By Taylor Long

According to Plato, “art is imitation.” Well, to be perfectly frank, I think that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. If song covers and movie remakes are the best thing we’ve got as far as art in this world, then that certainly doesn’t say much about the creative forces at work around us today.

Four or five years ago, I remember a little-known band (at the time) named Limp Bizkit who was ruling the air waves with their hit, “Faith.” Unbeknownst to myself and, probably, many fans of that song, it was a cover of a song by George Michael. Back then, I couldn’t have cared less. I jumped and screamed my high school sophomore lungs out to that song, while my mother (who was obviously wise beyond my years) practically tore out her hair in agony every time it came on the radio. It wasn’t until years later that my music tastes would mature, and I would come to understand the atrocity of main stream covers.

Limp Bizkit is just one of several bands whose careers took off based on a hit-single that was a cover. And where is Limp Bizkit now-does anyone know? Probably not, and no one probably cares. Indeed, it seems that most bands whose first hits are covers befall an interesting kind of curse, the kind where their musical careers don’t last that long (which isn’t surprising considering that they had to rip off someone else’s talent to make a hit single).

Remember Alien Ant Farm, and their cover of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal”? You certainly can’t find them on any Top 40 charts these days. Or what of the Ataris, and their “Boys of Summer” cover (which was devastating to the ears of this Don Henley fan)? Sure, they’re still around and they had a sizeable indie following before that cover, but I find it hard to believe that they’ll be hitting the charts again any time soon.

Marilyn Manson, whose cover of the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams” was his first hit, is perhaps the only musician with a first-single cover whose career hasn’t all but flopped. But while Manson is still around and making music, he’s hardly drawing the amount of attention that he did when he first debuted.

There’s still one master cover artist that we can’t forget-P. Diddy, the artist formerly known as Puff Daddy, who began his career with “I’ll Be Missing You,” a cover (with the words slightly changed) in memory of Notorious B.I.G. The only reason I don’t include him on my list of “had top cover singles then faded away” list is because P. Diddy seemed to have noticed the popularity of covers and continues to imitate his little heart out with covers, samples and the like. (For clarity purposes, here, I am not saying all sampling is a complete imitation, cover or rip off, nor am I saying that he has no talent what so ever-but you do have to admit that he has done it quite a bit.) Perhaps all the aforementioned bands should’ve taken a page from him, and kept on coverin’.

But the top-single covers don’t stop there. Even today’s Joss Stone began her career with a cover of the White Stripes’ “Fell In Love With A Girl.” Stone even took it one step further and had her entire debut album be composed of covers.

The problem with I have with the aforementioned covers is not that they are bad, per se (though some of them certainly are). That’s not the problem at all. It’s the fact that they chose to cover songs that were already good. Perhaps this is just me, but it seems to me that if you’re going to cover a song, you should try to cover a song that perhaps isn’t that well-known, or isn’t that good but that you can make good. Or maybe even draw out a different side or angle on the song (which, admittedly, some of the above do/did). But what’s the point in trying to perfect a cover of a song that was already perfect?

Rookies aren’t the only ones who try to cash in on someone else’s genius. Even (formerly) great artists like Madonna have tried to get some milk from the cover cash cow. In fact, Madonna outdid the rookies as far as the “people who covered a perfect song” list goes.

The year was 2000 and the song was Don McLean’s “American Pie.” True, though the cover itself was not bad, it’s the principle behind it. Why anyone would touch such a flawless ballad, such a perfect example of storytelling in music, a beacon of what songwriting was, is and should be, a holy grail in the world of song, is absolutely beyond me. I’m sure her intent was not malicious-she had probably just hoped to enlighten a younger generation to the glory that is that song. But that still doesn’t change the fact that she’s a multi-millionaire who cashed in a few bucks thanks to McLean’s sweat and blood. Had she been an unknown, starving artist who played it at a local coffeehouse, I might be singing a different tune.

Music isn’t the only art form in which imitation can be found. Imitation also finds its way onto the silver screen from time to time. In fact, 2004 alone has seen a host of movie remakes: Stepford Wives, The Manchurian Candidate, Around The World In 80 Days, Dawn Of The Dead, Ladykillers, Alfie (which is being called the worst remake ever by some critics) and Phantom Of The Opera (due to be released in December).

Movie remakes don’t seem to be as hit and miss as music covers. 2001’s Ocean’s Eleven seemed to do a good job as a cover of the original Rat Pack flick, and 2003’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre was hailed by many a fan (and Texas Chainsaw Massacre happens to also one of those “golden” films that has spawned multiple remakes).

It’s hard to say what it is about movies that makes its imitation art come out better. One might say that it’s the many variables that movies have, such as camera angles, contrast, depth of focus, actors, etc., and the way that technological advances that have significantly widened the amount of things you can control in a film (due to computer effects, mainly).

Perhaps this is also what has kept many a director from touching such profoundly important movies as Citizen Kane, A Clockwork Orange, It’s A Wonderful Life, Breakfast At Tiffany’s and others. Of course, one could say that this doesn’t mean there aren’t parodies of these films, or could note that many of these films come from novels, but music has its parodies as well (Weird Al Yankovic, anyone?), and many song lyrics are taken from poems.

Imitation will probably never phase its way out of the music and movie world(s)-after all, imitation is (supposedly) the highest form of flattery. We will just have to hope that music artists start complimenting songs by artists that are perhaps struggling or a little under-appreciated as opposed to already loved and appreciated. n