As the world still mourns the loss of musical giants Tony Bennett and Sinéad O’Connor, each representing artistry and talent so unique, we’re again reminded of the gift of recorded music and its ability to capture the great voices of our time, as well as the great musicians, arrangers, producers, engineers, and - importantly - songwriters. In Bennett and O’Connor we have two voices from two different backgrounds and generations, who used their gifts to take the works of others and mold them into their own art and message.
As Neal Shah of the Wall Street Journal wrote “It was in part Bennett’s careful, intelligent selection of the standards he chose to interpret that helped him forge such a long-lasting career.”
With the complete Great American Songbook as his architectural blueprint, Bennett constructed masterpieces for decades on end. His final chapter, a radical collaboration with Lady Gaga, covering songs such as “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” and “The Lady is a Tramp” won them a Grammy. I was fortunate to see these songs immortalized in a final concert filmed at Radio City Music Hall in 2021–serving as the latest reminder of the timelessness of these works.
While Sinead’s own songwriting career is, itself, worthy of celebration, two of her most memorable moments come from interpretation of other works; first, her career-defining interpretation of “Nothing Compares 2 U” in 1990, an otherwise little-known song from a Prince side-project that had yet to find an audience until O’Connor co-produced and performed what continues to be one of the most popular power ballads of all time, and secondly, her brave a capella read of Bob Marley’s ‘War’, itself with music written by Carlton Barrett and lyrics taken from a speech by Haile Selassie and rewritten by O’Connor to rage against child abuse.
As we consider the impact of these two extraordinary vocalists, what’s fascinating to see happen is the emergence of what we might call Modern American Standards having their own cultural moment.
This year, Luke Combs’s version of Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car has already ignited a new audience to a song already powerful to millions of Gen X’ers who felt its impact when it was first released in 1988. The fact that it resulted in the first Black woman songwriter to top country music charts is further cause for celebration and recognition.
Simultaneously, as Barbie emerges as the most popular film of 2023, it shares the spotlight with “Closer to Fine,” The Indigo Girls’ 1989 breakthrough hit woven throughout the film. With three uses sung by Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling and a new version on the soundtrack by Brandi and Catherine Carlile, the timeless message of the song lives on.
At Downtown, we’re proud to have icons of the Modern Standard to share. Between Natalie Merchant, Tori Amos, Josh Ramsay, John Prine and many others, we’re excited to see where the next moment of recognition for the incredible craft of songwriting emerges.
Jedd Katrancha is the Chief Commercial Officer of Downtown Music Publishing. Most recently he was invited to contribute to the Billboard article Subscriptions & Synchs Show Sustained Strength — But They Come With Caveats.
