Exploration of a Cover Song

REM's "It's The End Of The World"

Covered by Great Big Sea:

I really like both versions of this song.  I happened to hear Great Big Sea's version first, and only later became aware that REM wrote the original.

The obvious difference between the two is the speed.  Great Big Sea sings the song very fast, making it hard to understand exactly what they're saying.  But, it also increases the intensity of the song, by making it seem more frantic and unorganized.  I had become used to this by the time I heard the original by REM, so the original by contrast seemed slow and plodding.  I felt a song about the end of the world should be fast and frantic, because that's what I assume the end of the world will be like; lots of tension, with the release coming only at the end.  The Great Big Sea version provides this, while the original by REM does not.

However, the original has a sense of organization that Great Big Sea's doesn't have.  It's sung slow enough to understand, and never feels like it's going out of control.  The timbre is, as a result, different between the two versions.  Great Big Sea's version is noisy and hectic; it sounds "fuller" than the original, which has an emptier feeling.

If I had to pick one as my preferred version, I'd have to go with Great Big Sea's, simply because it was the one I had heard first.  I became used to it, so the original felt "off" to me.  However, they're both great songs, and I could listen to either if I had to.