# Cover songs without gender changes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 6, 2007, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-without-gender-changes/429053 "2007-12-06T18:31:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-without-gender-changes/429053/41 "2007-12-07T02:52:03Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by **vetbridge** > _Stand By Your Man: doesn’t Lyle Lovett do a cover?_ Yup, ol’ Lyle does a cover. It works surprisingly well. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-without-gender-changes/429053/42 "2007-12-07T03:19:08Z")
But “Stand by Your Man” is not really gender specific – the words work fine if sung by a man. In either case, the singer is giving advice to women. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-without-gender-changes/429053/43 "2007-12-07T03:35:53Z")
I’ve heard a few versions of the old ballad _Johnny has Gone for a Soldier_ sung by men, with no changes (and unless you were making it a song about Xena, pronoun changes would raise more problems than they fixed). Marlene Dietrich sang a few songs, even romantic ones, with no pronoun changes, but that isn’t really too freakin surprising, is it? ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-without-gender-changes/429053/44 "2007-12-07T06:28:41Z")
[QUOTE=Hazle Weatherfield] Did Joan Jett change the lyrics of “Crimson and Clover?” I can’t recall… [/QUOTE] Listening to it right now, she does not alter the genders. FWIW JJ doesn’t comment about her sexuality - she says you can read what you want into her songs and so she doesn’t need to talk about it in interviews. Heck, “I Love Rock And Roll” is about picking up a young guy in a bar 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ShakWave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@ShakWave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShakWave)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-without-gender-changes/429053/45 "2007-12-07T06:43:09Z")
Many of the Indian/ Pakistani folk songs in which the lyrics refer to the singer as female are sung by men, who do not change the gender in the lyrics at all. Interestingly, most of these songs are traditional Sufi songs. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-without-gender-changes/429053/46 "2007-12-07T09:27:05Z")
I’ll Tell Me Ma was mentioned above, this song like a lullabye or nursery rhyme and is sung by men/women/girls/boys in Ireland. Irish traditional songs are often done this way. Some singers will change “I wish I wish I wish in vain, I wish I were a maid again” to “youth again” in Love is Pleasing but many don’t. The Sally Gardens is often sung by women without changing the gender of the lover. The Lowlands Of Holland, sung from a war widow’s perspective has been done many a time by men. There are countless others. I think it has a nice effect, sometimes lending a complexity to songs they might not otherwise have and also adds even more homoeroticism to Irish balladry. * * * Another one in this vein is **Old Maid in the Garrett** as performed by the Clancy Brothers with or without Tommy Makem. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-without-gender-changes/429053/47 "2007-12-07T09:57:40Z")
Kate Bush did a cover of _Rocket Man_ on an album of Elton John covers. IMO it stank. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-without-gender-changes/429053/48 "2007-12-07T09:59:49Z")
[QUOTE=thelurkinghorror] Didn’t Bob Dylan do **House of the Rising Sun** without lyrics changes, unlike the Animals? [/QUOTE] Yes, he sang it from a female perspective, but I thought he _did_ change the lyrics. The only earlier version I’ve heard was by Woody Guthrie and sung from the perspective of a man, a la The Animals. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-without-gender-changes/429053/49 "2007-12-07T12:37:36Z")
I guess fishbicycle is offline, because no one has mentioned the \*\*Beatles’ “Boys”, \*\* sung by Ringo. Also, I thought that the _woman_ in the Family Stone sang “Que Sera Sera” (with Sly just helping out on the chorus, which has gender-neutral lyrics.) ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-without-gender-changes/429053/50 "2007-12-07T13:06:56Z")
[QUOTE=JKellyMap] I guess fishbicycle is offline, because no one has mentioned the \*\*Beatles’ “Boys”, \*\* sung by Ringo. [/QUOTE] Ah, but they DID change the lyrics - just not all of them. The second verse goes, in their version, ‘My girl says/when I kiss her lips/gets a thrill through her fingertips’…they left the chorus (‘Well, I talk about boys…’), which, if you bother interpreting the lyrics makes for an interesting interpretation. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-without-gender-changes/429053/51 "2007-12-07T13:17:57Z")
Cher did “You Better Sit Down Kids” with the original lyrics–Your mother is leaving, but I’m going away. I guess Chastity had two mommies. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-without-gender-changes/429053/52 "2007-12-07T13:28:48Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] Your mother is leaving, but I’m going away. I guess Chastity had two mommies. [/QUOTE] And they’re _both_ deserting the kid? Harsh! ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-without-gender-changes/429053/53 "2007-12-07T13:30:41Z")
Rudy Vallee recorded [“There Is a Tavern in the Town.”](http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiTAVTOWN;ttTAVTOWN.html) Although he does crack up laughing partway through. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-without-gender-changes/429053/54 "2007-12-07T13:30:48Z")
:smack: Your mother is _staying_! I hope that coffee is finished brewing, cause obviously I really need a cup. ---
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-without-gender-changes/429053/55 "2007-12-07T13:32:01Z")
[QUOTE=Aesiron] Jack White begs Jolene not to take his man in the song of the same name. Great song, too. Much better than the Parton original. [/QUOTE] So does Andrew Eldritch of The Sisters of Mercy in his cover of Jolene. It too is a great cover. Mr Eldritch has also covered Gimme Gimme (a man after midnight …) by ABBA at past concerts. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-without-gender-changes/429053/56 "2007-12-07T13:46:41Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] It’s Andy Bell so I’m not even sure it counts… Kidding! Kidding! [/QUOTE] Along those same lines, also along the lines of **Coil** ’s post, Erasure has performed and recorded a cover of ABBA’s “Gimme Gimme Gimme”, which could go either way since Andy Bell would be interested in a “man after midnight”. Also in their cover of ABBA’s “Lay All Your Love on Me”, he talks about his situation by saying “A grown-up woman should never fall so easily”. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-without-gender-changes/429053/57 "2007-12-07T14:37:42Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] But “Stand by Your Man” is not really gender specific – the words work fine if sung by a man. In either case, the singer is giving advice to women. [/QUOTE] Agreed. It is hard not to hear Tammy Wynette’s voice though. Also, hearing a guy say: > [@](#): > > And if you love him > Oh be proud of him > 'Cause after all he’s just a man somehow seems wrong. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-without-gender-changes/429053/58 "2007-12-07T14:41:36Z")
[QUOTE=interface2x] Along those same lines, also along the lines of **Coil** ’s post, Erasure has performed and recorded a cover of ABBA’s “Gimme Gimme Gimme”, which could go either way since Andy Bell would be interested in a “man after midnight”. Also in their cover of ABBA’s “Lay All Your Love on Me”, he talks about his situation by saying “A grown-up woman should never fall so easily”. [/QUOTE] To be fair, _Abba-esque_ was so absolutely gay that it should have come with packs of glitter. Hell, Andy actually got Vince to dress up as Agnetha for the videos…that’s something of a coup… ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-without-gender-changes/429053/59 "2007-12-07T14:42:31Z")
[QUOTE=JKellyMap] Also, I thought that the _woman_ in the Family Stone sang “Que Sera Sera” (with Sly just helping out on the chorus, which has gender-neutral lyrics.) [/QUOTE] You know, I’ve thought for 30 years that was Sly singing lead, but according to Wiki, you are correct. As an aside, Sly was supposedly good friends with Doris Day via her producer son Terry Melcher, and I read a long time ago that Sly and Doris were rumored to have had an affair… ---
**Author:** ![Priam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/77aa72/32.png) [@Priam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Priam)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-without-gender-changes/429053/60 "2007-12-07T16:18:05Z")
A band called Emery covered Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out for a Hero” without changing a lyric. It’s actually kinda hot… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-without-gender-changes/429053.md?page=2)