# Gender, and remakes of songs. Anyone else find this comical? Examples? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 1, 2006, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-and-remakes-of-songs-anyone-else-find-this-comical-examples/342479 "2006-02-01T06:23:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [February 2, 2006, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-and-remakes-of-songs-anyone-else-find-this-comical-examples/342479/61 "2006-02-02T18:02:53Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Baez also did a cover of The Band’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” with the original lyrics. BTW, her time as a “queer woman” consists of one lebian affair. Almost the original lyrics. She sings “So much calvary” instead of, I think, Stallman’s calvary. Never ceases to piss me off. Dylan changes lyrics all the time, but they’re his lyrics. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2006, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-and-remakes-of-songs-anyone-else-find-this-comical-examples/342479/62 "2006-02-02T18:04:21Z")
> [@irishgirl](#): > > Oh the male lyrics for “I’ve never been to me” are just awful! The female ones are horrible glurge, but the male ones are just yucky. There is one good solution. That song features prominently in _Priscilla, Queen of the Desert_. All men have to do to sing it believably is to be in drag. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-and-remakes-of-songs-anyone-else-find-this-comical-examples/342479/63 "2006-02-02T18:09:53Z")
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes are good for this type of thing apparently. I love their version of Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-and-remakes-of-songs-anyone-else-find-this-comical-examples/342479/64 "2006-02-02T18:23:43Z")
You know, before there were recordings and such, when singers went from place to place, no one gave this a second thought. The singer is a storyteller, playing a role, and therefore it doesn"t matter (my apostraphe is gone–sorry) what gender the song indicates in relation to the singer. This is absolutely ancient and why when you listen to early folk artists they don"t bother to change genders when singing. Some songs have been reworked in their entirety to take advantage of a good song and to make it seem more personal, but the folk tradition of “gender doesn"t matter” stands. I personally know that his is harder for people today steeped in the “songwriter-singer personal story” culture that grew up in the 60"s and 70"s, but it is just as valid as it ever was. I guess what I"m saying is, when I hear a woman sing “Suzanne” or “Henry Martin” and they take the voice of the narrator, I"m not bothered by it, nor do I jump to the lesbian assumption. Though, even I will admit that the idea of Frank singing “Sugar Walls” would have resulted in nose-spew all over my screen. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2006, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-and-remakes-of-songs-anyone-else-find-this-comical-examples/342479/65 "2006-02-02T19:09:58Z")
For a reall gender bender, the Indigo Girls did a version of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” with female singers as Jesus and Judas. One of those CDS that very few people bought, and now it’s a real collector’s item. ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-and-remakes-of-songs-anyone-else-find-this-comical-examples/342479/66 "2006-02-02T19:55:27Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > For a reall gender bender, the Indigo Girls did a version of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” with female singers as Jesus and Judas. One of those CDS that very few people bought, and now it’s a real collector’s item. I soooo wanted that when it came out. Putting the rock in rock opera I thought, but I was alas a student with a wife and child and NO disposable income to speak of. Tell me it is as cool as I thought it would be. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-and-remakes-of-songs-anyone-else-find-this-comical-examples/342479/67 "2006-02-02T19:58:42Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > For a reall gender bender, the Indigo Girls did a version of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” with female singers as Jesus and Judas. One of those CDS that very few people bought, and now it’s a real collector’s item. I’ve never even _heard_ of that, but I desperately want it now. I’ve always thought Judas’ role would sound awesome if sung by a woman. ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-and-remakes-of-songs-anyone-else-find-this-comical-examples/342479/68 "2006-02-02T20:35:26Z")
> [@Draelin](#): > > I’ve never even _heard_ of that, but I desperately want it now. I’ve always thought Judas’ role would sound awesome if sung by a woman. I knew somebody who had that album a few years back, and it sounded great. But I didn’t get a copy. Then I saw it had two or three copies in a local used music store a year or two ago. But I didn’t buy it. Now the music store is out, the friend is Og knows where, and I just have a memory of how cool it was (and how green the album’s cover is). ---
**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:** [February 2, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-and-remakes-of-songs-anyone-else-find-this-comical-examples/342479/69 "2006-02-02T21:09:33Z")
[Here you go!](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000018CA/102-7012184-8166564?v=glance&n=5174). I paid $11.99 for the 2CD set. And it is definitely worth it! ---
**Author:** ![mojave66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mojave66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mojave66)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-and-remakes-of-songs-anyone-else-find-this-comical-examples/342479/70 "2006-02-03T00:07:34Z")
Tori Amos did a pretty good cover of the Rolling Stone’s “Angie.” Shoot, I think why not? Change the gender in songs, go have fun with it. Just don’t sing the male OR female version of “Never Been to Me” (or whatever the name is). ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-and-remakes-of-songs-anyone-else-find-this-comical-examples/342479/71 "2006-02-03T02:17:39Z")
I recall hearing several examples of Dylan songs where Baez changed the first-person gender to female and sometimes changing the second or third person to male. Maybe because she took these Dylan songs in the sense of modern confessional singer songwriter that are supposed to be inhabited by the singer as a real person instead of a fictional character. When minstrels or bards in the old days sang narratives they took on the roles of various characters of both genders. Although “Long Black Veil” was a modern product of Nashville, I think it imitated the style of traditional Appalachian ballads. Therefore it retained a traditional fixity of gender across the versions. **Annie** , you’re right that was the one lesbian affair of [Baez](http://www.glbtq.com/arts/baez_j.html)’s life; yet when she talked about it 10 years later she still identified as bisexual. And has continued to contribute to queer rights causes. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-and-remakes-of-songs-anyone-else-find-this-comical-examples/342479/72 "2006-02-08T16:31:47Z")
How about Aretha’s cover of Elton John’s “The Bitch Is Back”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-and-remakes-of-songs-anyone-else-find-this-comical-examples/342479.md?page=3)