My loving girlfriend decided to treat me to a weekend away in Cork to celebrate my birthday. On Friday night we went to see Jinx Lennon - mad Dundalk guy who sings brilliant songs about the assorted nut jobs roaming the streets of Dundalk. Reminds me a lot of Mark E Smith.

On Saturday night we went to see, of all things, a Metallica tribute band. Surreal but hugely enjoyable. I'm pleased to be able to report that despite my advancing years, I can still mosh.  Sad but true.

And now a question of philosophy. Trees falling unheard in forests etc. is all very well, but here's a riddle for the Cluas collective.

Metallica once recorded a cover of Whiskey in the Jar and frequently perform it live.

So here's the question.

If a Metallica tribute band play Whiskey in the Jar....are they covering Metallica or Thin Lizzy ?????? (I'm not forgetting that Whiskey in the Jar is a trad. arr. song and not a Lizzy original.)

Let's see you ponder that one, o wise denizens of Cluas.    

If they were acting like fops and wiggling their arses at Michael Jackson, then they were covering Jarvis's version.

I suppose it becomes more an interpretation than a cover doesn't it? Although, thinking about it, seeing as they were a Metallica tribute band, it was must be a Metallica cover, no? Maybe it's one of those songs, like Hallelujah, that each person who covers it adds something different to the original (both different good and different bad).

Posted By Idiot Kid on 24 Jun 2009 01:44 AM

I suppose it becomes more an interpretation than a cover doesn't it? Although, thinking about it, seeing as they were a Metallica tribute band, it was must be a Metallica cover, no? Maybe it's one of those songs, like Hallelujah, that each person who covers it adds something different to the original (both different good and different bad).