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Old 08-29-2017, 08:51 PM   #220
Jelly Blossom
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Quote:
Originally Posted by reprise85 View Post
It is not inflammatory to acknowledge that those songs are highly personal and the person who wrote them would likely have the most emotion invested in the songs and that would be conveyed in their voice. That would be true even no matter how terrible they sounded. Billy didn't sound terrible, but obviously not great. But his emotional connection to the songs is palpable
I'm sorry, I just can't buy the "the song's a personal song so the bad singer who wrote it should sing it" argument.

Compare versions of The Who's "Love, Reign o'er Me", one version featuring Pete Townshend on vocals, and another featuring Roger Daltry on vocals, especially that end "Love" @ 4:36 on Townshend's version and 4:59 on Daltry's:

Pete Townshend vocal:


Roger Daltry vocal:


Whichever one you prefer is entirely subjective, but it's pretty obvious that Daltry did an amazing job interpreting a song that Townshend wrote and took it to a level that Townshend could never achieve. Daltry's ability to articulate his own emotional connection is palpable here.

This example shows how just because someone didn't write a song, doesn't mean that he can't do a better job singing it/interpreting it than the writer did, no matter how 'highly personal' the song might be.

 
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