T
here are times when you just
can’t get it right, and then
there are times when you
learn you haven’t been getting it right
your entire life.
This summer I learned the difference
between accuracy and precision. The
lesson came in the form of a centuries-
old folk song. It’s estimated “House of
the Rising Sun” has been covered well
over a hundred times, and I made it my
mission these past few months to find
the very best version.
Copydesk is big on tradition. A
stubborn copy editor is a good copy
editor, and we obstinately stick to our
stylebooks and grammar laws despite
the fact that the greater population
of the world wouldn’t care whether
or not a writer used an extraneous
comma. It’s come to my attention that
in the music world it’s tradition to
think the original is always the best —
pioneering, innovative, uncorrupted by
others’ versions and opinions. What’s
unique about “House of the Rising
Sun” is no one knows the original. In
fact, all recordings today are believed
to be covers, with the first version
sung in a different country, possibly in
a different language, long ago.
The Animals launched the song onto
the global stage in 1964, inspiring
many musicians to lift their voices to
that recognizable A-minor pattern,
including Kesha, Toto, The Dead
South, Hank Williams, Jr. and Bon
Jovi.
Other
artists
decided
to
ditch
the chord pattern and make the
song from scratch, producing truly
unique renditions from a multitude of
genres such as Jimi Hendrix’s
psychedelic rock, Doc Watson’s
bluegrass, Lead Belly’s Delta
blues (titled “In New Orleans”),
Bob Dylan’s folksy Americana,
Jerry Reed’s outlaw country,
Idris Muhammad’s jazzy funk
and Muse’s heavy rock. The list
goes on and on.
One question stuck with me
on this quest to find the best
cover: what’s better, precision
or accuracy? A fascinating query
for a neurotic copy editor. My
job revolves around correcting
style precision and grammar
accuracy, but there was a lot that
had to be analyzed and there was
even more than meets the eye.
I define precision as how close
a song comes to the popular
version by The Animals. This
definition fits the songs by
Kesha, Bon Jovi and the others
who use the same cyclical chord
pattern and forces artists to
emphasize their idiosyncrasies
to
create
a
distinct
sound;
therefore, it’s more about the
artist’s interpretation of the song
rather than a remaking of it.
The version I believe emulates
this the best is an instrumental
version
by
The
Ventures
recorded live in Japan in 1965.
This particular rendition took
the traditional chord pattern
and broke it down throughout
the course of the song until it
is nearly unrecognizable through a
beautiful and unpredictable mess of
guitar riffs.
On the other hand, I define accuracy
as how close the song comes to what’s
believed to be the original lyrics.
Because the song’s oldest published
lyrics
predate
the
song’s
oldest
recording, there is no original music
genre. This definition would include
songs that differed from The Animals’
accustomed rock-and-roll style.
“House of the Rising Sun” has
been recorded in a surprisingly wide
variety of musical genres, and its lyrics
vary from song to song. The oldest
published lyrics, written by Robert
Winslow Gordon in 1925, tell the
story from the perspective of a woman
abused by her husband instead of the
more popular story of a man abused
by life. Nina Simone performed the
original lyrics live at the Village Gate,
New York in 1961 and, in my opinion,
stunningly captured the sorrowful
tale with her soft, longing voice like
no one else. The background noises of
people shuffling around the nightclub
only add to the song’s overwhelming
lonesomeness.
Put
against
one
another,
The
Ventures’ and Nina Simone’s renditions
are almost complete opposites. I am
unable to choose between precision
and accuracy because both yield such
different yet beautiful results. I think
this is an important lesson for all
artists out there, and for all who edit
artists’ work: to focus on perfection
with respect to tradition is quite
limiting. Both songs take something
from the original but end up making
another thing entirely.
This revolt against tradition doesn’t
mean I’m about to toss my stylebook out
the window — we still need coherence
and consistency in our writing — but it
is enough to make me pause. I now find
myself more curious in the reasoning
behind the grammar rules and style
guidelines, and I hope this curiosity
will make me a better editor.
2B
Managing Statement Editor:
Brian Kuang
Deputy Editors:
Colin Beresford
Jennifer Meer
Photo Editor:
Amelia Cacchione
Editor in Chief:
Alexa St. John
Managing Editor:
Dayton Hare
Copy Editors:
Elise Laarman
Finntan Storer
Wednesday, September 5, 2018// The Statement
Copy That: Renditions and traditions
statemen
t
THE MICHIGAN DAILY | SEPTEMBER 5, 2018
BY ELISE LAARMAN, COPY CHIEF
Columbia Graphophone