In the spirit of that cover of the Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me Baby” from a few years ago that replaced all the lyrics with “you were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar,” here’s something we thought our Detroit-area readers might appreciate.
It’s a cover of John Mellencamp’s 1982 hit “Jack & Diane,” except most most of the lyrics have been replaced with the song’s iconic if a bit disturbing line, “suckin’ on a chili dog.”
The weird cover was preformed by New York-based Tom McGorvern, who recently posted the song on Twitter, where it went viral. However, others pointed out that a performer named Clownvis (an Elvis-themed clown known as “The King of Clowns”) had been doing a similar cover “for years.”
“I would never, EVER intentionally steal another artist’s bit,” McGovern wrote on YouTube. “Rather than leaving more angry comments, I ask you to consider that two creators can arrive at similar (dumb) ideas independently.”
He added, “Thank you for watching this stupid shit!! I hope it brings you a bit of joy amid the madness!”
Anyway, enjoy the cover below.
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This article appears in Feb 17-23, 2021.
