Knock-offs, Rip-offs, Spin-offs, & Sell-outs

As a young person growing up in a grown-up world, i had very limited control over the music and media that actually shaped and molded my way of thinking about the world. and i think this is true for most, if not all, of us: that we have little say about who and what our early influences are. these are most often decided for us by the adults in our lives who impose what they think is best for us. in my situation, this was Saturday morning Looney tunes, afternoon public television and a strict Christian take on everything else. it was explained to me by the adults in my life that ‘music [like sex—as was explained to me latter], Rebeka, is a gift from God and therefore music [like sex] should not be used for our own personal enjoyment, but only to worship God and to carry out God’s will. So needless to say, my musical life was strictly relegated to the realm of Christian music. and that is a fact that, like Christianity itself, i could never quite except…at the risk of offending people, i have to tell you something about the genre called ‘Christian music’: there is no real Christian music. meaning that, there is no style of music that is inherently Christian. there is no identifiable music quality that defines a song as Christian. let me say this another way: there are no decidedly Christian elements that determine what arrangement of chords are Christian. there are musical elements that define blues, jazz, zydeco, mariachi, flamenco, bluegrass, samba, classical western, 2 types of classical Indian, calypso, gypsy, salsa, punk, metal, hip-hop, even country. but Christian? that’s a philosophy, not an art. Christian music is defined solely on the basis of the lyrical content. and that means that if you take away the words and just listen to the music, the music could be anything: pop, rock, and now we even have Christian hip-hop [i mean…really, you’re going gangster for Jesus?]. but without the lyrics, the music belongs to a different musical lineage that then gets ‘claimed for Christ’ by the lyrical content that then gets superimposed upon some other style’s song. there is no Christian instrumental music, because Christian is a religious philosophy; it is not a musical style. now it is true that reggae music and the Rastafarian religion are deeply interconnected, meaning that Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer were Rastas who made reggae music as a spiritual experience. [you Christians aren’t jealous of Bob, are you?] according the to bible, it was the young King David that was the musician in the Judeo-Christian tradition, playing music on his harp to calm the demons of the now aging and deeply tormented King Saul—not Jesus. so this means…where do Christians get the music from that gets ‘Christianized’? now, i’m sure that Christians will tell you that their music was channeled through them by Jesus himself, but i have actually found several examples of Christian songs that were stolen from the secular [means non-Christian] world.

the first example is Prince’s song ‘‘Nothing Compares 2 U’’…now as i said before, my choices in what to listen to were between Christian pop and Christian pop. and i remember attending several non-denominational churches—one was tuesday nights at Elmbrook; another was an old Pick ‘N Save grocery store out in Waukesha that was converted into a church; another was a grade school gymnasium…you get the picture. and the praise-and-worship portion of the service went on for a full 45 minutes…and with a complete band—drums, keys, guitar [no bass] and vocalists—and the lyrics on a projector screen so we could all sing along and get carried away in the spirit of the Lord…and they used to sing this song to Jesus that went ‘Nothing compares, nothing compares, nothing compares to you…’ and at the time i thought ‘whatever. how do you fall in love with someone you never met and who you don’t even know for sure is even real so deeply so that you are inspired to write love songs?’…i just didn’t get it…and then in 2016 i heard the news that Prince had died, and i remembered hearing about him in high school [when the news broke that he had changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol in order to break from a bad recording contract] and i decided to look into Prince. and i found this song called ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’, composed as a real love song, and the i thought to myself, ‘i remember that song from my church days…and the chorus is the exact same and they just changed the verses to make it about Jesus’…i mean, how did this happen? could it be that the record industry is so corrupt that the labels are selling pop songs with a catchy chorus that would be easy to sing along with to the Christian churches? i mean, money is what makes the economy run…and i wanted to tear my hair out in frustration. and i wanted to tell Prince, but he was already dead.

the second example is about the well-know Christmas carol, entitled ‘What Child is This’…[who, laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping…good Christians fear for sinners here the silent Word is pleading]…this song was originally a pagan song called ‘Greensleeves’, [i chose this song for my summer piano recital and as i was playing the melody i realized ‘this is a Christmas Carol!’ Mrs. June Diddle, the neighborhood piano teacher, a member of the Church of Scientology, and a devotee of classical music, explained to me that it was in fact originally not a Christmas song, but that it was claimed by the church in the name of Christ. and because the original is now considered public domain, nobody can sue anybody for this one, however, it is a real example of the Christian religion taking good music and turning it into ‘Christian music’.

and the third example is something that really pains me, because we are talking about a beautiful Hawaiian song written by the last queen of Hawaii to acknowledge her homeland—which was being taken over by the Americans. Queen Lili’uokalani composed this song on piano when she was in living under house arrest circa 1878. and the song is called ‘‘Aloha ‘Oe’’…now, have you ever heard the Christian praise and worship song ‘How Great Thou Art’?..pay special attention to the chorus: its like the church just stripped away the words and made it about God and Jesus. a Christian rip-off justified in the name of Jesus. and Liki’uokalani, they say, died of a broken heart from all that was stolen from her, her culture and her homeland.

now, about Elvis: do you know how Elvis died? i mean, we’ve gotten so accustomed to hearing about truly talented musicians who then just up and took a suicidal dose of some lethal concoction of something…or about another rapper getting shot…but what about Elvis? i mean, i know there’s a rumor out there that he’s still alive…and every second-hand store i’ve ever shopped at has pictures of the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ, and Elvis Presley on the wall, as if to suggest they are related and Elvis is among the immortals. once i was starring at the pictures of these three at a thrift shop, just realizing to myself that versions of these same three pics are at every Goodwill-type store that’s out there, when the manager approached me and asked if i needed assistance. i pointed out these pictures and said, do you think Elvis is coming back to us one day, like Jesus? and the guy said, ‘ i hope not. i’d rather have Jim Morrison back instead.’ i definitely agreed. Elvis has been posthumously coronated the King of Rock‘n Roll, but what i want to know is who is distributing the honors because that title is definitely up for debate. let’s look at Elvis’ legacy since he has died: if i say ‘Elvis’, what is the first word that pops into your mind? ‘impersonator’, right? because Elvis left a legacy of impersonators. now, is this because Elvis is really worth impersonating, or is it because Elvis himself was an impersonator, and so if you want to be like Elvis, then you, too, become an impersonator. they tell us that Elvis was so original, but maybe the industry has just covered up the evidence of whomever Elvis was impersonating. thank you, Hoizer, for bringing attention to one Jackie Wilson in your song, ‘Jackie and Wilson’. i did some research, and this man has definitely not received his due recognition for his contribution to the lineage. Elvis was clearly an exaggerated impersonation of Jackie Wilson, in his musical style, his stage presence, his iconic vocal vibrato, his dance moves/hip gyrations, and even his hairdo. Jackie Wilson was an African-American R&B singer, which is the natural evolution of the Delta blues tradition into Rhythm & Blues and is, in my professional opinion, where we begin to uncover the true roots of rock‘n roll. where Elvis departed from Jackie Wilson’s style was with his white skin and his country twang. and that sounds to me like a industry conspiracy to divorce rock’n roll from its true blues roots and make it ‘countrified’. country is, of course, the white man’s blues.

so how did Elvis die? legend has it that Elvis suffered from chronic constipation and that he died a sudden but inglorious death caused by a heart attack, while sitting upon the toilet. apparently the anal strain was too much. so King Elvis died sitting on the porcelain throne. and while wikipedia neither confirms, nor denies this, it does state that the medical examiner released an official statement that ‘drugs played no role in Presley’s death’. however, a report that surfaced later stated that polypharmacy [the use of five or more medications daily by an individual] was the primary cause of Elvis Presley’s death, and cited evidence provided under oath by Elvis’ doctor that he [the doctor] "had [prescribed] more than 10,000 doses of sedatives, amphetamines, and narcotics: all in Elvis' name; in the first eight months of 1977 alone." [quoting Wikipedia]. Elvis died August 16, 1977. but Elvis was most obviously a special recipient of the prize called ‘white privilege’, in which sainthood is magically bestowed upon your image, immaculately disguising whatever sins be underneath in real Dorian Gray fashion…and so history has it officially recorded in the script as well as in our collective memories that Elvis Presley was in fact not a derelict drug addict like Billy Holiday or Kurt Kobain or the Funk Brothers [the Motown studio musicians] or more recently, like Amy Winehouse, R.I.P .

but before you all loose interest, can we discuss another music industry mystery, called ‘covers’, please? a cover is a song that is recorded by one artist [the one who usually gets credit for composing the song, regardless of where it actually came from] and then is re-recorded by another artist. and while this practice is perfectly legal, the problem is one of credit: who actually owns the rights to the original song, which sometimes gets ‘covered up’ [if you follow my pun]. and knowing something about the human capacity for giving in to greed and jealousy, I would suspect that the music business has some very dirty little secrets hidden in plain sight with regard to covers, whereby musicians might even have been killed so as to steal their unpublished compositions and give them to a less-talented but more gullible wanna-be artist, and in so doing ‘cover up’ what credit is due and to whom. why? because music is a lucrative business. there is money to be made, and power to be wielded, and if you can find who’s doing the actual work and just take it from them, well, then that’s akin to living like a king.

now, at the risk of causing offense, i am going to be so bold as to cast a shadow of suspicion over some recording artists with my next words. Dolly Parton, now pardon me Miss Parton, but do you ever get the feeling that our great American history is being rewritten before our very eyes? cuz i had the strangest experience the other day…i was listening to some music and i came across a song by Marilyn Manson, and i thought, ‘where have i heard this song before? oh i know, growing up in a christian home where Johnny Cash was praised as a good Christian man and musician…oh shit’ [i thought]—then ‘no way!!!’ Marilyn Manson is doing a Johnny Cash cover?! because the christian radio station WVCY proclaimed [when i was in grade six] that “Marilyn Manson is the antichrist, so parents, beware. he is trying to influence your children to turn them against Jesus.” and so it was a good many many years before i finally got to hear Marilyn’s iconically raspy voice…only to discover that i was already very familiar with at least 2 Marilyn Manson songs: those beings “Personal Jesus” and “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”. unbelievable!!! you have got to hear Marilyn Manson sing his version of Johnny’s songs…makes me want to believe that it was Marilyn ‘the Antichrist’ Manson who actually composed both of these songs [will post both versions on Facebook; follow link in upper left corner or search the Facebook for Rebeka Lyn].

Now back to you, Miss Parton, and i do humbly beg your pardon, but you’ve been in this business a long while, you’ve seen a lot [i was going to say ‘a lot of changes’, but i think its only the technology that has changed; all the rest i’d say is still mostly the same as it always was, just like your waist & your face, you know, stuck in a time warp for the past 20 years, eh?]—what do you think? do you think Marilyn Manson covered Johnny Cash or did Johnny Cash cover Marilyn Manson? and keep in mind that we all know that it is possible—if you have the right connections—that the historical record can be, um [how do i say it]…be re-adjusted to support a particular re-interpretation of what really may have happened. now about Dolly Parton, i was doing some digging on one of Nashville’s greatest session drummers who just passed away, and turns out he played on some of Dolly’s recordings. and as i was browsing through Dolly’s repertoire—as i am want to do from time to time—and i noticed a new recording, or rather an old recording, that i was sure belonged to someone else, now attached to Dolly’s name. and the song was accompanied with a little story about how Dolly was a young artist who was stuck in horrible recording contract under Porter Wagoner, a man who she reportedly loved deeply. however, she wanted out of the contract, but he wouldn’t let her, so she wrote a love song for him [but why would she want out of the contract if she truly loved him?]. and he said the song was so beautiful that he immediately released her from her contract. now, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the music business, THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN!!! [the part about just letting someone out of a recording contract, especially if they just wrote a new song, it does not happen. ever.] Dolly, this is the most ridiculous story i’ve ever heard: that true Love triumphs over greed in the music industry? i’ve heard tall tales before, but this trumps them all. who’s brave enough to agree with me on this one—Walt Disney? you ready to admit yet that fairytales are just fairytales and that industry will kill you dead before they release you from your contract, once they own you. do you know what Prince did to escape from under a horrible recording contract deal? Prince—who was more clever than all the rest and has written some of the most stunning love songs ever recorded [love songs are the most lucrative of all the types of songs, by the way]—he changed his legal name to an unpronounceable symbol…and still he had problems with the label. a recording label is kind of like a family: once you belong to them, you will always belong to them. so Dolly, that’s a cute story and all but utterly ridiculous. you are living in a fantasy world if you believe that’s how it really happened to you…and what bothers me the most is now that Whitney Houston is dead—drug overdose; it takes down all the best of them, apparently—and no longer here to defend herself, well, there’s nothing stopping anyone from rewriting the historical record. i have listened to Whitney Houston sing her song, ‘I Will Always Love You’, a hundred times and i still cry every time. you know, after Whitney died they made a Whitney Houston hologram and toured it around the world just to reproduce the experience of her preforming her most famous song again and again…and all this time i never heard not a single soul even suggest, ‘hey have you heard Dolly Parton sing that song?’ and when i finally heard that Dolly was reclaiming that masterpiece for herself, i found a recoding of Dolly’s version…and while it was pretty in the same way that Dolly’s 75-year-old face is still pretty [albeit made entirely of plastic by now], it was utterly devoid of passion. and passion is the one quality that a computer cannot reproduce. computer technology can reproduce everything else, but passion cannot be artificially manufactured. and passion is the sound of music being preformed straight from your soul; passion is the quality that makes a song sound powerful. when it gives you chills down your spine; when it makes you cry, that’s the sound of the artist’s soul coming through in his or her expression. and you can only get to that place as an artist where you can create something with that kind of power if you..well now, i’m entitled to keep my secrets secret. but that, for me, is the real test of authenticity: who’s version actually conveys a sense of real emotion. the songs that Dolly is famous for in my world are all covers: Son of a Preacher Man, Me & Bobby McGee, and Stairway to Heaven. and a lot of musicians are cover artists: they do covers and that’s what they do. but this…well…i don’t care what web says. ‘I Will Always Love You’ will always belong to Whitney Houston in my mind. you can research the two versions for yourself via youtube or what-have-you. compare the two versions for yourself and decide who is the original and who is the imposter. i rest my case.