Barnett-free

Have you ever heard a cover and thought it was the original? And then heard the original and thought it was a cover? Like when I was a kid and I thought "Big Yellow Taxi" was by Counting Crows, because that was the version I heard on the radio all the time.

Well, until this week I thought "Everything is Free" was by Sylvan Esso, and that Gillian Welch had done a folksy cover. Then I was listening to a playlist of music from the aughts, and the Gillian Welch version came on, which prompted me to search the song and realize that not only is Welch's the original — a Napster lament — but the song is now enjoying a renaissance in myriad cover versions, now repurposed as a Spotify lament.

I can get a tip jar
Gas up the car
And try and make a little change
Down at the bar
Or I can get a straight job
I done it before
Never minded working hard
It's who I'm working for

Workers' complaints never lose relevance. The Courtney Barnett version might be my favorite.