Write Their Own Songs
“All of us start out as members of a cover band, but the best of us learn to write their own songs”
Robert Meganck, Lesson from Life and Rock & Roll: A Swan Song
Virtually all artists begin covering or imitating the work of others. For clarity, a band that plays a song previously recorded by someone else is covering that song, and a band that only plays previously recorded songs is Cover Band. This should not be confused with a Tribute Band, whose setlist are songs from a single performer or band and frequently assumes the persona of that performer/band. I love both cover and tribute bands. Some of my favorite shows have been those where the music was provided by a cover band. They played the songs I love, and live music is always the best way to experience music. With live shows you become more than a passive listener, you are part of the show. I’ve also seen (and love) tribute bands. They are extremely talented musicians, spending time to capture the nuances of a single performer/band, often for performers/bands that are no more. They keep the music alive.
Bob Dylan’s first album only contained two original songs – the remainder were covers of traditional songs. The Beatles have covered songs by Chuck Berry, Carol King and Gerry Goffin among others and before they changed music, their songs were very much in the vein of that which was already prevalent. Before they were The Grateful Dead, they were Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions. If you investigate the history of your favorite artist, I’m sure you’ll find that they learned their craft by imitating earlier works. Pablo Picasso’s early work was very representational, and Jackson Pollock’s early paintings were influenced by Thomas Hart Benton. These are among the most influential practitioners of their art. If the Beatles early songs contained lyrics like, “Yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog's eye / Crabalocker fishwife, pornographic priestess / Boy, you been a naughty girl you let your knickers down” instead of “I wanna hold your hand, yeh, yeh, yeh / I wanna hold your hand, yeh, yeh, yeh / I wanna hold your hand, yeh, yeh, yeh” would they have been able to break into the music marketplace the way they did. While all artists start off either imitating or being strongly influenced by the work of others, the best reinterpret those influences, and the great's become the influencers.
Robert Meganck