The Bowie Project: There is no other day, let's try it another way.

Well hello there! How is everyone doing tonight? Are you ready to rock? I said, are you ready to ROCK?! Then you came to the right place. Welcome to an evening filled with glammed up, far out cover tunes!

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Pin Ups is David Bowie's collection of '60s covers. I have rather enjoyed Bowie's cover of the Stones' Let's Spend the Night Together -- of course I'd heard the original many times before, so that provided me with prior knowledge of the song. This bestowed a bit of a quandary upon me. The line-up on this album caused me to feel a pang of reservation, mostly because only two of the covers were songs I already knew.

I began to wonder what the best way to tackle this album would be. Should I go in blindly, and just enjoy the songs for what they are, without trying to compare them to the originals, since I mostly don't know them anyway? Or should I listen to the original versions first, to give me some kind of basic foundation?

I decided the best thing to do would be to just jump in and see where the album took me. And if I felt the need to find out what the originals sound like, then I could do that whenever I felt like it. So that's what I did. So where did it take me? Well, I'm getting to that... just bear with me.

Recently I discovered that people listen to music differently. Over brunch and drinks, a friend and fellow Bowie fan who has been reading this blog told me that apparently what he gets from music is totally different from what I get from it. He listens and enjoys music for the composition, the instrumentation, the complexity, originality, what a musician can do with their instrument, what a singer can do with their voice. Don't get me wrong, I like those things too! But I don't listen with a critical ear. For me, listening to music is an immersive, sensory, meaningful experience. I see pictures and watch stories unfold, I feel pangs of pain, I get bursts of euphoria. And with that comes the desire... nay, the need to sing.

So it makes me wonder why Bowie chose these particular songs to cover on this album. Was it strictly something about their composition? Or do they mean something to him? Or is it as simple as they're just super fun to sing? I can relate to that. They are. Like most of the albums I've listened to so far in course of this project, I can't stop singing the songs on Pin Ups.

Here's a little glimpse into my world: As I mentioned, I love to sing. Singing's my favourite. I give living room concerts to my boyfriend and a feline audience of two almost daily. Oh, and the neighbours, whether they like it or not. This is my living room concert microphone.

Yeah, it's a random plastic wand thing. Yes, I'm 38 years old. I'm not even sure how it ended up in my possession. One day I reached out my hand for something to use as a microphone, and there it was. When I press the button, it lights up. It has three speeds: slow flash, flash, and superfast flash. It also fills the role of guitar and saxophone, when appropriate. It makes me feel like a rock star.

Pin Ups on the whole is fun to sing from start to finish. Having said that, my living room concert usually goes something like this...

Here Comes the Night. It contains the best way to start a song ever: the yowl-cry. I can't reproduce it to my satisfaction (yet... I'm working on it...) but goddamn, that's some good catharsis right there. The whole bawling chorus feels like my soul is taking a shower in a thunderstorm. Brilliant. Microphone: set to flash. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! Here it comes...

Here Comes the Night (Them Cover)

For comparison's sake, here is the original by Them. Before this, I had never heard of Them. Turns out Van Morrison was the lead singer. That's awesome. I like Van Morrison lots and lots. Now I feel like adding a bunch of Van Morrison/Them to my iTunes.

Next, with the first few bars of See Emily Play, I set my microphone to superfast flash, and launch into my best and most exaggerated British accent (which is hilarious, I'm sure - but it's the only way I can get this one out, apparently). Frrreeeeeee gahhhhymes fo' Maaaaaahhhhhhy, seeeeeeeeee Emily plaaaaaahhhhhhhy!

See Emily Play (Pink Floyd Cover)

Admittedly, I'm rather ignorant when it comes to Pink Floyd. I am familiar with a couple of songs off The Wall. Shameful? Maybe. This was my introduction to this particular song, so I gave the original a listen, and lo and behold, I rather enjoy it! I'm not even sure which version I like better, they both have their own special charms. I'm glad to have expanded my Pink Floyd knowledge, if even just a little bit.

And then... Ohhhh, little baby! You know I feel so good! Like seriously, this is the part of the living room concert where the imaginary fans have their arms outstretched in my direction, and I'm sprinting back and forth across the front of the stage, grabbing hands along the way. I stop and throw a few moves down in between hand-grabs, of course. Because how can you not indulge in a little pelvic swing action when this song is playing?

Everything's Alright (The Mojos Cover)

The original didn't make me want to run out and listen to a bunch of The Mojos, I have to say. I mean, it's fine. But it's nowhere near as fun as Bowie's. Just saying. I couldn't blow the roof off my imaginary concert hall with that one.

And this is where I just about lose my mind. I got a feeling inside... it's a certain kind. If there is a song that kind of makes me... become someone else? It's this cover of I Can't Explain. If it's possible for meek little me to suddenly transform into someone not unlike Dr. Frank'N'furter, then that's pretty much what happens. If it's not, then I guess this song just... makes me horny in, like, a really weird way. Microphone set to slow flash... and handled rather suggestively during the performance.

I Can't Explain (The Who Cover)

Theoriginal was already one of my all-time favourite songs, so I was very curious to see what this was going to sound like. And I was not disappointed. Way to glam it up, Bowie. Emphatic slow clap while I lick my teeth and cross my legs in the other direction.

Um, yeah, is it warm in here? After that performance I need to chill out. The slow flash continues and the cooldown begins with Sorrow.

Sorrow (The Mersey's Cover)

Epic living room concert moment: I tried to find her 'cuz I can't resist her, I never knew just how much I missed her. There's just something about that bit that makes me go oooof! inside. You know that feeling. Oooof. Right there, in the stomach. The Merseys' version holds up rather well against Bowie's. They're both great.

Flash speed increases on the microphone for Shapes of Things. Off this album, this song gives I Can't Explain a run for its money where favourites are concerned. It's just so awesome. And I'm so thankful to Bowie for making me aware that this song exists, because The Yardbirds' version is also awesome.

Shapes of Things (The Yardbirds Cover)

Come tomorrow, will I be bolder than today? That's a line I take to heart. It's like, by asking the question, I'm opening up the possibility that one day I'll be able to overcome my ridiculous self-doubt and actually put something new out into the world.

Until then, I'll have to be content with expressing my boldness within the confines of my living room concert venue. I can go anyway, way I choose!

Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere (The Who Cover)

Once again, the original proves itself to be just as brilliant as the cover. Apparently, I love The Who. I think I always thought I liked them, but now I definitely know I love them. I may very well undertake a The Who Project when The Bowie Project is over. In fact, I think that's a very, very good idea!

Superfast flash, and the rockin' good times continue with Where Have All The Good Times Gone.

Where Have All The Good Times Gone (The Kinks Cover)

I like how Bowie changed the lyric in the first verse from never tried to sing to never tried to see. Because you know what? I know that feel. Sometimes, no matter how great a song is, a lyric just feels wrong. Sometimes you have to change it up a little to make it yours -- to make it true. Check out the Kinks'version here.

Finally, speaking of truth, my concert set list ends with a bit of The Boss. Apparently Growin' Up is a bonus track that wasn't included on the original release of Pin Ups. I think that's too bad, because it's a really nice way to end the album. Listening to this song, I definitely get the sense that this was chosen for a reason beyond Bowie simply liking it lots and lots. The lyrics support my theory:

I took month-long vacations in the stratosphere

and you know it's really hard to hold your breath
I swear I lost everything I ever loved or feared

I was the cosmic kid in full costume dress

Growin' Up (Bruce Springsteen Cover)

Um, yeah man, you were, like literally, that.

Sometimes you listen to a song and it's like it was written for you. And so it becomes yours. Pretty sure we've all experienced that. Even if you're the kind of person who is mainly impressed by how a song is performed in the key of whatever and was recorded with 1000 guitar solos layered on top of one another, and in order to play it live all the band members have to play 84-string guitars and wear tinfoil suits to get the right kind of sound bouncing off, I defy you to not have "a song". That one song, conceived by someone else, that tells your story and makes you go ooooof in your stomach.

My story is told by hundreds of songs by hundreds of different artists. And while I don't pretend to know what goes on in David Bowie's mind, I am enamoured with the idea that Pin Ups is something not unlike that - a selection of songs that are fun to sing... but also tell some kind of truth.

And with that, my concert is over. I blow kisses to an imaginary crowd. My voice is raw. The battery in my microphone is dying and the flashes are growing faint. I've got to conserve some of its power for tomorrow night's show. It's been a blast. Thank you, and good night.

*****

So of course I was wondering, if I were to record an album of covers, what would be on it? It would be a collection of songs that are fun to sing, but that mean something to me, and tell my story. Pin Ups has 14 tunes on it (12 on the original release, plus 2 bonus tracks). Restricting myself to 14 songs, here is my very own Pin Ups! This was challenging, I have to say... somehow, the Smiths, the Jeff Healey Band, and Oasis didn't make the cut, which is astonishing. So I bet if I did this on a different day it would change. But this is how it came out today, and I'm sticking to it.

So now dear reader, I'm dying to know... how do you listen to music? What's on your cover album?

The Bowie Project

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Friday, March 14, 2014

There is no other day, let's try it another way.

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