we heard a series of honks and answering honks. Bob, looked back in the direction of his house, sighed, and said “yes, and now she’s having sex on our lawn”. 

 

Phobias, Fears and Anxieties.

 

We have nothing to fear but fear itself…………Franklin D. Roosevelt Inauguration Speech, March 1933

 

We have nothing to phobe but phobe itself……………John Cafarella

 

 

I‘m developing a phobia of German sausage

I fear the wurst……Unknown

 

 

We had this idea for an essay about phobias a while ago, but we were afraid to begin it.  There were some anxious moments. Fortunately, we do not suffer from Graphophobia or Scriptophobia - an intense fear about letters of the alphabet or writing. In addition, we do not suffer from Bibliophobia -an intense fear of books or reading.  We may have Porphyrophobia, the intense fear of purple, which is why we never read the Color Purple by Alice Walker, Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson, or Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey. Yellow can also be fearsome for someone with Xanthophobia, fear of the color yellow, so we never read Old Yeller by Fred Gibson. There will be no further mention of purple or yellow in this essay. 

 

The contemporary cliché is “there’s an app for that”.  Our research indicates that probably, “there’s a phobia for that.” There is even a phobia for phobias, Phobophobia is the fear of fear itself.

Phobia comes from the Greek word "phobos," which means fear. In Greek Mythology, Deimos and Phobos, the sons of Ares, the god of war, were the gods of fear. Deimos represented terror and dread, while his brother Phobos was panic, flight and rout. They accompanied their father into battle, driving his chariot and spreading fear in his wake.  They are now the two moons of the planet Mars (Roman god of war). Yes, Ares was the Greek god of war but somehow Deimos and Phobos ended up with the Roman named planet. 

 

People often use the terms “fear” and “phobia” interchangeably. I’m afraid we did. That could be Atychiphobia which is the fear of being wrong, or rather the fear of being told we’re wrong.

However, fear and phobia differ in intensity. For example, someone may be afraid of flying but can still manage to travel by plane when necessary.  However, a person with an extreme fear of flying known as aerophobia might never set foot on an airplane. Even driving past an airport or seeing photos of an airplane may create a fear response, and then things could get worse if we add on agoraphobic which involves fearing standing on line, or being in a crowd and, of course at an airport all you do is stand on line* or get stuck in crowds. 

Fear not if you have Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia which refers to the fear of very long words. In addition to that one, you’ll meet quite a few more in this essay.  You’re already engaged in the treatise so it’s too late but in the future, you should probably avoid Vladimir Nabokov, or James Joyce, or chemistry texts if you worry about long words. Stick with Hemingway.

 

Why are we afraid?  Blame the part of the brain called the amygdala.    The word amygdala is derived from the Greek word meaning “almond,” owing to the structure's almond like shape. So, when your almond shaped amygdala malfunctions neurologists might diagnose you as having a lack of “Almond Joy”.  That pun reminds us of Geliophobia, the fear of laughter. The amygdala is located in the medial temporal lobe of your brain, just anterior to (in front of) the hippocampus. The hippocampus is where a hippopotamus would attend college (Geliophobia alert).  It is also the part of the brain that's most closely associated with fear, emotions, and motivation. It is responsible for connecting the fear-arousing stimulus with the environmental context in which it is occurring.  So, if you are walking through the jungle and you meet a tiger, there will be fear, to say the least.  If you see a tiger in an enclosure in a zoo, no fear. This is because the hippocampus and the frontal cortex process contextual information, and repressive pathways dampen the amygdala fear response and its downstream results according to the National Institute of Health. Basically, our “thinking” circuitry of the brain reassures our “emotional” areas that we are, in fact, OK. In addition, the amygdala triggers responses from the body to react quickly to threat and danger, aka “flight or fight”. In the jungle the amygdala is saying “run!” when you chance upon a tiger.  That’s why your amygdala is so important to survival. It processes things you see or hear and uses that input to learn what’s dangerous. If you encounter something similar in the future, your amygdala will cause you to feel fear or similar emotions. 

 And fear can turn into phobia.  The National Health Service notes that a phobia is an extreme or irrational fear or dread aroused by a particular object or circumstance, to the point where it severely restricts your life. One response can be a panic attack, a sudden, intense fear that lasts for several minutes.  If you have a phobia, you'll go to great lengths to avoid an object or situation that most people consider harmless. So, if you are with with someone who has Algophobia, the fear of heights, for example, don’t encourage them to go up or look down.  “You can get used to it” or some such blather is counterproductive. Shut up. Respect their fear. Let them stay down on the sidewalk while you go to the top of the Empire State Building. “I’m not afraid of heights, I’m afraid of falling from heights.” – Unknown………

Are we born with fear or is it learned?   Both. Fear can be innate or learned. Innate fears include those that are triggered by pain- (Algophobia) the afore mentioned heights –(Acrophobia), loud sounds –(phonophobia), as well as inherited threats such as snakes and spiders. With spiders the fear can become arachnophobia.  With snakes, it is Ophidiophobia.  Also keep in mind that nature Is merciless so there is a basis for those fears.

The rest are learned. Our surroundings – parents, siblings, friends may influence us at an early age to be scared of things like the dark or monsters or Kardashians. For the latter and their ilk we have Moronophobia– fear of morons, such as those we see on Reality TV (the networks now call them Constructed Reality Shows), which has granted celebrity status to self-centered and fame-hungry twits.

However not all of us are afraid of the dark or monsters or fame hungry twits as our brains react to and process fearful situations differently. When it comes to these moments, we all start out the same, but parents, education, friends, culture, and environment will affect which part of our brain triumphs and so can end up afraid or not.

Fear is defined as a fundamental emotion promptly arising in the context of threat and when danger is perceived. We were afraid that you might be getting anxious while reading this essay.  Just as phobia and fear differ, so do fear and anxiety. Fear is the response to a perceived threat, while anxiety involves worry about a threat that has not yet, or may never, happen. So, fear is a perception that is attached to a specific thing, thought, or circumstance (tiger-jungle……dark alley - mugger). For instance, worries about illness are more likely to take the form of nagging anxiety than actual fear such as the monster in the closet. When I was a child, giant monsters like Godzilla or King Kong did not frighten me.  Dracula or the Creature from the Black Lagoon, on the other hand, that was a different matter altogether.  They could hide in my closet. Add that to fear of the dark and you know why I never opened the closet door with the lights off after dark. Achluophobia - fear of darkness. “I’m not scared of the dark, I’m scared of what’s in the dark.”  The distinction between a fear and a phobia can blur with small children. Childhood fears are a normal part of development. However, unlike phobias, normal childhood fears involve an ordinary fear response, have a minimal effect on daily function and usually dissipate as the child matures.

 

When someone has a phobia, or “specific phobia,” as it is called in the mental health field, their intense fear is limited to a specific situation or object. Phobias are a type of anxiety disorder that is distinctly different from normal fear. Phobias are defined, according to the DSM-5 (the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fifth Edition-),………unless you suffer from Bibliophobia and that lengthy title might cause onset Bibliophobia…….as fear or anxiety that is persistent (even when the phobic object isn’t there), excessive and out of proportion to the actual danger posed by the object of the phobia. According to the DSM-5, specific phobias typically fall within five general categories:

·      fears related to animals (spiders, dogs, insects)

·      fears related to the natural environment (heights, thunder, darkness)

·      fears related to blood, injury, or medical issues (injections, broken bones, falls)

·      fears related to specific situations (flying, riding an elevator, driving)

·      other (fear of choking, loud noises, drowning)

These categories encompass an infinite number of specific objects and situations so beware of Apeirophobia which is the fear of infinity. 

 

There’s no official list of phobias beyond what’s outlined in the DSM-5, so clinicians and researchers create names for them as the need arises, and there are gazillions of them on the internet. This is usually done by combining a Greek (or sometimes Latin) prefix that describes the phobia with the –phobia suffix. For example, a fear of water would be named by combining “hydro” (water) and “phobia” (fear). Phobias occur when there is dysfunction in the brain circuits responsible for the fear response. Malfunctions of the amygdala (no Almond Joy) and associated brain structures may give rise to many phobias such as Arachibutyrophobia—the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth, or Skippyphobia, as I call it. 

 

“After days of feeling anxious about it, I am happy to report that I have completed the undertaking that took me 4 minutes to do.” ……..Unknown

The difference between fear and anxiety is also based on natural and functional versus excessive and dysfunctional.  However, many of us are quite adept at putting the fun in dysfunctional.  Fear is an emotional reaction to a specific, real danger, while anxiety is an intense fear that may be triggered by a stimulus that is excessive, unpredictable, and unfocused. Anxiety may persist long after the trigger, if any, is removed. 

Fear, phobias, and anxiety can link together because a phobia may cause fear and then anxiety.

Fear is not necessarily a bad thing. It is a fundamental, deeply ingrained reaction, evolved over the history of living things, to protect organisms against perceived threat to their being or existence. Despite the contemporary twaddle about fearlessness and being fearless, fearlessness is not a good thing. Having no fear can be deadly, just ask the Dodo bird which lived on the island of Mauritius, 500 miles from the Eastern coast of Madagascar. It was discovered by Dutch soldiers in 1660.  It had no experience with humans and no fear, and within 80 years it was extinct.  You may have heard of Booby Traps.  The term originated with the booby, a docile sea bird.  It too had no fear of humans was easily trapped by sailors using, yes, a booby trap. Exeunt, boobies although the term booby trap has become part of our lexicon.  Fear should help protect us. Fearlessness can get you killed. As we said, nature Is completely ruthless.

 

Xylophataquieopiaphobia, the fear of not pronouncing words correctly………..Brad Stine

 

Taking a personal imaginary journey into my brain we encounter quite a few phobias. Traveling is a problem because of my Amaxophobia, fear of riding in a car, or Siderodromophobia, my fear of trains, my Bustrophobia, fear of buses and yes, my psychogenic fecal retention phobia, fear of public toilets. The latter is not weird, it’s perfectly understandable. I won’t go to the Botantical Gardens with you due to Anthrophobia, fear of flowers and Botanophobia fear of plants, which includes Dendrophobia, fear of trees and Pteridophobia, fear of ferns. No restaurants for us, Deipnophobia, fear of dining with others. I’ll be staying inside the house with ear plugs and an eye mask today, as my Astraphobia, fear of thunder and lightning as well as Ombrophobia the fear of rain which was triggered by a weather forecast on TV from the perky lady wearing the monogrammed parka (Perkiphobia alert). Then it got worse as she then instantly changed moods and sonorously warned about really bad weather setting off my Lilapsophobia, fear of tornadoes and hurricanes. I hate winter and now I know why, its Chionophobia - Fear of snow. I can’t hide in the cellar to escape that bad weather due to my Claustrophobia - Fear of confined spaces so elevators are out too. 

Life is tough and shaving can be problematic due to Eisoptrophobia, the fear of mirrors or, more specifically, of seeing one’s own reflection in a mirror. Even tougher when you consider that I sleep on the floor due to my Acrophobia - fear of heights. I have to clean the house anyway due to my Ataxophobia, fear of disorder or untidiness and Atelophobia my fear of imperfection not to mention my Bacteriophobia, fear of bacteria. It takes a while to get off the floor however since I have Barophobia, fear of gravity. Then it is time to dust off the manikins I keep around because of my Autophobia, fear of being alone unless it’s one of those days when my Automatonophobia , fear of Human-Like Figures takes precedence.  Fortunately, I live in a ranch style home keeping my Bathmophobia, fear of stairs or steep slopes at bay. And yet, I can’t go outside on a sunny day, Heliophobia , fear of the sun. Can’t go out at night either, it’s that darn Selenophobia , fear of the moon. Even a pleasant day can be a problem for those with  Aerophobia,  the fear of fresh air or the movement of air—such as drafts or breezes. Complicating it would be Globophobia, the fear of balloons, which is deflating for birthday celebrations. Even when I get outside, here comes Dystychiphobia, fear of accidents. 

I also have a fear of speed bumps…………………But I am slowly getting over it. (Geliophobia alert)

Then there is Athazagoraphobia an abnormal fear of not being remembered or forgetting things, like that I have Globophobia or Eisoptrophobia.  You went back a few sentences to look them up…..didn’t you. 

 

After overcoming my Scolionophobia - fear of school, I developed a phobia of the square root of 2.  It was one of my, ahem, irrational fears. (see Geliophobia) Then it turned into Arithmophobia, fear of numbers especially Octophobia - fear of the figure 8, which, incidentally, prevented me from winning that Olympic figure skating gold medal. Triskaidekaphobia, fear of the number 13 usually comes into play here. Can’t watch those reality shows featuring men with long beards, the morbidly obese, or people who marry convicts as it triggers my Cacophobia, fear of ugliness. I think that’s connected to my Chromophobia, fear of colors. I’m late quite often but have an excuse, a double excuse, in fact, Chronomentrophobia, fear of clocks plus Chronophobia, fear of time.  My Coulrophobia, fear of clowns means I haven’t been to the circus in years. I also don’t watch news broadcasts, local or national, politician’s speeches or political discussion programs due to that Coulrophobia.

Fortunately, I don’t suffer from Cyberphobia - Fear of computers or else I couldn’t write this. Same goes for papyrophobia, fear of paper and Technophobia, fear of technology.

 

I might have Cynophobia, fear of dogs but that would be barking up the wrong tree.  Anyway, one might meet a cat in that tree thus triggering one’s Elurophobia, fear of cats. Perhaps we should avoid animals altogether if we have a fear of animals, Zoophobia, which includes many things such as Quinophobia, fear of horses Herpetophobia , fear of reptiles, Entomophobia, fear of insects, Ophidiophobia , fear of snakes, Ornithophobia, fear of birds, Ranidaphobia, fear of frogs (not to be confused with Bufonophobia, which is a fear of toads), Batrachophobia , fear of amphibians, and  Verminophobia, fear of germs. Chick Fil-A would quickly go bankrupt in a country where the population suffers from Alektorophobia which is the fear of chickens or hens.

 

Many of you may suffer from Kakorrhaphiaphobia: the fear of failure and fail realize it. 

 

Holidays can come with phobias. That young child, usually yours’, sitting screaming on Santa’s lap may have Pogonophobia, the fear of beards. Sadly, Halloween is never celebrated in our home due to onset Samhainophobia - fear of Halloween and Wiccaphobia - fear of witches and witchcraft and Caramelaphobia, fear of candy. Beware of November for your Gratiarophobia, fear of Thanksgiving. With it may come Meleagrisphobia, a fear of turkeys. Christmas does not escape unscathed.  Christougenniatikophobia, is a fear of Christmas. It can be triggered by childhood experiences, relentless Christmas song soundtracks in stores and malls, or the refusal of advertisers to use the word Christmas in their “holiday” advertising. Overall, you may just have Heortophobia, fear of holidays.

 

In terms of affairs of the heart, some marriages are not to be such as one between a Gynophobic, fear of women and an Androphobic, fear of men, especially if the Gynophobic has Venustraphobia, fear of beautiful women. It all adds up to Gamophobia , fear of marriage

Well this marriage certainly won’t work Philematophobia, fear of kissing and Philophobia , fear of love. But then they may never develop Pedophobia, fear of children. At one time only women suffered from Lockiophobia, fear of childbirth but now many misguided people don’t even know what a woman is - so who knows.  You see them.  You’ve been one. Ephebiphobia , fear of teenagers should not be a phobia, it is quite normal, especially for their parents. 

            

Yet there are some marriages that would be naturals.  People with Megalophobia, fear of large things should marry people with Microphobia , fear of small things so they can purchase nothing but medium sized items. 

Made for each other would be those that fear white Leukophobia (Most MSNBC commentators fall in this category), and those that fear the color black, Melanophobia. We’d have a whole new phobia, Cinereousphobia- gray. (I made that one up).

Made in heaven would the marriage of a Podophobic, fear of feet and someone with fear of knees, genuphobia.  We’d love to see a match between a Hypochondric, fear of illness and a Latrophobiac, fear of doctors.  Another natural match is a someone who has Jumpaphobia a fear of zippers with someone who has Koumpounophobia, fear of buttons. Clearly, it is a Velcro pairing made in heaven. A culinary delight would be the duo of one who had Mageirocophobia, fear of cooking and one who has Obesophobia , fear of gaining weight. Internet dating sites would definitely connect a Thermophobic, fear of heat and a Cryophobic, fear of the cold for a median temperature relationship. We’re certain that a Nyctophobic fear of night or darkness and a Heliophobiac , fear of the sun, sunlight, would find happiness in the gloaming. Environmentally an Ammophobic, fear of sand and a Hylophobic, fear of forests would find romance on a lake. And a bizarre coupling would be a Necrophobic, one who suffers from fear of death or dead things and a Taphophobic, one who fears of being buried alive. Recommended reading, unless they were Bibliophobic, would be Poe’s Premature Burial.

 

As for number 3 in the DSM 5 listing of phobias, the field of medicine is a veritable breeding ground of irrational fear.   It begins with Pharmacophobia fear of medicine, Nosocomephobia fear of hospitals, Latrophobia, fear of doctors and they can add up to Tomophobia , the fear of surgical procedures or medical intervention. Adding to the fun is Algophobia, fear of pain plus Aichmophobia, fear of needles or pointed objects which is similar to Belonephobia, fear of pins and needles.  The examination would be difficult due Aphenphosmphobia, fear of being touched. Then there is Hemophobia which refers to the intense and irrational fear of blood. A cure for Dentophobia , fear of dentists is difficult. Sort of like pulling teeth.  You may become a dentist if you have Omphalophobia, fear of belly buttons.  All of these can be even more of a problem if you suffer from Pathophobia, fear of disease. Throw in Emetophobia fear of vomiting, and, speaking of expelling, Urophobia , the fear of urinating and things can get clogged up. Trips to the optometrist can be problematic if one has Optophobia, fear of opening one’s eyes. Then we have the doctor/dental/hospital waiting room.  You could have Scoptophobia, fear of being stared at or that pesky Moronophobia again since waiting rooms feature televisions inflicting talk shows and newscasts on you. Unless, of course, you suffer from Koinoniphobia, fear of rooms, then it’s a moot point.  

 

“Don’t stand.  Don’t stand. Don’t stand so close to me”………..The Police. Anthropophobia, fear of people or society.

 

And we’re getting new phobias all the time such as Nomophobia which is the fear of being without a smartphone. Many Generation Zers  suffer from Ergophobia, fear of work. 

 

Fear not and don’t be anxious that you’re the only one afflicted with a phobia as 19 million Americans have one or more phobias. There may be more. But possibly, many were afraid to answer due to Allodoxaphobiaas they stop answering questions or participating in any activities because they are afraid of people's judgment.  While phobias can begin in early childhood, they are often first seen between ages 15 and 20. They affect both men and women equally. But men are more likely to seek treatment for phobias.  However, men also dropped out of treatment to a greater extent than women, and women responded to treatment more than men according to an abstract in the Journal of Anxiety Disorders, May, 2019.

So, as you check off your own phobias, fears, and anxieties, just remember that advice from FDR’s  first inaugural address; The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself………unless you’re a Dodo bird………….. 

 

The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown…………………H. P. Lovecraft

 

 

 

*Our research indicated that when pairing fear and animals, spiders was always on the list.

 

**“Stand on line” is a New Yorker idiom.  Most of the world stands “in” line. Having been born in the Bronx, I always stand on line. 

 

 

Sources: 

 

verywellmind.com/list-of-phobias

https://www.healthline.com/health/list-of-phobias#types

 

https://explorable.com/e/history-of-anxiety-and-fear ----Garrett Ray Harriman

 

https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/phobias/overview/#:~:text=A%20phobia%20is%20an%20overwhelming,about%20a%20situation%20or%20object.

 

https://www.prevention.com/health/mental-health/g20158616/weird-phobias/?slide=30

 

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/phobias#:~:text=A%20phobia%20is%20an%20uncontrollable,object%2C%20situation%2C%20or%20activity.

 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/phobia

 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0887618518302822

 

 

 

Like a Version - Cover Versions of Popular (and unpopular) Songs

(Touched Several Times)

John Cafarella 

 

 

In contemporary popular music, covering or adapting songs signals a tribute to or reworking of popular hits, thus acknowledging the original musicians……..and making money for the “coverer”. Our idea was an exploration of covers of famous and even obscure songs.  Then we started thinking, “is there a difference between a cover of a song and a version of a song?” We suggest that perhaps a cover is a note for note replication of the original, whereas a version changes the beat or tempo. Most research and websites, however, use the words cover and version interchangeably.   A ‘cover’ is anyone’s version of a song originally written and performed by someone else. The deeper we dug into (under?) the covers, we learned that any successful, moderately successful, barely successful, unsuccessful songs, and even horrible songs, have covers. Basically, everybody covers everything! So, version and cover are mostly similar.  Except when they’re not.  There are versions of versions. One is a previously recorded song that aims to reproduce the sound and feel of the original, such as Cher’s cover version of The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss) and Betty Everett’s original which goes note for note, or a completely different version - as in Elvis’ version of Big Mama Thornton’s Hound Dog.  

Many cover versions are simply treacle. Others stand up well, and still others are better than the originals.  

 

We’re going explore the sometimes bizarre world of song covers, or versions. Our research, as noted, determined that everybody covers everybody. Very rarely is a popular, radio, satellite or streaming song not covered by someone. The same goes for unpopular and obscure songs. Nothing is so bad that it won’t be covered by another singer. We thought Wayne Newton’s Daddy Don’t You Walk So Fast set the bottom for substandard mush - until we discovered that not only were there 31 covers including those by Eddie Arnold, Charlie Rich, and the Ray Coniff Singers, but that Wayne’s version was a cover of the original by someone named Daniel Boone recorded in 1971.  You will note as you read on and we survey covers/versions that there should be rules (laws?) with severe penalties preventing some people from going near some songs.

 

Record companies began releasing more than one version of a song in the 1930s and 1940s. This policy benefited songwriters and music publishers but not the performers.  They only received payment for their own versions. In the 40’s record-buying trends changed with teenagers (bobby soxers) as the catalyst as they made their purchases based on the singer, not the song itself, usually Frank Sinatra. 

Teenagers not only drove Rock and Roll in the 50’s, they also owned it. There were some bumps in the road, these bumps were Pat Boone and frequently their parents.   It must be said, however, that most White singer versions of Black originals in the 1950s have to be taken in the context of the time, racism included. They catered to the (non teenage) White audiences of that era, and many are unspeakably bad. They were bad then and they are painful now. Fortunately, most have been forgotten save in surveys of mediocrity in music. Rock and Roll was still establishing its foothold in popular music. Many hit songs by early Black rock ‘n’ roll performers generated safer, softer cover versions by other artists who crafted milque toast (white bread?) images.  We have Pat Boone’s painful cover of Little Richard’s Tutti Frutti or the McGuire Sisters’ syrupy version of the Spaniels’ Goodnight Sweetheart, as well as their sincerely earnest treatment of the Moonglows’ Sincerely.   Anyone hearing the Crew Cuts’ cover of the Chords’ Sh Boom, will run away while covering their ears. Ricky Nelson eventually evolved as a singer but his Cliff Notes version of Fats Domino’s I’m Walkin’ was embarrassing.  As a result, cover versions did not have much value to teenagers, who (although my friends and I weren’t teens), enjoyed the original songs by the original Black Artists with increased buying power.  As a child of the 50’s, it never occurred to me to differentiate between black and white music. I just loved Rock and Roll music and yet looking back, I realize I mostly purchased songs by the original Black artists. Yes, I even have the ‘45’ of Little Darling by the Gladiolas (lead singer was Maurice Williams who went on to record the classic Stay in 1960), as well as the note for note hit cover by the Diamonds.  White versions as seen on Ed Sullivan were tepid and they weren’t really Rock and Roll.   Pat Boone snapping his fingers to Little Richard’s Long Tall Sally on the Ed Sullivan Show was unbearable then, excruciating now.  I played Little Richard’s original for my parents.  They liked Pat better. My mother, harkening to the Sullivan Show, thought he had a nice smile. My father stuck with Louis Prima and Keeley Smith.  

 

Cover me, come on baby, cover me…Bruce Springsteen 

The 1960s included White singers doing Black originated Blues and bringing it into the mainstream while acknowledging and supporting their roots.  Many originals were pretty good, …….. Right Mick Jagger? The Stones first album featured songs by Willie Dixon and Jimmy Reed as well as Chuck Berry plus Can I Get a Witness originally recorded by Marvin Gaye as well as Stones’ own original song, Tell Me.  Note, we had to filter our research as we avoided the dictums of the rigidly doctrinaire world of the Politically Correct music historians and bloggists.    Even music can’t be just music without them preaching to us, so I left that rabbit hole to the Thought Police.  We’ll stick with music based on the cover’s merits.

 

Like a Version (Virgin – touched for the very first…but not the last…… time). Even Madonna’s hit has been covered 97 times. As with all covers, which version is better? Which is the best?  Singer or the Song? Time to explore. This study contains my opinions.  If you disagree with them, you are wrong. 

 

First, some of the most covered songs of all time. 

·      Yesterday has been covered more than 2200 times, with Joan Baez, Liberace, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, En Vogue, and Boyz II Men among the plethora of artists to apply their own wistful yearning to the wistful nostalgia of the song. Worst covers? It’s a tie – Liberace and Lawrence Welk. On second thought, Liberace wins. 

·      My Way was written by Paul Anka for Frank Sinatra in 1969.  Anka based his version on The 1967 French song Comme d’habitude composed by Jacques Revaux with lyrics by Gilles Thibaut and Claude François. There are around 332 covers in existence including an assault by Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols. Seems like more.

·      According to the indispensable site, Secondhand Songs, there are nearly 600 versions of Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water including Barry Manilow.

·      Hallelujah, Leonard Cohen.  We were beaten to death with 503 versions of this one, as it seemed to be injected into too many majestic cinematic and television dramatic moments.  Cohen himself once agreed with a suggestion that maybe it was time to retire Hallelujah and its endless cover versions. Although “apres moi, le deluge”, when Leonard went to that big recording studio in the sky, we suffered a deluge of Hallelujahs all over again including Bon Jovi and The Osmonds. 

·      Hey Jude, The Beatles. We counted 628 so far.  Most regrettable cover? Bing Crosby or possibly the Tottenham Hotspur soccer team. 

·      I Walk the Line-  Johnny Cash, over 200  including unforgettable attacks by The Dave Clark Five and Telly Savalas.   Yes, Telly Savalas. 

·      Imagine - John Lennon also has over 552 including versions by Antonio Banderas, a Gregorian Chant, and the execrable Yoko Ono.

·      Over The Rainbow-  Judy Garland 1,530 including versions by The Flaming Lips and Billy Ray Cyrus

·      Edith Piaf’s La Vie En Rose has 424 covers including a Grace Jones Disco rendition. 

·      Summertime - Abbie Mitchell originally sang Summertime in the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess by George and Ira Gershwin.  I played the 1966 Billy Stewart version (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VkA8HoB5m8 for our niece, the recording artist, Nelly Ake.  She looked at me in horror. This song, however, may be in our top three. According to the English National Opera website, there are 2,337. But then we have….

·      Amazing Grace -  The Guinness World Records regards Summertime as the most recorded song in history.  However, they also note that Amazing Grace has been recorded beyond count, appearing on at least 11,000 albums. That’s not surprising as minister, John Newton wrote the lyrics in 1772 and music in 1779. The song has been recorded more than 7,000 times. Judy Collins’ version was in the top 100 record chart for 67 weeks between 1970 and 1972. Oh, and David Hasselhoff also recorded it. 

·      We couldn’t leave out White Christmas, Bing Crosby recorded the song in 1942 for the movie “Holiday Inn”. Yes, and, surprise! in 1954 he and it reappeared in the film, “White Christmas”.  There are over 1,985 versions to date .  Of all the songs that have been abused in cover versions, this could be near the top of list thanks to David Hasselhoff, (again), Iggy Pop, and White People’s Chia Pet, Snoop Dogg.

·      Motown is/was a favorite Cover Target.  My Girl, by the Temptations has 236 including, gasp, Bobby Vee and Glen Campbell. Marvin Gaye’s What’s Goin’ On? Has 256 of them including, arrghh! a duet of Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp as well as a mauling by U2. 

·      The Beatles are the most covered group with 16,825 versions of their songs followed by Duke Ellington with 10,564 and the Bing Crosby (mostly because of White Christmas) with 7,011. “Why do they cover Paul's songs but never mine?” …….Yoko Ono

 

On the way to Cover glory

– Adele’s Rumour Has It is up to 30 covers

-Taylor Swift’s  I Knew You Were Trouble is at  53 and counting.

- Edge of Glory, Lady Gaga has 43.

-Alicia Keys has had her songs covered 184 times

-John Legend’s All of Me has been covered 141 times.

 

While seemingly every song ever recorded has been covered by someone, there are some that somehow escaped thus far, notably many contemporary Hip-Hop contributions. No sure why.  We thought that Paul Anka & Odia Coates, Having My Baby was cover proof.  That’s what we originally researched. Continued investigation revealed……  there are 20 versions.  

 

“For imitation is natural to man from his infancy.” — Aristotle

 

No-no, no, no, no-no-no, no, no-no, no, no-no

Na-no, no, na-no, no-no, na-no, no-no, no, no-no, no…….Nobody But Me, The Human Beinz

 

No Jury in the World Would Convict for the musical effluvia listed below:

 

·      William Shatner – The Beatles Lucy in The Sky With Diamonds.  We surveyed several worst cover lists and this one is almost unanimously #1.  Shatner also mutilated The Byrds cover of Bob Dylan’s Mr. Tambourine Man. The album cover features Shatner “playing” the guitar, for a seemingly enthralled Leonard Nimoy.

·      Britney Spears - I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll.  Joan Jett promptly announced she didn’t love Rock n’ Roll anymore. 

·      Britney Spears – I Can’t Get No Satisfaction………….Please make her stop. 

·      Avril Lavigne – Imagine . Yes, you heard right. John Lennon could never imagine anything like this.

·      Madonna - American Pie – As proven over the decades, the woman has no shame. This is wrong on so many levels.

·      Michael Bolton - When A Man Loves A Woman – well basically, anything with Michael Bolton’s bombastic bellowing, but the wanton destruction of the Percy Sledge classic is pretty bad. “Can't keep his mind on nothin' else. He'd trade the world for the Sledge version”. Bolton also perforated Otis Redding’s (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay

·      Money (That’s What I Want) – Barrett Strong on Motown. But, no, no no, not Freddy and the Dreamers who clearly wanted money but should have been drummed out of the music business. 

·      Cher, Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss).  Cher went note for note with Betty Everett and lost badly but sold better because she was Cher. If you want to know why you love it so, it’s in Betty’s original. In comparison, Cher’s is like Pat Boone revisited. 

·      James Taylor’s Prozacian cover of Jimmy Jones’ 1960 hit, Handy Man. “I fix broken hearts” but nothing can fix this. 

·      Anything by the Blues Brothers and especially, Soul Man. Sam & Dave could have justifiable homicide here. A clear case of the songs, not the singers. Soul Man has 83 covers. 

·      Cure - Purple Haze – Perfect songs should be left alone, right Jimi? In fact, no one should cover Jimi. ….Actin' funny but I don't know why. 'Scuse me while I kiss the sky

·      Glee Cast- Don’t Stop Believing. Couldn’t Journey have made them unbelieve?

·      Cyndi Lauper What’s Goin’ On. “Mother, mother, There's too many of you crying”. Marvin Gaye would be crying over this maudlin whining. 

·      Bruce Willis’ Respect Yourself. Why? asked the Staple Singers. Because he was Bruce Willis, movie star. Did anyone actually purchase this? 

·      Jessica Simpson – These Boots Are Made For Walkin' This record never should have been made in the first place as non-singer, celebrity spawn, Nancy Sinatra inflicted this on an unsuspecting public in 1966.   If she was Nancy Schwartz instead of Sinatra, they wouldn’t have let her in the recording studio. But Jessica Simpson? Aren’t there provisions of the Geneva Convention prohibiting this? Incidently, there are 236 covers of this song including those by The Supremes, Don Ho, and Loretta Lynn.

·      Hilary Duff - My Generation – This was not The Who’s generation. In fact, the original has some advice for Hilary to wit, “Why don't you all f-fade away?”

·      Miley Cyrus – Nirvana’s  Smell Like Teen Spirit except this one stinks. 

·      Christina Aguilera, Mya, Pink, Lil Kim ruined Lady Marmalade. They tried way too hard to be sexy and it came out as screechy camp. In 1974 original Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx, and Sarah Dash established the standard.   

·      Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? – Rod Stewart covered by Tiny Tim or Paris Hilton. A bad song to begin with and as sexy as Tiny Tim marrying Paris Hilton. 

·      Shoulda stuck to Country - Big & Rich in 2007.  Their batteries went dead with their cover of 1980’s AC/DC’  You Shook Me All Night Long.

·      Pearl Jam, Last Kiss, 1999. This torpid cover of another cover J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers, 1964, who, we discovered, were covering Wayne Cochran’s 1961 original. J. Frank and Wayne should have run over Eddie Vedder in “my daddy’s car”. 

·      U2, Fortunate Son – see Michael Bolton above for Bono’s bombastic wailing as he destroyed the Creedence Clearwater classic.  It ain't me, it ain't me Bono…..I ain't no fortunate one, no

·      Lenny Kravitz, American Woman 1999. Original by The Guess Who in 1970. American Lenny, stay away from me. 

·      Pat Boone – Pat should get an entire section… Long Tall Sally, Tutti Frutti, Ain’t That a Shame (Fats Domino).  He also covered the Beatles’ I Want to Hold Your Hand but then so did Homer and Jethro, The Chipmunks, and The New Christy Minstrels.

·      Have you heard Ethel Merman’s disco - No Business Like Show Business? 

·      And lastly, in a list replete with musical horrors, what we think is the worst, and topping Madonna with American Pie is saying a lot. The absolute nadir of cover versions.  It established a low in the 1950s that still exists today.  Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers rock classic, Why Do Fools Fall in Love was covered by Doris Day.  I’ll repeat that.  Why Do Fools Fall in Love – Doris Day.  Frankie Lymon of the Teenagers died of drug addiction.  He may have heard this atrocity which symbolizes all that was wrong about White covers of Black songs in the 1950s and on to this day. 

 

I asked a guy if he could do an imitation of a pheasant.

He said, "Sure, I'm game!"

“Which, Your Honor, is why I shot him.”

 

Some great singers have covered some great songs and the results were highly questionable.

·      Mick Jagger/David Bowie completely botched Martha and the Vandellas’ Dancing In the Street.This wasn’t questionable, it went down in flames. You couldn’t dance in the street or anywhere else with this stuck in your head. 

·      Bruce Springsteen’s War, covering Edwin Starr’s 1969 hit.  Brucie Brucie Bruce Brucie, what is your version good for? Absolutely nothing.

·      Alan Jackson Summertime Blues. Likewise, The Who, Summertime Blues – covering Eddie Cochran. More on this later

·      Some good singers make mistakes: Sheryl Crow should have left Guns n’ Roses Sweet Child O’ Minealone.

·      And Taylor Swift –Did you really need to cover Earth Wind and Fire’s September

·      No one could ever top my personal favorite song (still after all these years) – Stay by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs. And that goes for you Jackson Browne. 

 

Many covers are better than the originals

·      Always on My Mind – Willie Nelson (also Elvis).  Written by Wayne Carson, Johnny Christopher and Mark James, it was originally recorded by Brenda Lee in 1972.

·      Janis Joplin, Me and Bobby McGee…..Kris Kristofferson couldn’t sing a lick and he admitted it. Roger Millers’ version pales in comparison. 

·      Jimi Hendrix, All Along the Watchtower ……..Dylan good.  Jimi, superb

·      I Will Always Love You……… Whitney Houston drowning out Dolly Parton. This is generally ranked as the most successful cover of all time. 

·      Critics say Whitney’s is the most successful cover of all, see above, but we disagree……which, of course, means the critics are wrong……..In 1960 Chubby Checker covered the B side of a Hank Ballard record, The Twist.  And then he was even more successful with as a re-release in 1962. “Take me by my little hand and go like this.”

·      Kim Carnes, Bette Davis Eyes- 1981 Jackie DeShannon 1974….Carnes was the perfect singer for the song. 

·      House of the Rising Sun –The Animals outdid any folk singer.

·      Jeff Buckley, Hallelujah Of course Leonard Cohen couldn’t sing.

·      Santana, Black Magic Woman – Fleetwood Mac

·      I Fought the Law – critics prefer the Clash to the original.  I’ll take the Bobby Fuller Four and as I’ve noted, if you or they disagree, you and they are wrong.

·      Ray Charles, I Can’t Stop Lovin’ You, original by Don Gibson…..”sing the song children”. 

·      George Benson, On Broadway …….The Drifters. Hard to outdo the Drifters but Benson succeeds. 

·      Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door -  Guns N’ Roses, 1990, originally Bob Dylan, 1973 who wrote the song for his embarrassing “acting” debut in the movie Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.

·      Soft Cell, 1981 Tainted Love …….Gloria Jones, 1965

·      Unchained Melody – Originally recorded by Liberace in February 1955 but thankfully covered by Al Hibbler a month later. There have since been 533 more covers including 13 more in 1955. The most fun though was the 1963 Vito and the Salutations treatment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHwDeGDkEFk

Speaking of one month covers, Rock Around the Clock was recorded by Sunny Dae and His Knights (a White group) in March 1954 and covered by Bill Haley and His Comets in May  1954. Haley’s version opened the movie Blackboard Jungle (1955) and became a rock standard. 

·      With a Little Help From My Friends, Joe Cocker covered the 1967 Beatles in 1968 but became a legend in the 1969 movie, Woodstock.  

·      Talking Heads, Take Me To The River 1980. Original by Al Green 1971. Tough to top Al.  This was the only cover ever recorded by the Talking Heads. 

·      Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Woodstock - Mitchell good but CSNY better. Judy Collins cover of Clouds was better than Joni’’s too. 

·      The Ramones, Do You Wanna Dance  - Bobby Freeman Good but hey, it’s The Ramones. If I recall correctly, Bobby Freeman sang this song to an elephant on Dick Clark’s Saturday prime time show. 

·      Bette Midler, Do You Want to Dance – not as good as Bobby or the sainted Ramones but a different slow, mellow version for her 1972 audience. 

·      The Byrds, Mr. Tambourine Man- Bob Dylan. Many covers of Dylan, especially the early years are better because, again, Dylan couldn’t sing. Blowing in the Wind has 338 covers including Patty Duke. 

·      Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, 1981, I Love Rock N Roll - The Arrows. 1975

·      Chris Stapleton, 2015 over David Allan Coe’s original (and all other covers), 1981 for Tennessee Whiskey.  We’ll drink to that. 

·      Elvis covered anyone he wanted to cover and his versions usually became Elvis.  Hound Dog.  Although he “covered” Old MacDonald Had a Farm in the 1963 movie Double Trouble. 

·      Twist and Shout Beatles?  Originally written as Shake It Up Baby but changed to Twist and Shout to take advantage of guess what dance craze of the early 60’s. We think the Isely’s original is better than the Beatles but we are open to other opinions…..just this once.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTaqn8_gMR0 

 

Some songs you didn’t know (or care) were covers:

·      Toni Basil’s Mickey is so fine, but it might blow your mind to know that the song was first recorded by a British quartet called Racey, and it was about a woman named Kitty.

·      If the first cut is truly the deepest, then it’s only right that we recognize that, despite Sheryl Crow and Rod Stewart’s effective renditions, this track was not only first written by Cat Stevens, but also first recorded by singer P. P. Arnold.

·      If asked to sing a Johnny Cash lyric, the majority of people would respond with “I fell into a burning ring of fire,” or a slight variation of the lyric. Yet, before the song’s 1963 release, Cash’s sister-in-law Anita Carter recorded it first. We should mention that, in another “can you believe this?”  Olivia Newton John covered the song. 

·      A year before Billy Ray Cyrus and his mullet had us stomping about concerned for the painful state of his left ventricle, country music trio The Marcy Brothers released the track titled as Don’t Tell My Heart.

·      Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Before Cyndi Lauper dropped this anthem for all women, new wave musician Robert Hazard recorded the song. Oh, and there have been 150 covers since Cyndi’s. 

·      Lou Bega’s (who?) career can be summed up by a medley of his hit, Mambo No. 5.   However, yes, it’s a cover of bandleader Perez Prado’s, (noted for Patricia, Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White) 1949 composition.

·      Ebb Tide Robert Maxwell wrote and recorded the original in 1953 but the Righteous Brothers, actually Bobby Hatfield, established the standard in 1965.  With 177 covers and counting, you knew that Pat Boone would be in there somewhere and so he was in 1958.

·      Many Bruce Springsteen fans have no idea that Jersey Girl is a Tom Waits song.

 

“When I find a cover song that I like, I'll work away at it until I kind of believe that I wrote it”…………Nick Lowe

 

Yes, Hip Hop/Rap has its covers

No Diggity -  BlackStreet – Klaxons

Heartless - Kanye West – the Fray

Same Drugs -Chance the Rapper - MisterWives Cover

Hotline Bling Drake - Kayjo 

Superstar  Christine Milton - Jameliais and then David Puentez and Albert Neve (2020)

Jump Around  House of Paine - Everlast

No Brainer DJ Khaled feat. Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper and Quavo -  Kidz Bop Kids

 

How fast can covers appear?  Some top songs of 2023:

What Was I Made For? By Billie Ellish has 12 covers.

Flowers by Mylie Cyrus as 22 covers. 

Vampire by Olivia Rodrigo has 8 so far.

 

A word, actually a few about three pet peeve versions. First, Otis Redding vs. Aretha Franklin. With all due respect, (pun intended) Otis wins with his original. The record is all about the horns, just listen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7uSHlPi7YI

We’re talking about the music not the “anthem” or symbol of feminism that the song morphed into. Redding wrote Respect in 1965.  Reportedly, when he heard Franklin’s version of the song, he said, “well, I guess it’s that girl’s song now.” when Franklin recorded her smash hit R.E.S.P.E.C.T in 1967. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A134hShx_gw

Redding died in yet another rock star plane crash in December of 1967 at 25. Musically, we’ll take Otis’s version with the trumpet in B-flat, Saxophone Alto, Saxophone Tenor, Trombone.  We looked it up. 

 Second is Eddie Cochran’s 1958 Summertime Blues. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAM1k9vEVqg

The Who https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcNqDQ48baE

and Alan Jackson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9x0wbKHos0

did notable covers. Neither version uses Cochran’s essential Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins guitar riff.  Just three chords E, an A and a B7. Yes, we looked that up too. Neither The Who nor Jackson has the chords, which are the heart of the song. Neither version works.  Not even close. 

And thirdly, speaking of use of brass and woodwinds, the opposite of the Redding/Franklin versions of Respect occurs with Proud Mary. Ike and Tina Turner covered and sped up the 1969 Creedence Clearwater original (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hid10EgMXE) in 1974. No contest. Creedence wins. The Tina Turner version loses the heart of the original in a cacophony of shrieking Tina and blasting horns. The alto sax, tenor sax, trumpet 1, trumpet 2, trombone, alt. alto sax(3 horn) alto trumpet  (3 horn) even overwhelm this paragraph. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lfT9TWAaMY

 

So that’s the Good, the Bad, and the (very) Ugly of covers. It doesn’t hurt that they can make lots of money from it but covering a song allows a musician to put their own spin on the original and showcase their unique style and interpretation. Cover versions also attract new fans and …….money.  Many artists are paying tribute to their musical influences as well as a way to honor their musical heroes and pay homage to those who inspired them. Covers of the Blues genre are a prime example   Most performers love to do song covers and the consumer loves to hear them, unless it’s by Britney Spears, or William Shatner, or Pat Boone, or Doris Day. They want to be able to connect to their favorite songs in their own way. For so many artists it’s a way of expression but also an appreciation of the song itself.  Finally, many up-and-coming artists are now performing/recording cover versions because it is a popular way of getting heard and recognized. Media sites like YouTube and streaming sites such as Spotify, Sirius or Apple Music contain numerous recordings as well as videos of artists covering songs with oodles of hits which have helped them towards their musical (and financial) success. “Hey if it was a hit for fill in the blank___________it may be a hit for me.” So, the singer or the song?   It doesn’t have to be one or the other, but singers eventually fade away while a great song lives forever.

 

I guess a good song is a good song is a good song, ya know………….. George Thorogood

 

Time to think of some of your favorite covers or your unfavorite covers.  Let us know. 

 

Sources – 

https://secondhandsongs.com   If you want to know if a song has been covered, it’s here.  The essential site. 

 

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/20811/most-covered-songs-in-music-history#

 

https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/articles/

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8055012/     Cover versions as an impact indicator in popular music: A quantitative network analysis