3A - Demo and Written exploration of Cover Songs

Cold as Ice

By B.o.B.

No Genre

Cold as Ice

By Foreigner

Foreigner

For this blog, I chose the song Cold as Ice, originally by Foreigner, but later covered by B.o.B. The original version came out in 1977, while the B.o.B. cover came out in 2010. Though this song is a cover, it is very different then the original. First off, the Foreigner version's genre is classic rock, while the B.o.B. version is hip-hop/rap. What I notice first is a difference in lyrics in the chorus and the verses:

Foreigner - "You're as cold as ice; you're willing to sacrifice our love. You never take advice; someday you'll pay the price I know."

B.o.B. - "You're as cold as ice; you're willing to sacrifice our love. And now you got me froze, I said you got me froze, because you're so c-cold, you left me cold tonight."

This difference in lyrics occurs throughout the song as Foreigner sings about a gold-digging girl who leaves when her man runs out of money; while B.o.B. songs about a girl who gave him up to the cops. Two totally different stories for one similar song.

Next, I examined the melody, as this too is noticeably different:

Foreigner - created the original melody

B.o.B. - changes the melody - starts the song with a different sound of piano and added a synthesizer, he added a beat to go with the melody, and lastly changed most of the chorus, keeping the main "cold as ice" tune the same, but changing the latter part of the chorus.

Then, I looked at the quality of both pieces - and within that quality, I specifically examined Pitch and Organization. When I looked at this, I noticed that these were the most different elements of the song; basically both were opposite of the other song:

Foreigner - their pitch was low at the piano part; however the pitch was high in the vocals. The organization was ordered - started with the chorus, went into a verse, then back to a chorus, then instrumental. They basically just repeated the same lyrics throughout.

B.o.B. - his version had a higher pitched piano as the melody then Foreigner's, but a lower pitched chorus. Then in the organization, he started with a verse, went to a chorus, then back to the verse, chorus, and then into a vocal transition. He really told a story in his version. He also changed the lyrics in the chorus, as I mentioned before, therefore having a create a new organization for the song in that aspect.

I furthered my examination into analyzing the lyrics. Though they were contrasting in the literal text, I could find the affinity of the songs within the subtext. As I said before, Foreigner was singing about a a gold-digging girl, and repeated all their lyrics; while B.o.B. told a story about a girl who gave the narrator up to the cops. Yes, these are very different, but when looking at what the song is about, the subtext, the affinity can be discovered - that the songs are about men whose hearts are broken because of their girls. B.o.B. decided to keep the lyric "cold as ice" with the same meaning Foreigner presented it.