By the way, you can also find this out for any other song by going to the song page on this site and clicking "Lyrics" - it will list the original performer.
god dammit. I said it was. everyone else said it wasnt.
my understanding now was that it was just an old chaingang tune and that's where the chorus came form and about 100 other bands/musicians have written songs and covered songs called JTR, but dave's music and lyrics are original.
god dammit. I said it was. everyone else said it wasnt.
my understanding now was that it was just an old chaingang tune and that's where the chorus came form and about 100 other bands/musicians have written songs and covered songs called JTR, but dave's music and lyrics are original.
yes, no?
John The Revelator is an old folk song written and performed by Blind Willie Johnson (one of the first prominent black musicians) in the 1930's. Dave's version is close enough to it to be called a cover. Note that JTR is a different song from John The Revelator, and the lyrics have changed a bit (the most notable change is that the phrase "John The Revelator" in the chorus doesn't appear in JTR). The music may differ a bit from what Blind Willie Johnson played, as do a lot of DMB's other covers, but they're still definitely covers.
god dammit. I said it was. everyone else said it wasnt.
my understanding now was that it was just an old chaingang tune and that's where the chorus came form and about 100 other bands/musicians have written songs and covered songs called JTR, but dave's music and lyrics are original.
yes, no?
John The Revelator is an old folk song written and performed by Blind Willie Johnson (one of the first prominent black musicians) in the 1930's. Dave's version is close enough to it to be called a cover. Note that JTR is a different song from John The Revelator, and the lyrics have changed a bit (the most notable change is that the phrase "John The Revelator" in the chorus doesn't appear in JTR). The music may differ a bit from what Blind Willie Johnson played, as do a lot of DMB's other covers, but they're still definitely covers.
where were you when everyone pounced on me saying it wasn't a cover?
it was my fault, i never payed attention to the differences between JTR and John the Revelator.
I actually think i've heard JTR only a handfull of times when driving and wasnt paying attention.
why couldnt they name it somethign else to avoid the confusion.
I'm not sure. Although I was a somewhat incorrect - it does look like the lyrics and music were pretty significantly changed from the "original" in the 1930's, but I would still classify "John The Revelator" as a cover. JTR is not.
bbatsell wrote:I'm not sure. Although I was a somewhat incorrect - it does look like the lyrics and music were pretty significantly changed from the "original" in the 1930's, but I would still classify "John The Revelator" as a cover. JTR is not.
i dont have either song to listen to right now at work. all I can remember in my head is their choruses. Are the songs similar musically or melody wise? or are they completely unrelated.
John The Revelator and JTR? The music is pretty much identical. Just sing JTR with "who's that writing / john the rev-el-a-tor" over and over in the chorus
I thought that the Burger King song with Darius from Hootie was a real song when it's actually a parody of an old bluegrass standard called Big Rock Candy Mountain so I can feel your pain.
~ And rain washed away all her tears and I smiled done away was the sum of all my fears ~
no idea - when was this?