Authenticity, Appropriation, Signification

Abstract

This paper studies alternative artist Tori Amos’s cover versions of two original performances by Billie Holiday and Eminem. The narrative perspectives and musical structures of the original songs offer great potential to explore questions of authenticity, appropriation, and intertextuality, and Amos’s distinctive revisions of the songs encourage reflection on her Signifyin(g) practices. The song “Strange Fruit” marked a shift in Billie Holiday’s musical style and social consciousness. Her recording (1939) of this emotionally powerful song about the lynching of a black man is upheld as the benchmark (“authentic”) version of that song. Over five decades later (1994), Tori Amos expresses a powerful commitment to the style and social message of Holiday’s original, yet her musical presentation is not merely historical tribute; rather, Amos Signifies on the older text to offer a contemporary statement on race and violence. Eminem’s song, “‘97 Bonnie and Clyde” (1999) exposes the problematic theme of violence against women. In her version (2001), Tori Amos appropriates Eminem’s lyrics, but casts a new perspective over the narrative by assuming the voice of the murdered woman. This paper analyzes the originals and covers using an interpretive framework that focuses on the voice as the site and vehicle of an artist’s Signifyin(g) expression.