Copies of copies of copies...

Intertextuality in music today is immeasurable. Songs make reference to ideas, occurrences and subject from other times and places ad infinitum. But is it ethical to use melodies, lyrics and/or backing in some songs that are identical to an older song? Is right that parts of older songs are claimed and made into something different? I was watching television the other night when an advert for a bakkie came on, backed by a song originally produced by the Cardigans called “My Favourite Game”. This new version for me had turned what was a racy, funky, vivacious song into country-style sing-along. If producing a song is anything like creating an artwork, it takes time and precision distinct to that particular artist, and a reproduction of the work is never as good as the original. When I hear a song that contains some element of a song before its time I cannot help but compare it to the original, and the copy will always come off second best. But what is more concerning for me is that in this age where our world is saturated with copies of copies (otherwise known as what Baudrillard termed simulacrum) it is becoming increasingly difficult to recognise that which is an original and that which is not. For instance the first time I heard the song “Everybody Hurts” it was sung by The Corrs, and it was only later that I found out that the original artist was R.E.M., and the same goes for “American Pie” by Don McLean which was most unfortunately confused to have been originally produced by Madonna. This to me is a kind of legalised theft, where the reproduced song has been labelled the authentic version because the original has disappeared in time. While I realise that the copy of an original can be far more appealing and can bring an exciting freshness to the work for the audience, when the song is no longer associated with the original artist then that artist I feel has been robbed.