Of all the podcasts I listen to, one of the few I listen to nearly every single one is Coverville. A great podcast of nother but covers – remakes of songs made famous by someone else. If you haven’t found it and love creative music, you have got to check it out.
The cover countdown for 2006 is awesome, with the winner being Johnny Cash’s cover of Hurt, originally done by 9 Inch Nails. I’ve been looking to use the video for a Lenten service this year. Its a masterpiece.
Just so you know, Matt Weddle came in at lucky number 13.
This was a request a couple of months back and I haven’t stopped listening to since then. Okay, I do like Outkast and liked the original, but this is so different and so acoustically kickin’, I just had to share it – Matt Weddle of Obadiah Parker doing Hey Ya.
If I can just get Matt Weddle out to do one of our postmodern nexus services – an Obadiah Eucharist, an Outkast Eucharist (I like the sound of that). Just have to figure out how to work hey ya into a sermon and get the congregation shakin’ it like a polaroid…
I have always had a hard time understanding Existentialism and Postmodernism. Over the years, I’ve asked my philosophy friends to explain it but somehow I never felt confident that I could use either word in a conversation with them. Perhaps it is because I’m not smart enough to grasp the concept. I would suspect, though, that it is so ingrained in my being that I have a hard time seeing it: forest for the trees. It would be like trying to explain to a fish the meaning of water. The lack of contrast (or soul for that matter) makes it impossible to grasp.
After watching this video, I think I understand these concepts a little better. When I heard the words “why are we in denial when we know we aren’t happy here†screams, from what I can understand, existentialism: a knowledge of truth (we aren’t happy here) and the idea that there is nothing we can really do but deny it. This is underscored even more by the break from profundity into “breakin it down†and “shakin’ it.†How much more existential can you get. The gap between emptiness and fulfillment can only be filled with earthly pleasures such as lust, fun and a nonsensical doxology such as “Hey, Ya.â€
I know that I might be reading into this more than I should but it is a bit of an epiphany obtained only when this singer presented a song to me that otherwise makes me want to dance. His performance demands a more thoughtful consideration of the lyrics. His rendition makes me feel lonely and unhappy. However, unlike Outkast’s version, the answer (the reason for which to “break it downâ€) in this version seems to mock existentialism rather than celebrate it.
It is amazing how an experiment like this unlocks so much hidden treasures. Sun Kil Moon did a similar thing with Modest Mouse covers in an album titled Tiny Cities. However, there are no melodic resemblances to the original versions but they present thoughts and ideas that, originally, were presented through angst and energetic performances. Sun Kil Moon’s versions force me to approach those same ideas from a calmer disposition. For me, this is a much better way to ingest someone else’s viewpoints; it is disarming and therefore more effective.
I would invite any feedback concerning these things, especially any misunderstanding I might have of existentialism and postmodernism. I should also love to know how you plan on incorporating either this video or the Johnny Cash video (it was unclear which one you were talking about) in a Lenten service – might there be a podcast of the service? I lead worship in a small evangelical church that observes the church calendar but is deliberately low-tech. I have been pondering the use of technology and media (such as video) in worship. I am always asking how necessary they might be and love experimenting with ways to avoid it. It is an interesting subject that I don’t think many folks in ministry consider. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.
Thanks for this post. I look forward to hearing more podcasts. This is one of the best available. Keep it up.
i met obadiah parker at a show here in phx. (where they lived, am assuming they still do)
anyway. yah, he’s awesome. good call
Hope they come up north some time to chi town.
Ben, wow! I have to say, I just liked the song but you see some things that I just didn’t pick up on and I have to say – you’re dead on in your appraisal of its postmodern/existential connections. I wonder how Matt saw it when he did this cover.
As far as Hurt, I’ll do a separate blog entry on that and put up a youtube link to the video.
[…] fascinated that I would even consider shaping a Nexus service around anything by Outkast. Thanks to Ben Williams for his comments and deconstruction of the “Hey Ya” cover last month by […]
I totaly love this song, greatest cover i have ever heard