Music may be a universal language, but it's nigh impossible to find a song with lyrics that apply to everyone. Sex is quite possibly the most common barrier. Many songs, (particularly ones about love or sex), are unambiguously addressed to a woman or a man, or specifically sung from a male or female perspective. While it's not uncommon for musicians to perform songs "in-character" rather than as themselves, some people can't accept an artist singing from the viewpoint of a different gender or sexual orientation than their own. So, when covering a song that was originally sung by a member of the opposite sex, what's a singer to do?
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| - Music may be a universal language, but it's nigh impossible to find a song with lyrics that apply to everyone. Sex is quite possibly the most common barrier. Many songs, (particularly ones about love or sex), are unambiguously addressed to a woman or a man, or specifically sung from a male or female perspective. While it's not uncommon for musicians to perform songs "in-character" rather than as themselves, some people can't accept an artist singing from the viewpoint of a different gender or sexual orientation than their own. So, when covering a song that was originally sung by a member of the opposite sex, what's a singer to do?
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| - Music may be a universal language, but it's nigh impossible to find a song with lyrics that apply to everyone. Sex is quite possibly the most common barrier. Many songs, (particularly ones about love or sex), are unambiguously addressed to a woman or a man, or specifically sung from a male or female perspective. While it's not uncommon for musicians to perform songs "in-character" rather than as themselves, some people can't accept an artist singing from the viewpoint of a different gender or sexual orientation than their own. So, when covering a song that was originally sung by a member of the opposite sex, what's a singer to do? Change the lyrics, of course! Most of the time this will entail no more than switching a couple of pronouns or changing "boy" to "girl" (or vice versa) but in some cases it can require a much more extensive rewrite. Another common way of doing this is giving the song a Perspective Flip - i.e. "then he kissed me" becomes "then I kissed her." This can work well in many cases, while sometimes it can seem forced and awkward, sometimes becoming more of a distraction than it would've been if the artist had simply used the original lyrics. It can also come across as Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?, especially if the original version is particularly well known. For obvious reasons, the trope is almost always averted by openly gay artists - and frequently averted by still-closeted ones as well. Not to mention gay artists putting a Gender Flip on the object of a song that is traditionally sung by their gender, in order to accommodate their sexuality. See also The Cover Changes the Meaning, Gender Flip, and Perspective Flip. Double Standard may or may not be involved.
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