♫♪  Rats on Rafts - “Some Velvet Morning”

Lee Hazlewood’s mean streak, in lyrics, against women he often perceived as alien, was best tempered when tackled or complemented by Nancy Sinatra. In Los Angeles Magazine’s recent interview celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of “These Boots Are Made for Walkin,’” Nancy tells us that Lee told her “‘It’s not really a girl’s song,’” and Nancy, in return “told him that coming from a guy it was harsh and abusive, but was perfect for a little girl to sing.” If pop was religion, tell the gods thanks that “Boots” didn’t end up a little boy’s song.

Rats on Rafts’ cover of “Some Velvet Morning” has no nymphed-up Phaedra to temper Hippolytus, who, in Lee’s variation on the Greek tragedy, seems to insinuate, with his talk of “opening gates” and “making it in,” that Phaedra’s accusations may have been true. Instead, Nancy Sinatra’s half of the duet, Phaedra’s half, is mocked, the light and daffodils replaced with tube amp spring reverb feedback and screechy steroidal male shouting. If pop songs were hymns, it would be irreverent. The hot strong motoric cover is so unlike its progenitor that it may as well be an original. It would sit better as a stand-alone, looking to its own laurels rather than resting on Lee’s. As a cover, it’s a cheap laugh, a little boy’s song.

Chocolate Grinder

CHOCOLATE GRINDER is our audio/visual section, with an emphasis on the lesser heard and lesser known. We aim to dig deep, but we’ll post any song or video we find interesting, big or small.

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