Covered In Folk: Madonna





Ah, Madonna. Icon of my childhood, tormenter of my taste; a woman who gets little respect from the iconoclasts for her increasingly dated output, though she merits no small stature for her role as the Lady Gaga of our generation, reinventing herself for every tour and album, offering a plethora of feminist pathways in the process.

To be fair, the original material girl is quite talented, in a multitude of arts and genres, and her ongoing insistence on both artistic and economic autonomy, which has made her the best-selling female recording artist of all time, makes her a powerful prototype for the modern post-indie success story. Still, though I respect those who respect her in turn, my own teenage flirtation with the woman was so fleeting, I can barely remember the sense in it. And as far as the folk crowd goes, this distancing has been well within in the mainstream until quite recently indeed.

When back in 2008, I wrote that …the wholesale reinvention which typifies Madonna, both as a musician and a cultural icon, is essentially anathema to the whole authenticity thing that practically defines the folkworld; as such, it’s especially hard to find earnest acoustic covers of Madonna songs, it was true: with the major exception of Through The Wilderness, a deliciously imperfect 2007 indiefolk-and-then-some tribute that scratched the edges of more broad and diverse potential in the songs of the chameleon-esque Ms. M., the coverage canon consisted of punk, electronica, pop, cheese, and a couple of previously-posted covers from male powerhouse popfolkies Ryan Adams (Like A Virgin) and Jack Johnson and G. Love (Holiday), both of whom can be heard laughing their way through their own performances. And the rest of the archive offered little better, either: from John Wesley Harding’s 2005 holiday release of Like A Prayer to Picturehouse’s angsty, whiny 2001 Papa Don’t Preach to the Meat Purveyor’s inevitably yodel-laden bluegrass Madonna medley to to Barenaked Ladies’ oft-bootlegged live cover of Material Girl, for acoustic takes, tongue-in-cheek, it seemed, was the inevitable output.

But time has a way of fuzzing the edges. Here it is 2012, and with Madonna off the charts, her cultural cachet transforms into that of an emeritus. Suddenly, though she has been relegated in real life to a Superbowl halftime nod and gossip page also-ran, she also becomes a revisited songstress worth re-envisioning, her songs ripe for sincerity – and if these relatively recent transformations are any indication, the songbook deserves its newfound respectful treatment. And through it is true that, through this lens, versions which lingered on the edge of validity before now seem fresher, and more real – see, for example, slightly older post-millennial cuts from both Asian uke-and-vox coverband Petty Booka and countryfolkers Texas Lightning below – even in this new context, only a few prove themselves harbingers.

So listen as the spectrum widens, and a broad set of artists transcend nostalgia to give their own earnest voices to the canon of our pop childhoods: from sharp to mellow, glum to gleeful, tender to tense, their bouquets as diverse as fine cheese and aged wines, their tunes and timbres transformed.



…and we’re back! Thanks to all for your patience as we struggled with work, family, personal injury, and the summertime blues over the last two months. Stay tuned for a preview tour of a several great local fall folk and bluegrass festivals and concerts later this weekend!

Category: Madonna 3 comments »

3 Responses to “Covered In Folk: Madonna”

  1. Annie

    Welcome back!
    You have been missed.

  2. A Big Batch of Madonna Covers…Including Reid Jamieson Covering “Borderline” « Rock God Cred

    [...] Click here to go to Cover Lay Down to check a big batch of Madonna covers…”Reid Jamieson covers “Borderline” & “Crazy For You”, Rural Alberta Advantage cover “Live  To Tell”, Laura Bennet covers “La Isla Bonita”, Eef Barzaley covers “Bad Girl”, Clare Burson “Material Girl”, Nikkie Bluhm “Material Girl”, Petty Booka “Material Girl”, Texas Lightning “Like a Virgin”, Lavender Diamond “Like a Prayer”, The Chapin Sisters “Borderline”, and Steve Mason “Borderline” Share this:TwitterStumbleUponFacebookLike this:LikeBe the first to like this. [...]

  3. Birgit

    Thanks. Never thought I’d love to hear Madonna songs ;-)
    Personal injury? I hope all is well with you now.


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