K.D. Langs version was a very popular version for a while as an example
Because ive spoke about this with many people, though its still only anecdotal so take that into consideration, most people enjoy a version of a song that made them recognize the song. Which usually means the version of a song that was done in a genre that you already listen to.
Part of this is just what is familiar, and the covers they encounter arent in a style they enjoy anyway so the new versions have a hard time sinking in with people.
I think a good example of this(and its another Leonard Cohen song!) is Everybody knows from Christian Slater movie Pump Up the Volume* and the soundtrack from it.
The main character in the movie uses the Cohen version, or at least a snippit of it, frequently throughout the movie, but the version that is part of the soundtrack is the concrete blonde version. Yes the concrete blonde version is used in the movie, but the Cohen version is the version that is fundamentally connected to the story.
If you are listening to the soundtrack and you are decently familiar with the movie, you will(probably) be left unfulfilled by just listening to the soundtrack. But if you hear the Cohen version on its own sometime, you IMMEDIATELY are reminded of the movie.
At least thats been my experience, and most people ive shared this theory with agree with me. Admittedly more of them than i realize could just be being polite. But i urge anyone who is still reading this unintentional wall of text to watch the movie, listen to the soundtrack then just listen to the cohen version on its own
(which is one of my favourite movies from my teenage years, im quite curious what young people these days would think of it given the ties to the message in that movie and the world we live in with social media, but i digress)
There’s like a thousand covers of this song.
K.D. Langs version was a very popular version for a while as an example
Because ive spoke about this with many people, though its still only anecdotal so take that into consideration, most people enjoy a version of a song that made them recognize the song. Which usually means the version of a song that was done in a genre that you already listen to.
Part of this is just what is familiar, and the covers they encounter arent in a style they enjoy anyway so the new versions have a hard time sinking in with people.
I think a good example of this(and its another Leonard Cohen song!) is Everybody knows from Christian Slater movie Pump Up the Volume* and the soundtrack from it.
The main character in the movie uses the Cohen version, or at least a snippit of it, frequently throughout the movie, but the version that is part of the soundtrack is the concrete blonde version. Yes the concrete blonde version is used in the movie, but the Cohen version is the version that is fundamentally connected to the story.
If you are listening to the soundtrack and you are decently familiar with the movie, you will(probably) be left unfulfilled by just listening to the soundtrack. But if you hear the Cohen version on its own sometime, you IMMEDIATELY are reminded of the movie.
At least thats been my experience, and most people ive shared this theory with agree with me. Admittedly more of them than i realize could just be being polite. But i urge anyone who is still reading this unintentional wall of text to watch the movie, listen to the soundtrack then just listen to the cohen version on its own