# Covers that didn't change gender **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 1, 2016, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798 "2016-04-01T02:09:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798/21 "2016-04-01T22:06:01Z")
Joan Osborne’s cover of [Spooky](Share this video [Spooky- Joan Osborne - YouTube](http://youtu.be/XhZAG7uVjmE)). ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798/22 "2016-04-01T22:14:25Z")
Dylan’s “House of the Rising Sun” from his first album. ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798/23 "2016-04-01T22:17:32Z")
I’m not sure who Tiffany Alvord is, but singing Magic’s rude from a female perspective really adds weight to the lyrics [here](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwigkd7Fu-7LAhVG0WMKHVf2AJ4QtwIIKDAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DnQ8ayD7bRso&usg=AFQjCNHhA8MiOp5sCNRcIChBfCeDeYs_Gg&sig2=iuJnXIicn_P2j655fZNZMg) ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798/24 "2016-04-01T23:05:16Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > [I just discovered the very entertaining Bryan Ferry cover of “It’s My Party”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZbWCCWcQFs). One thing stuck out: although the Lesley Gore original is clearly written from a female perspective, Ferry refuses to change the gender of the song. What other songs do this? Is it just to stand out, or is it ever done to change the meaning of the song? I’m not sure what you mean by the “gender of the song”. The Bryan Ferry version doesn’t change the gender of the narrator’s _love interest_, it’s still a guy named Johnny, but I don’t think there’s anything in the lyrics that specifying that the narrator is a woman and it doesn’t seem like Ferry is trying to sound like a woman. It sounds to me like his version of the song is about a man in love with another man, which _is_ a change to the narrator’s gender. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798/25 "2016-04-01T23:15:42Z")
Tiffany Alvord is a YouTube celebrity with over 2 million subscribers. She also has a record deal. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798/26 "2016-04-02T01:13:09Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > An enormous amount of Spanish language covers and even originals. The writers of every Mecano song are two brothers; the singer, a woman. The singer is perceived as a narrator, they don’t need to match the gender of the character they’re singing. However, I don’t recall male singers going for female parts. I can´t recall even one (non-comedy)- Women singing “male” songs/covers is a zillion times more common. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798/27 "2016-04-02T01:19:09Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > Cam Clarke, a gay voice actor and singer, about a decade or so ago, released an album of love songs originally sung by women, without changing the gender of the subject of the song, because he wanted to sing them as gay love songs. Well, half of them are songs sung by women with the subject gender’s remaining the same… while half of them are songs sung by men, with the subject’s gender switched. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798/28 "2016-04-04T01:17:27Z")
Suzi Quatro sang _I wanna be your Man_. ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798/29 "2016-04-04T01:34:18Z")
Judy Collins _Someday Soon_, was written by Ian Tyson. When Tyson sings it, well, it’s sort of a cover since she had the hit, even though it’s his own song, he doesn’t change the gender. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798/30 "2016-04-04T02:42:29Z")
When Sinead O’Connor addresses _Mama_ in _Nothing Compares 2 U_, I believe she’s using the original gender as written by Prince. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798/31 "2016-04-04T08:51:44Z")
Digging in the ancient archives, we find _This Old House_ by Stuart Hamblen (1954), also famously recorded by Rosemary Clooney, where something different happens. In the original lyrics, an aging singer tells of his own impending death in the first person (“I’m a-getting ready to meet the Saints”) while speaking metaphorically of his crumbling old house, personified with third-person pronouns like “he”, “him”, and “his”. In the Clooney version, she doesn’t change any genders, but instead sings of the aging guy in the third person (changing the pronoun “I” to “he” in various places, “my” to “his”, etc.), but continues to sing of the old house in the third person with the pronouns “he”, “him”, and “his”. Overall, this somewhat garbles the story of the song, and the use of the third person pronouns makes it hard to tell which lines are talking about the aging guy and which lines are talking about the aging house: > [@](#): > > Original: > > _Ain’t a gonna need this house no longer > I’m a-gettin’ ready to meet the Saints_ > > Clooney: > > _Ain’t a gonna need this house no longer > He’s a-gettin’ ready to meet the Saints_ In Clooney’s version, it sounds like the house is getting ready to meet the Saints, and it’s less clear why the singer doesn’t need the house any longer. Elsewhere throughout the song, likewise, the third-person pronouns seem to refer to the old house, when in fact they should refer to the old guy who’s about to meet the Saints. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798/32 "2016-04-04T09:13:30Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > However, I don’t recall male singers going for female parts. I can´t recall even one (non-comedy)- > Women singing “male” songs/covers is a zillion times more common. Happens for example in flamenco’s old palos, quite a few coplas, some boleros as well (and those aren’t flamenco). I don’t think there’s many instances of _fumando espero_ by “guy guys”, but I’ve heard _la violetera_ or _amarraditos_. That’s recorded, in concerts you get a ton more. There’s also songs which were written as a duet, with two distinct parts, but sometimes there’s only one singer and they’ll do both (other options include having the chorus or the public do the second part). And I don’t think someone like Falete would consider himself a “comedy act” - straight, not much, but comedy neither (dude looks like a lady in faralaes). ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798/33 "2016-04-04T14:53:09Z")
If you can put yourself into the mindset of that time period, then despite not having any gendered pronouns or nouns, Aretha’s “Respect” is clearly more about a man’s complaint (as Otis Redding’s original was) than a woman’s. Seems like the classic example of the OP to me. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798/34 "2016-04-04T14:59:52Z")
When Miley Cyrus sang “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” on the SNL 40th Anniversary special, she didn’t change the gender. No idea if she ever sang it on an album. She nailed it. ---
**Author:** ![Abner\_Ravenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Abner\_Ravenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abner_Ravenwood)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2016, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798/35 "2016-04-05T00:38:01Z")
[Grace Jones Demolition Man](https://youtu.be/VoH66cLOK44) ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2016, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798/36 "2016-04-05T02:12:39Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > However, I don’t recall male singers going for female parts. I can´t recall even one (non-comedy) Lots of guys have covered _Jolene_ in a non-comedy way. These are all men singing songs originally by women: “…Baby One More Time” by [Fountains of Wayne](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6g4t93uuus), and by [Travis](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HDk9VzCivo) “[99 Red Balloons](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1kTzKHa7AY)” by Angry Salad “[Dancing Barefoot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSo-6cky2OM)” by U2 “[Don’t Let Go](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNQkbVXQPRk)” by Deepfield “[Fuck and Run](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxv_N6pWgBo)” by Cassettes Won’t Listen “[I Will Survive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KJjVMqNIgA)” by Cake “[Landslide](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR42F88-000)” by the Smashing Pumpkins “[The Metro](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8CMA6yHc0k)” by System of a Down “Nothing Compares 2 U” by Prince "[Poker Face"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjCyWA3b14o) by You Me At Six “[Possession](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uoi89Eg8dfY)” by Evans Blue “[Running Up That Hill](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KEEXyRL0qE)” by Placebo “[Since U Been Gone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg-FJoh1RRA)” by Tokyo Police Club "[Someone Like You"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnOSjTm96nw) by David Nail “[Tainted Love](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDT0yn9jk7M)” by Soft Cell (I bet you knew this one…) “[Toxic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=F8XK0AZZlug)” by Local H “[Walking With a Ghost](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeYyoU8kKPQ)” by The White Stripes And under the category of sorta… “[Fast Car](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4zCOHFrLVY)” as a duet by Boyce Avenue & Kina Grannis ---
**Author:** ![cherry\_pez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8491ac/32.png) [@cherry\_pez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cherry_pez)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798/37 "2016-04-06T00:05:26Z")
Anya Marina with T.I.‘s “Whatever You Like”. Thought for sure Mason Jennings’ “Duluth” was a cover but, after a bit of research, not so. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798/38 "2016-04-06T01:54:04Z")
Rufus Wainwright does a pretty good cover of [the Man That Got Away](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDPamUgnwk4). How about a NON-cover song that DOES change gender? – Beloved Wife by Natalie Merchant is sung from the POV of a man. And for that matter, so is the 10,000 Maniacs song “Poison in the Well” (lyrics specifically mention “But I drank that water for years with _my wife_ and my children…” ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798/39 "2016-04-06T04:43:55Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Does Joan Baez singing that Virgil Caine is her name count? In [The Lilly of the West](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txmlaZbY-f4), she also sings about falling in love with Flora from Louisville, then watching Flora betray her for another man, then killing that man in a jealous rage. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798/40 "2016-04-06T11:33:49Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > When Sinead O’Connor addresses _Mama_ in _Nothing Compares 2 U_, I believe she’s using the original gender as written by Prince. During Roger Waters Live in Berlin The Wall she sings [Mother](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAFtWfXELNo) backed up by The Band. She did not change the gender of the lyrics. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-that-didnt-change-gender/750798.md?page=3)