The Original
Simon & Garfunkel:
The Cover Songs Competition
Material Issue vs. Me First & The Gimme Gimmes
Material Issue:
Me First & The Gimme Gimmes:
Oh the disharmony! Much like Harlan County there are no neutrals here. Only one cover tune will live to play another day and it is your solemn responsibility to decide which one prevails. So tell me … Which Side Are You On?!!?
Also, keep in mind that if you should spontaneously self-actualize while playing a cover then you could – and probably should – nominate it for Top 10 (i.e. “Impeccable”) consideration.
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Votes can be cast up to seven days from the day and time of the original post.
Disclaimer: Votes cast from Florida may or may not be counted.
In an upset I’m going with Material Issue. I love the Me First boys but there does not seem to be very much creativity inherent to their cover, which is typically their strong suit (oddly enough I’ve seen a few references from the band’s fans that this is their best cover). Granted, Material Issue’s rendition is a bit of a muddled mess but there does seem to be a lot of emotion there. Obviously getting the lyrics correct was not a priority (or material issue) to them. But I get the feeling MI’s version was excellent to see live.
A rare time when I felt both were strong enough to get a win. Material Issue had a wild, driven version pushed by some intense drumming and the fact that it all seemed to veer on coming unglued gave it that excitement factor. Me First almost always delivers a great cover so I could be prejudiced but once the song began their superior acumen for addressing power, melody and dynamics just made it too hard to beat
I was gonna comment on this one earlier and never got around to it. It’s all Material Issue for me. There’s just a lot more emotion in their version. MF&theGG are great, but it kind of feels like just one more tune for them.
What if you dislike both versions? I went with me 1st because at least they got the lyrics right, though i’m sure Paul Simon gave deep consideration to changing to material issue’s style