‘September’ Songwriter Addresses Taylor Swift’s ‘Lethargic’ Earth, Wind & Fire Cover
Last month, Taylor Swift tried to gentrify Earth, Wind & Fire’s classic 1978 song “September” and got dragged to smithereens on Twitter.
Swift’s banjo-driven rendition of the E,W&F tune was blander than Karen’s unseasoned potato salad with raisins. Fans were quick to slam the pop singer for not only making a dull version of the song but also changing some of the lyrics.
Songwriter Allee Willis, who co-wrote "September" with the late Maurice White and Al McKay, wasn't a fan of Swift's rendition either but felt that some of the social media uproar over the cover song was a bit too much.
"On the same day things happened in Syria, the FBI broke into Michael Cohen's office...the top-trending topic on Twitter was the Taylor Swift cut of 'September,'" Willis reportedly said during a songs-and-stories performance in her hometown of Detroit on Friday (May 18) [via Billboard].
"I didn't really think she did a horrible job. Yes, I felt it was as lethargic as a drunk turtle dozing under a sunflower after ingesting a bottle of Valium, and I thought it had all the build of a one-story motel, but, I mean, the girl didn't kill anybody," she continued. "She didn't run over your foot. She just cut a very calm and somewhat boring take of one of the peppiest, happiest, most popular songs in history."
Willis was informed of the Swift cover hours before it hit the Internet. At the request of her publicist, she had to release an obligatory statement supporting Swift's rendition. Twenty-four hours later, she woke up to an internet firestorm with people expressing their outrage over Swift's cover song.
Willis also didn't like Swift changing the lyrics as well, but it wasn't a big deal to her.
"Everyone has a right to do with a song what they please, so go on with your own bad self, Taylor Swift," she said. "I'm honored you'd choose to do my song and that it meant enough to you that you wanted to personalize it to the goddamn 28th night of September, that you wanted to cover it with banjo... and that you changed the sacred ba-de-ya to the more Caucasian ah-ah-ah and make it sound more like a field of daffodils than a Soul Train line."
We appreciate Allee Willis' levity on Taylor Swift's epic fail, but let's hope that it doesn't happened again. We don't need our soul classics to be gentrify by sappy pop stars. We are just saying.
Check out Earth, Wind & Fire's classic song below.
Watch Earth, Wind & Fire's "September" Video
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