BLOG ASSIGNMENT #3A

 This is the original song "Thank You" by Dido.

This is the covered song "Thank You" by Yilin Cai.

Meng Li

Eric R. Williams

MDIA 203

Jan 23^rd, 2011

Blog assignment #3A

Exploration of Cover Songs

“Thank You” is a song that a loved very much, this song is not only performed by Dido, also performed by a Chinese singer, Yilin Cai. Even though each performer uses the same name of this song, they also have some similarities and differences.

The first part I want to discuss is the similarities of these two songs. Actually, the original song and the covered song are both use the same lyrics and melody. The melody of these two songs is brisk and a little bit lazy. When the audience are listening these songs, they can feel very comfortable and forget their stress. The lyricist uses some words like window, best day, thank you and life to show up a warm and comfortable feeling in this song.

Next, although the original one and the covered song have the same lyrics and melody, they also have some differences. The first one is the intensity of these two songs. For instance, the original song uses softer intensity. Even though at the climax part, the singer still uses a medium volume to perform. However, for the covered song, the Chinese singer uses louder intensity. Therefore, the singer’s sound became the main point in the song.

The second different between these two songs is their pitch. For the original one, the pitch is lower. Therefore, it can help the intensity of this song become softer. In contrast, the pitch in the covered one is higher. However, the pitch in the beginning of these two songs is switched. The original one’s drumbeat pitch is higher and the covered one’s drumbeat pitch is lower.

These two songs are active because the lyricist put words into the songs, and they are not just having music. The lyricist for these two songs wants to show up what is the theme of the song, so he uses words, sentences and music to make this song completely. Therefore, the audience can easily understand what the singer is singing about. But, there are many parts in the song just have music. For this case, the lyricist uses a didactic way to make each sentences connected. So, the audiences can still focusing on this song when there are no words sometimes. It can keep the audiences pay attention, and let them blend in the environment which the song created.

These two songs are all not contrast. The music is soft and coherent, but no big ups and downs. So, they are all use affinity to create the music, and there is a process between the beginning from the song to the climax part, then there is a process from the climax part to the ending.

To be honest, I love the original one better because it uses a softer intensity to explore the song. Also, I think the singer’s sound from the original one feels like more comfortable. She uses a steady sound to explore the song, and I love her timbre from the song. Actually, I really like the dubbing from the original one. There are many different dubbing sounds in it, so the song is more complex than the covered one.