We live in an era of repurposing. The thrifting culture, the DIY movement, freecycling, slow food -- there is a cultural shift towards the use of the old as new. Granted, this is mostly a movement for people who knowingly read stuffwhitepeoplelike, shop at a farmers' market, and who likely have or know a friend with an ironic mustache. But it's a movement nonetheless. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in music, where repurposing has always an integral component of the creative process. I've said this before and I'll say it again: understanding and appreciating that music is not created in a vacuum, that it represents a progression of ideas from artist to artist, makes listening to it, for me, all the more enjoyable. Sometimes you can repurpose a theme or idea -- see John Lennon responding to Bob Dylan in "I Am The Walrus" or Paul McCartney repurposing Beach Boys' harmony in "Because." Other times, you can repurpose music through sampling -- see the entire Girl Talk discography or the album Paul's Boutique by the Beastie Boys. This is a post about repurposing an entire song. Sometimes this can alter the song's entire meaning; other times a cover represents simply an interpretation of the original.
The Clash's "Straight to Hell," off of their 1982 album Combat Rock, is a fine song in its own right. A vicious statement addressing the illegitimate children sired by American troops in Vietnam. It's interesting because 1) it's been covered and 2) it's also been repurposed in an even more popular song (and then repurposed again...).
The Original: "Straight to Hell" The Clash
As mentioned above, this is off of Combat Rock, not my favorite Clash album but it has its moments. This is one of them. And for the record, like everyone, my favorite Clash albums are London Calling (how could it not be? It's so good that its best song, "Train in Vain (Stand by Me)" wasn't even listed on the original pressing) and Give 'Em Enough Rope.
The Cover: "Straight to Hell" Lily Allen
I have to be in the right mood to listen to Lily Allen, but I love this song. She sings it so breezily, which is so not the overall theme of the song, but it's just great to listen to. Off of an all-covers album, War Child: Heroes, which I highly recommend if only for the Hold Steady's cover of Springsteen's classic "Atlantic City."
The Repurpose: "Paper Planes" MIA
Of course, if you've been alive in the past three years, you've heard this song. If you've seen the movies Pineapple Express or Slumdog Millionaire (the two movies capture a sufficiently large swath of movie-watchers), you've heard this song. And it's so ubiquitous that you might not recognize it to be a repurposing of a Clash song; like, how could this song possibly borrow from such a distinct song like "Straight to Hell" and still be so distinctive in its own right? Maybe that's the genius of MIA. And, despite the misstep of "/ \ / \ / \ Y / \" she looks to be back on form in her recently released mixtape, available here.
The Repurposing of the Repurpose: "KILL YOU" jj
Now, a song about soldiers in Vietnam, repurposed as a song about drugs/immigration, has been repurposed again by the mysterious Swedes jj as a breakup/getting high song. Druggy, but so good. In fact, the whole mixtape (free here) is good. Listen to it.
Goodnight. Hope you liked the journey. I was thinking about doing one on "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin repurposed by Puff Daddy as "Come With Me," but that would be too depressing...
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