On my iPod, I have a track called Bachelor(ette) by Voltaire. It’s a cover of the Björk song Bachelorette, and has a totally different feel from the original. It’s not as epic and grandiose as the first version, but it’s just as brooding. I think, the aspect that really transforms Voltaire’s take on the song is how he switched the gender focus on the song. Instead of the song coming from the point of view of a woman receiving, it’s sung from the point of view of a male acting. This is best shown by an example.

“I’m a path of cinders burning under your feet / You’re the one who walks me / I’m your one way street”

became

“You’re a path of cinders burning under my feet / I’m the one who walks you / You’re my one way street”

The change is simple, but the effect is tremendous. It almost makes the song seem a bit more aggressive. Go read the original lyrics and switch the point of view.

So, earlier today, as I was sitting in the streetcar, I was mulling over the effect of this change. My attention went to other Björk songs because I was curious as to whether things would be as dramatic. The one song that generated the weirdest results in my mind was Cocoon off of Vespertine. By changing the song from the female point of view to a male one, the song went from a gentle cooing of a girl and her lover to something a bit more pervy and self-congratulatory.
—–
“Who would have known that a boy like him, after sharing my core would stay going nowhere”

would become…

“Who would have known that a boy like me, after sharing her core would stay going nowhere”
—–
“He slides inside, half awake, half asleep…when I wake up a second time in his arms, gorgeousness! He’s still inside me!”

would become…

“I slide inside, half awake, half asleep…when she wakes up a second time in my arms, gorgeousness! I’m still inside her!”
—–
Now, doesn’t that sounds a whole lot dirtier?

I was just amused by it all.