I'm Sorry, I Couldn't Hear You Over Your Misguided Musical Taste

I’m Judging You: You think the Glee version of [insert Broadway song] is better than the original version

If you know me well (alright, if you know me at all!), then you know that I love Glee. The music is a lot of fun, and the plot is corny as hell… it’s pretty much the perfect storm of mindless television. Still, there’s one thing that I cannot wrap my mind around, and that is people thinking that the Glee version of a Broadway song is better than the original. I’m not saying that the Glee cast cannot sing, or that they don’t do a good job, but you have to realize that, in making such a claim, you are admitting two things: 1) you know nothing about music, and 2) you need your opinion-making power on music revoked.

Full disclosure: This started off as a post about thinking any Glee song was better than the original, but I soon remembered that Lea Michele covered “Take a Bow,” and to the contrary of the rest of this post, if you don’t think she sings it better than Rhi Rhi, there’s something wrong with you.

Here’s the general trend for songs: Songs from musicals >>> Glee songs >>> generic pop songs. There’s a fourth category of “classic” songs, but those don’t have a concrete place in the trend chart because they can be hit or miss.

If you look up any song from a musical that was covered by Glee on YouTube, though, you will undoubtedly see a debate in the comments about which version is better. All that these debates tell me is that the next generation lacks any sense of musical taste. Though, to be fair, I could have gleaned that from the fact that they all are currently obsessed with Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, and Ke$ha. Here are two reasons why your arguments are not valid:

1.  And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going: Amber Riley vs. Jennifer Holliday. I’m going to go ahead and pretend that this wasn’t even a question. Listen to both versions, because you clearly haven’t if you think Glee did it better.

2. Rose’s Turn: Chris Colfer vs. Bette Midler/Ethel Merman/Bernadette Peters? Really? I’m not saying Chris and Amber don’t do well in their versions of these songs, but just that they’re like amateur hour when it comes to these songs.

I could probably write an entire book about why today’s music trends are awful and why people should be judged for them, but I’ll leave it here with a cursory glance at all the people who use Glee as a springboard to “explore” new music. I wouldn’t be surprised if half of them think Glee did it first. And for that, I judge you.