Several years ago, I covered the Smiths song “Girlfriend in a Coma” because I am a big fan of Morrissey and an even bigger fan of guitarist Johnny Marr. I went ahead and posted the song on my MySpace page (don’t look for it- it’s not there anymore) and got a variety of responses. First off, some girl got confused and started messaging me, excited that I was opening up for Morrissey. I was not. But I went on a few dates with her anyway. A few weeks passed and I forgot all about the song. I then got a series of messages from some radio friends in the U.K. explaining to me that “no matter how bad things seem right now, it will get better”. Several more messages came in, explaining that I’m “not the only one going through a rough time”, etc etc. So I finally get back to these folks and assure them that I’m just fine, and they told me they read all my posts and thought my girlfriend was in a coma. So for anybody reading this: my girlfriend is indeed not comatose, and that’s only the name of the Smiths song.
In the past year, I’ve rounded up a few cover songs that I had recorded and decided to give them a new life by creating videos for them. The songs get a breath of fresh air, people that missed them the first time around get to hear them, and I can win the hearts and minds of YouTubers looking for adaptions of their favorite bands.
I’m an on-and-off member of a stock video-footage site, and found a bunch of videos of unnecessarily cute young girls eating things. I edited several of these clips together, thinking it was a totally absurd complement to the Girlfriend in a Coma lyrics. There are several cuts that last longer than they should, and that’s on purpose. The models are obviously told to preen and look innocent. The longer the clip goes, the longer the model has to make like it’s normal to chew a slice of bread while smiling at a camera for 17 seconds straight. It’s almost as if the model is laughing along with the viewer about how ridiculous the whole thing is.
Since I’ve been playing open mics lately, I have been learning new cover songs to pepper my little sets. It’s not inconceivable that I’ll go the extra step and record one. Have a cover song idea for me? Let me know in the comments! And again, my girlfriend is fine.
