Hey there!  Happy Monday to all of you! I enjoy the new start of the week when I can sit down in front of the computer and get to work. Check out the new graphic!  I figured if I didn’t have to create a new graphic every time I had to write this blog post, it would make things a little easier.  We’ll see!

Music Monday -Cover Songs – Sound of Silence

I am always a little behind when it comes to music. I don’t really listen to the radio and depend on my Google Play library. My music library includes the American Songbook, show tunes, some almost up to the minute music and of course, a healthy dose of the eighties.
I was tooling around on youtube a week or so ago and I found this song by Disturbed. I liked their cover of Land of Confusion: it has a much darker tone and is a little less “poppy” than the original Genesis version. However, I am a bit of a folk music fan. I love my John Denver, Simon and Garfunkel, and Peter, Paul and Mary. Curious to see what they did with the song, I clicked. And was hooked.

First, however, if you haven’t heard it, take a listen to Simon and Garfunkel’s version:

 

 

 

When Simon and Garfunkel did the song, it was a telling commentary on society’s behavior toward one another…”People hearing without listening”….”People writing songs that voices never share” and “The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls.” Nice, kinda abstract statements.

Disturbed takes it and makes it personal. Way personal. The singer’s voice is gut-wrenching, giving the impression he’s given the lyrics a lot of thought and things haven’t changed so very much since the song came out over thirty years ago.

Once you add in the sparse, minimalistic images of the video, you see Disturbed has turned the song into an experience.

Listen the first time. Pay attention to David Draiman’s growl and how he attacks the words. Then, once you’ve absorbed, add the video.

What a stirring interpretation of this song.