When a musically inclined new-comer emerges onto the scene, it can be hard to find any respect for them (beyond mild amusement) when they become popular from a cover song. If the song was good enough to re-create, why would that artist ever think they could make it better? And how would they be able to establish themselves as a respectable musician if they became popularized by something that was already popular in the first place. Take Six Pence None the Richer’s version of “Kiss Me” which took them to number 607 on the Billboard charts. But were they ever heard from again? Or what about Orgy’s 1999 hit, “Blue Monday?” it’s catchy, but mostly because it was already made popular in 1984 as a dance hit. Again, after the song fell off of the charts, did we ever see them re-claim the top-notch on the charts? Nope.
Cover-songs can be good when an already-established artist, takes a good song and alters the feeling of it; doesn’t just copy the song for brownie points, but explores other possible meanings by employing a few minor changes. Take Annie Lenox’s “Sweet Dreams,” the original song comes off as a light-hearted social commentary, where Marilyn Manson seems to use the inflections in his voice to change track from a borderline pop song to a ready-made theme for a horror movie.
Veterans to the music scene don’t fall off don’t fall off the face of the planet after they cover a song because they tend towards employing their own personal creativity. They don’t rely on riding the coattails of artists that came before them.
Artist, Tim Dung, more commonly known by his Pseudonym, Girl Talk is an exception to this “new-comers can’t successfully recreate songs” rule. He, like Marilyn Manson brings his own manic, yet cohesive flare to any song he re-creates. In lieu of physically creating a new version of an entire song, he smashes up 10-20 individual songs to develop one new, epic song. He then sews 12-14 of those songs together seamlessly to create your own personal dance party themed album.
Girl Talk’s 2008 album, “Feed the Animals” goes beyond re-creation for the sake of fame and even surpasses being merely an amusing dance track. By exploring the effects of combing instrumentals of deeply personal and emotion provoking songs with the lyrics of frivolous pop-song lyrics, Girl Talk finds his own niche.
The 4th track on “Feed the Animals” combines the angsty fast-paced guitar of Metallica’s “One” with the lyrics from Lil’ Mama’s “Lip Gloss.” This dynamic melds the adolescent appeal of makeup and physical attraction with the hard-hitting, borderline depressing feeling of Metallica’s instrumentals. These paralleling attributes shed light on the normal human condition. He creates and lives in an environment that seems to acknowledge and welcome anyone that’s willing to listen.
Throughout his discography Girl Talk uses 1000’s of clips from 100’s of different artists ranging from Ludacris to Senead O’Connor and Kelly Clarkson to Radiohead. His albums cover artists that not only span genres but also decades.
There is no other artists that can successfully combine the Beatles, “Come Together” with KRS One’s “Sound of da Police” and make it appealing to listeners who aren’t necessarily fond of one song or the other.
Girl Talk brings the art back into music, even though he isn’t the one playing the instruments. In concert Girl Talk is essentially just a man and a computer, no live band. His outright unparalleled originality more than makes up for his lack of actual instrument playing.
Girl Talk also finds a successful way to re-introduce influential artists from previous generations by mixing them with current chart toppers. In turn the younger generations gets a dose of The Pixies with their 50 cent or some Elton John laced into their Wham. He gives credibility to music that this generation merely regards as what their parents listen to. The final product seems to conclude that we can’t forget or try to force out the past. Good music is good music, regardless of what generation or genre it stems from and Girl Talk never looses sight of this.
Girl Talk is the pioneer of a much needed musical evolution. He gives a positive spin to the downfall of pop music, and does so in a way that is rarely attempted and almost never done successfully.
