Criminal Records #8

'I Will Survive' - Cake

Ah yes, the cover song. The good, the bad and truly criminally ugly. There are plenty of covers in my record collection which I'd class as more than a bit special - The Dismemberment Plan's 'Crush', Nirvana's 'The Man Who Sold The World', Jimi Hendrix's 'Wild Thing' and The White Stripes' 'Death Letter', for instance. There are also a few whose quality is rather less assured - Redd Kross's pop-rock version of 'Dancing Queen' springs to mind. And then there's Cake's gruesome cover of Gloria Gaynor's disco classic 'I Will Survive', the precursor to Destiny's Child's 'Independent Women' and soundtrack to a million girlie nights in and out. The follow-up to the very-fine-indeed single 'The Distance', this was never anything other than a big fucking mistake. You do find yourself repeating the mantra of the title, though: endurance and mental resolve are required just to make it through to the end.