Cover vs. Original

'97 Bonnie & Clyde


In 'Strange Little Girls' Tori Amos performed 12 covers originally created by men, hearing the songs from her female point of view is the point of this not so understood album.
Tori surprised a lot of her fans by this cover of Eminem's song. The two artist can't be more distinguished then one another, but in her cover for "97 Bonnie & Clyde' Tori proved once again that her female point of view can make a song's meaning different.
While Eminem's original is a rap version and "I killed you mother, and we're going to drown her together, my little girl" is an exquisite choice of words, rimes and narrative, Tori gives this terrific song a thriller touch. In her cover, the aggressive rap is turned into a frantic-crazed talk of the father to his daughter, trying to convince her nothing is wrong, while the mother is lying dead in the trunk of their car. The added violins give a 'Psycho' edge to this cover version, differentiating it from the 'f*** You' attitude Eminem has, transforming this jewel (that Eminem created in his elaborated and amazing mind) into a Masterpiece!

- Yuval Ben-Hillel, Tel-Aviv, Israel, 17.11.2005


Tori Amos
2001

vs.

Eminem
1999

CD-Cover: Tori Amos - Strange Little Girls 62.1 % 37.9 % CD-Cover: Eminem - The Slim Shady LP
Results of the voting: Cover versus Original
Click on the cover for listening Click on the cover for listening
Tori Amos 2373 Votes Eminem

Comments about '97 Bonnie & Clyde:

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Em's version all the way! Tori gives it a mood that is unecessary to the song's subject.It was meant as a rap song, not a campfire story.
- Keaton, P-town, United States, 08.11.2008
tori is a fuckin nut winged psycho. Em went through some rough times && need to vent. tori just decided to be a bitch and jump on his case for nothing. all he did was talk about killing his wife.is that so much poison. i guess it would have been better if he just went ahead and did that way he wasnt telling thousands of people. it doesnt make any sense. he was venting his anger. im sure tori wanted to kill the guy who rapped her or someone at one point and time. Em writes what you think..ADMIT IT!! ppl are just mad cuz he had the ball to say and && made millions of dollars doing so. the man is a fuckin genuis. he pretty much published a diary and the world ate that shit up. tori needs calm down. if she doesnt like em..dnt listen to his music. but dnt make a fool of yourself by trying to make him look bad cuz it doesnt work. kim has a voice..she can speak for herself
- Lady's lady, Ktown, United States, 22.10.2008
Em is cool, but I gotta give it to Tori. As she wrote in the liner notes for SLG, the murdered woman in the trunk of the car needs to be given voice - so she did.
- Kseniya, Boston, United States, 02.08.2008
Em is cool, but I gotta give it to Tori. As she wrote in the liner notes for SLG, the murdered woman in the trunk of the car needs to be given voice - so she did.
- Kseniya, Boston, United States, 02.08.2008
original is better, you can hear the hurt in his voice, but then again u do not take the song literaly. btw he keeps on making music and his album will come out soon.
and the only reason i found out about Tori is because of Em. she is not bad thou, but in my opinion original is better
- lala, moskva, Other, 31.05.2008
Personally im not really into eminem but i will say that its a good song. I love Tori her songs have so much meaning, and to all you rappers out there she does like to add in a f*** every now and then. Mainstream listeners are not able o respect Tori's version as it is too hardcore, therefore they dismiss tori for being a 'ginger'(idiots) because she covered a rap song and changed it. In one way I feel sorry for Eminem because Toris version is better and I'd hate that to happen to me. His version is more fun slash than serious.
- Andrew, Limerick, Ireland, 13.12.2007
Tori's intention was to tell the story from the perspective of the woman in the trunk. She said she wasn't personally attacking Eminem by recording the song, but when she explained the song in the press, you could tell that she was pretty pissed that an artist would put a song like this out for the world to groove to.

In the long run, Eminem's shocking, loose cannon bit wore him out. Where is he now? Hiding out in his huge Detroit mansion, surfacing every now and again to serve as producer and hype man on tired club hits, rapping about moshing and strippers. Yawn.

On the other hand, you've got Tori Amos, who continues to make music, keeping her following engaged and expanding her catalog of work.

As for '97 Bonnie and Clyde, Tori's version is superior but it bears much more resonance as a response to the Em's version than as a stand alone song-- and particularly holds some weight when paired with "Strange Little Girl", another song she recorded as a story about the daughter in the front seat of the car:

"Walking home in a wrapped up world/she survived but she's feeling old/'cause she found all things cold."


- Brian Otano, Brooklyn, United States, 07.11.2007
Looks like people forgot who the original make of this song was.... gainsbourg!
- Simon, New York, United States, 17.10.2007
Eminem's brilliance found it's female counterpart, I think, in Amos's cover. They are both original and cutting edge. Eminem's song is cathartic for men as Amos's is for women. It's like a lovers' dialogue.
- D., Nebraska City, United States, 30.09.2007
I personally can't stand the origional artist...
- rae_rae, Brownwood, United States, 10.12.2006
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