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seedarklyxeroWelcome to SeeDarkly Sunday DisCOVERies:
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
It's another Third Sunday Throwback to the Twentieth Century where this time a gothic/dark cabaret trio who debuted in the nineties remade a jazz/blues track from fifty years prior.
The origin of today's cover veers into territory I didn't expect and deals with a topic about which I actively avoid making any public commentary for many reasons. However, though its mention is brief, I feel obligated to state I do not endorse any usage described or implied. Beyond that it seems the song's intended meaning (original or revised) is rather unquestionable: don't let your vices prevent you from doing the right thing.:
Rasputina - Why Don't You Do Right? (Lil Green)
Lil Green released Why Don't You Do Right? as a single in 1941. The song was written by Kansas Joe McCoy who first wrote and recorded an entirely different version of the song five years earlier. Originally titled Weed Smoker's Dream, the song was first a lament about the protagonist being unable to achieve any great monetary success despite having access to an abundant (if unnamed) resource. McCoy recorded that version of track with his band, The Harlem Hamfats, in 1936. It's not clear why, but he chose to rewrite the lyrics and modify the composition to instead reflect the complaint of a woman frustrated by her man's financial irresponsibility, the implication being that he allowed such hardships by giving in to women, booze, and malaise. It's entirely likely it had something to do with the difficulty of living during and following the Great Depression era, especially so for people of color like McCoy and Green.
Lil Green was successful enough with the reworked version of the song that it caught the attention of Peggy Lee who recorded her cover of it with Benny Goodman only a year later. Lee's performance of the song was featured in the 1943 film Stage Door Canteen, making it what's considered to be the best known cover of the track to date.
Artists who have also covered the song include Amy Irving (as Jessica Rabbit in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit), Chase Masterson (of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Sinead O'Connor, and well over a hundred others.
The cello-goth trio Rasputina released their debut album, Thanks For The Ether, in 1996. Why Don't You Do Right? is the first of two covers included on the album, the second being Melanie's 1971 folk pop hit, Brand New Key. While there isn't much to indicate what inspired the cover, given the band's dark cabaret style, it's really no wonder they are influenced by such a wide variety of classic music spanning decades. Other covers they have done include All Tomorrow's Parties (1966) by The Velvet Underground, Bad Moon Rising (1969) by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Barracuda (1977) by Heart, Fire & Ice (1981) by Pat Benatar, Rock and Roll (1977) by Led Zeppelin, Tourniquet(1996) by Marilyn Manson, Wish You Were Here (1975) by Pink Floyd, Behind Blue Eyes (1971) by The Who, You Don't Own Me (1971) by Leslie Gore, Redondo Beach (1975) by Patti Smith, Come Sunday (1943) by Duke Ellington, and That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore (1985) by The Smiths. Most of these covers found throughout their discography are collected on two E.P.s titled The Lost & Found or on their recent 2018 release, None But The Lonely Heart (the title track a cover of Tchaikovsky's 1869 composition).
Rasputina's version of Why Don't You Do Right? transmutes the track into a treacherously twisted tango, replacing the original's sense of desperation blues with a dark and dismissive attitude, more insult than intervention.:
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
Time for my annual X-mas carol cover! This year ask not for whom a little German bell rings... it rings for thee.
Feel free to leave a comment about that or tell me what you think about today's cover!
(You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Dec 09 - KMFDM - Mini Mini Mini(Jacques Dutronc)
Dec 02 - Pisces Black - She's Lost Control (Joy Division)
Nov 25 - PIG w/ Sasha Grey - That's the Way (I Like It) (KC and the Sunshine Band)
Nov 18 - Andi Sex Gang - Broken English (Marianne Faithfull)
Nov 11 - Strvngers - Closer (Nine Inch Nails)
. Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies .
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
It's another Third Sunday Throwback to the Twentieth Century where this time a gothic/dark cabaret trio who debuted in the nineties remade a jazz/blues track from fifty years prior.
The origin of today's cover veers into territory I didn't expect and deals with a topic about which I actively avoid making any public commentary for many reasons. However, though its mention is brief, I feel obligated to state I do not endorse any usage described or implied. Beyond that it seems the song's intended meaning (original or revised) is rather unquestionable: don't let your vices prevent you from doing the right thing.:
Rasputina - Why Don't You Do Right? (Lil Green)
Lil Green released Why Don't You Do Right? as a single in 1941. The song was written by Kansas Joe McCoy who first wrote and recorded an entirely different version of the song five years earlier. Originally titled Weed Smoker's Dream, the song was first a lament about the protagonist being unable to achieve any great monetary success despite having access to an abundant (if unnamed) resource. McCoy recorded that version of track with his band, The Harlem Hamfats, in 1936. It's not clear why, but he chose to rewrite the lyrics and modify the composition to instead reflect the complaint of a woman frustrated by her man's financial irresponsibility, the implication being that he allowed such hardships by giving in to women, booze, and malaise. It's entirely likely it had something to do with the difficulty of living during and following the Great Depression era, especially so for people of color like McCoy and Green.
Lil Green was successful enough with the reworked version of the song that it caught the attention of Peggy Lee who recorded her cover of it with Benny Goodman only a year later. Lee's performance of the song was featured in the 1943 film Stage Door Canteen, making it what's considered to be the best known cover of the track to date.
Artists who have also covered the song include Amy Irving (as Jessica Rabbit in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit), Chase Masterson (of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Sinead O'Connor, and well over a hundred others.
The cello-goth trio Rasputina released their debut album, Thanks For The Ether, in 1996. Why Don't You Do Right? is the first of two covers included on the album, the second being Melanie's 1971 folk pop hit, Brand New Key. While there isn't much to indicate what inspired the cover, given the band's dark cabaret style, it's really no wonder they are influenced by such a wide variety of classic music spanning decades. Other covers they have done include All Tomorrow's Parties (1966) by The Velvet Underground, Bad Moon Rising (1969) by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Barracuda (1977) by Heart, Fire & Ice (1981) by Pat Benatar, Rock and Roll (1977) by Led Zeppelin, Tourniquet(1996) by Marilyn Manson, Wish You Were Here (1975) by Pink Floyd, Behind Blue Eyes (1971) by The Who, You Don't Own Me (1971) by Leslie Gore, Redondo Beach (1975) by Patti Smith, Come Sunday (1943) by Duke Ellington, and That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore (1985) by The Smiths. Most of these covers found throughout their discography are collected on two E.P.s titled The Lost & Found or on their recent 2018 release, None But The Lonely Heart (the title track a cover of Tchaikovsky's 1869 composition).
Rasputina's version of Why Don't You Do Right? transmutes the track into a treacherously twisted tango, replacing the original's sense of desperation blues with a dark and dismissive attitude, more insult than intervention.:
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
Time for my annual X-mas carol cover! This year ask not for whom a little German bell rings... it rings for thee.
Feel free to leave a comment about that or tell me what you think about today's cover!
(You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Dec 09 - KMFDM - Mini Mini Mini(Jacques Dutronc)
Dec 02 - Pisces Black - She's Lost Control (Joy Division)
Nov 25 - PIG w/ Sasha Grey - That's the Way (I Like It) (KC and the Sunshine Band)
Nov 18 - Andi Sex Gang - Broken English (Marianne Faithfull)
Nov 11 - Strvngers - Closer (Nine Inch Nails)
. Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies .