I wouldn't want to say that I thought one version was "better" than another, given I respect both people. Bob Dylan's will always be special as he wrote it, and he called to my generation in a special way. I'm seeing him on tour this November, and I hope he sings it then.
But Bob's voice was not what made the songs special to us, it was what they conveyed, how they reached out to us. Meat's voice is imo vastly superior, so judged just in terms of how the song sounds, there'd be no contest.
I hate it when a performer does a cover of an original song and fails to do it justice. Let's just say that for me Meat does this song justice in spades :)
It also takes on an additional meaning when delivered now by someone of my generation after 26 years of stage performances. When I first heard Forever Young the message was delivered to the young looking forward. When I hear Meat sing it today I hear someone calling to people in their fifties as well asking them to hold on to their inner child despite the advancing years .. and it seems a sweet and comforting adieu from a man who knows he is in the rich, fruitful September if his life, but who is determined to hold on to his youthful enthusiasm and zest for life and is hoping that I will too :)
So, sung by Meat the song has a new and special meaning. Neither is "better" than the other to me, but each is very, very precious in its own way
|