Blog #5

Song Deconstruction

I Won't Back Down Original- Tom Petty

I Won't Back Down Cover- John O'Callaghan

I Wont' Back Down Original- Tom Petty Listening Framework

I Won't Back Down Cover- John O'Callaghan Listening Framework

The song I choose to compare and contrast would be, I Won’t Back Down by both Tom Petty and John O’Callaghan.  The original version by Petty came out in 1989 on his solo album, Full Moon Fever. O’Callaghan’s cover of the song though came out a couple of years ago. Obliviously there is a long period of time between both songs which makes them display a very different style. Even though both have different styles, with their lyrics they both express the same thing.   In the song they are both telling themselves they won’t back down no matter what happens or where they end up.  The each show their emotion by being intense in their tone of voice. Both artists succeed in wanting you to listen to this song and learn more about what their trying to tell the listeners.  Both songs are organized the same way as well. Each starts off with a guitar and lead into the voice of both artists.  After that, instrumentation is added contributing to the grove of each song. Although there are many similarities about both of these songs there are also very different.  Petty has a very high complexity level while O’Callaghan leans towards a very simple complexity. The organization tells a lot of the timbre when it comes to these songs. The guitar is introduced in both songs leading to the voice, to the chorus, and then to a guitar solo.  Although they are set up the same way, the layers of instruments make the timbre level different. The pitch of both songs also becomes very high, especially when the guitar is added to the mix.  It also is very high when the singer raises his voice in parts of each song. Also, while the tempo in the original version of Petty’s song is fast pace, O’Callaghan slowed it down and made it his own style.  Personally I like both songs the same. They each have certain characteristics that make them unique and always keep me coming back over and over to play them one more time.