Battle of the Bands ~ I Won't Back Down

For those of you who participate in the IWSG (Insecure Writer's Support Group), you know that everyone posts on the first Wednesday of the month. If you have considered posting, but haven't for whatever reason, I encourage you to follow the link and sign up. This week the first Wednesday is this Wednesday.

And I fully intend to participate this month since I totally forgot last month and didn't.

But, Battle of the Bands also posts on the 1st and that leaves me with a dilemma. I want to give EVERYONE a chance to find this post and vote before I cover it up with my IWSG post.

So, I am posting Battle of the Bands early AGAIN in an effort to avoid conflict with the IWSG post.

It is my fervent hope that this Battle of the Bands leaves you feeling conflicted about which song is better. I love BOTH versions of this song and feel conflicted about my own vote. Since I do love them both I will do something I normally don't and tell you what I love about each one.

The song is I Won't Back Down. It was a hit for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers from their Full Moon Fever album. At the risk of giving away my age (like it is a big secret), I will tell you that I owned this one on cassette tape. I think I wore the tape out on this cassette. Yeah, that means I really liked it. Every track on this one was amazing. Just loved loved loved it. I Won't Back Down might have been my favorite track of all of them. I really liked this song. I still really like this song as recorded by Tom Petty. The lyrics are something I can get behind and the tempo of the song makes you want to rock out. Or maybe wave a sign around. Whatever. Most of you will know it, but here it is...




I think that I heard the Ryan Star cover of this version as background music to a TV show that I like. I honestly cannot recall which one. I do know that I was so enamored of the song that I backed up and watched that section several times so that I could tune out the dialogue and just listen to the song. Then, I searched for it on YouTube. It is a much slower version with a more piano/acoustic feel. It is the metal fist (of the first version) wrapped in a velvet glove. I think what it is going to come down for YOU is if you like it hard and fast or delivered with a more delicate touch.

Here is Ryan Star and I Wont Back Down...




I can imagine the Tom Petty version as the one that brings people to their feet and shake their fist in the air. The Ryan Star version is the one makes people hold up cigarette lighters and might even make a few sentimental souls shed a tear. Like I said earlier... it is a matter of preference... do you like it hard and fast or tender and slow? Yeah, I will be taking notes on your votes since I think this says a lot about you. :D


Tomorrow, the rest of the Battle of the Bands are going to roll out. I hope that you will take a few minutes and visit them. Every single participant posts TOTALLY DIFFERENT MUSIC for their battles and I find that fascinating. Plus, you might discover some really cool tunes you've never heard before!

Faraway Series

FERRET-FACED FASCIST FRIENDS

Tossing It Out

DiscConnected

Donna Hole

Seriously please tell me at length what you think about BOTH versions because I love it when you give me long comment. In this case, there really is no *wrong* answer.

For My Weary Heart

There is so much BIG stuff going on right now.  In the world at large.  And even in my tiny little world.  It feels like this enormous weight and pressure.  Do you feel it, too?

Last week, at the end of Grey's Anatomy, they had a song playing softly in the background, underscoring the dialogue.  It was a remake of Tom Petty's song "I Won't Back Down."  Man, I have always loved that song.  It was on his Full Moon Fever album back in the 80s.  I think that was one of those cassettes that I had that I played until it didn't play right anymore.  You know how that goes.  It kind of squeals in places because the tape has become too thin from over usage.  I loved that entire tape.  I could sing the whole thing side one and two.  I even liked all the b-songs.  Great album.

So, you can imagine that I would expect to HATE a remake of this song.  Just like I groan whenever they remake an 80s movie, and I start cursing at the trailer.  And then I stomp around the room for about ten minutes, and do a full-on rant that if they can't come up with any new ideas, they shouldn't mess with greatness.  And that leads to if they ever remake The Breakfast Club I will seriously hurt someone.  As in seriously.

I think I have digressed.

Anyway, I was stunned.  Awed.  In thrall.  I love this song.  I spent the next day trolling youtube in order to find the artist who remade the song.  It actually didn't take that long.  What I like about this song is that it isn't just a copy.  Ryan Star took this song and made it his own.  Instead of rocking it out Tom Petty-style (which I still love), he broke it down and laid it bare.  It is just him, a piano, and his guitar.  So, the words are that much more powerful.  Everything I loved about the song before, I love one hundred times more in this version. Why?  Because I feel it in my soul.  It makes me cry.  This song is a like a gift to my weary heart.