I’m not a fan of ironic covers in principle, but I don’t think this one is ironic. When I saw on Idolator this afternoon that Tori Amos covered Britney Spears’ song “…Baby One More Time“, I was anxious to race home to listen to it. Overall, I like it; this track, more than any other in Spears’ catalogue lends itself to being covered by singer-songwriters because the simplistic lyrics can be slowed down and sound earnest with the right singer. I do agree with Idolator’s Maura Johnston that the cover would be improved if Amos left the bridge intact. Here, though, Amos’s strong, but vulnerable, voice contrasts nicely with a song whose multi-layered pop production renders it almost flawless.
Here’s Amos covering “…Baby One More Time” from Monday night:
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozt1Uf-UBPc]While poking around on YouTube, I ran across this very short interview with Amos, talking about my favorite Britney Spears song, “Toxic”, where she calls it “the worst piece of crap” and added “whoever wrote that should be fucking shot.” I’m not going to argue with her about the mixture of the harmony on top of the melody or the production values because, well, I’m just not going to.
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8HfH2D9JMI]{Photo by Hot Avocados Photography}