The song I decided to choose was Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel. The cover is by Shaw Blades. The Shaw Blades version of this song is one of my favorite songs. The two versions of the song are very similar in most ways but there are some subtle differences that make the cover interesting. The lyrics are the same and the so is the melody unless you include the addition of a higher third harmony as melody. The rhythm of the songs are a little different but both are regular rhythms. The intensity is changed because the cover gets louder than the original. The beginning of both versions starts off very quiet as more instruments are put in until the last verse which is the loudest part of the song. Then, right before it ends, all of the instruments drop out and the song finishes softly with just voice and guitar The cover has drums in it where the original does not. Both songs have higher and lower pitches but the key of the cover is a semitone down which changed the overall feel and groove of the song. The vocal parts are rather high for the lead part and the second part is lower for voice. The cover has a third harmony that is higher then the lead vocal part. Both songs use bass guitar creating lower notes. The timbre of both songs are very simple. They are both easy to listen to. Both versions use smooth sounding instruments and both vocalists have very clear voices. The speed of the songs are both slow but the Shaw Blades version is slightly faster. Both songs are organized into five versus that all end in the word ‘silence.’ I prefer to listen to the Shaw Blades version of the song. The semitone difference between the two is enough to make the cover seem very eerie and mysterious as opposed to the original which sounds sad and whiney. I am a little bias of course seeing how Tommy Shaw is the lead singer of Styx, my favorite band.
No comments:
Post a Comment