Covering Cover, Goo Goo G'joob
As I was driving back home last night, I heard a version of a song I had never heard before—The Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus” by Jim Carrey. I don’t know why I hadn’t heard this cover before. After all, it was recorded in back in 1998, which, by that time, Carrey already starred in The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, and The Truman Show.
If you’re not familiar with The Beatles' “I Am the Walrus,” the song is filled with nonsense lyrics that John Lennon wrote during several acid trips to mess with the heads of scholars trying to dissect The Beatles songs. “I Am the Walrus” has spawned unforgettable lyrics like “I am the egg man” and “Goo goo g'joob.”
The Beatles’ version is already mind-bending musically. But Jim Carrey’s version adds a completely different dimension to the lyrically obscure classic—and it completely works. Carrey adds a comedic component throughout “I Am the Walrus” that almost makes it seem like Lennon intended it.
I usually don’t like covered songs, especially by artists who do little to change the original version, like Weezer’s “Africa” or Guns N’ Roses' “Live and Let Die.” Sure, those are great versions, but except for the different vocals, they do little to make the classics their own.
That’s what makes Carrey’s cover of “I Am the Walrus” so wonderful. He owned it and made it his, with all his quirkiness and irreverence. At the end of the song, he injects, “I did it! I’ve defiled a timeless piece of art. For my next trick, I’ll paint a clown face on the Mona Lisa while using the Shroud of Turin as a drop cloth!”
So, let’s discuss “cover,” in the context of contracts, which was tested in on the Multistate Essay Examination in February 2022.
Cover refers to an act to mitigate damages by a buyer when there has been a breach of a contract by a seller. It usually refers to a situation where a seller has agreed to sell goods to a buyer and fails to perform.
In the case of cover, the buyer is entitled to the difference between the contract price and the cost of buying replacement goods, plus incidental and consequential damages, but less any expenses saved due to the breach by the seller.
Incidental damages typically include expenses reasonably incurred by a buyer in inspection, receipt, transportation, care, and custody of goods rightfully rejected and other expenses reasonably incident to the seller’s breach, and by the seller in storing, shipping, returning, and reselling the goods as a result of the buyer’s breach.
Consequential damages are special damages and reflect losses over and above standard expectation damages. They arise because of the nonbreaching party’s particular circumstances, and most often they consist of lost profits. These damages may be recovered only if, at the time the contract was made, a reasonable person would have foreseen the damages as a probable result of a breach.
If the buyer chooses the cover measure, the buyer must make a reasonable contract for substitute goods in good faith and without unreasonable delay.
Okay, enough with the law. Here some of my favorite covers where the artists reimagined the originals:
Miley Cyrus – “My Way” (original by Frank Sinatra)
Emily Brown – “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” (original by the Eurythmics)
Kygo and Whitney Houston – “Higher Love” (original by Steve Winwood)
Tina Turner – “Help!” (original by The Beatles)
Paul Anka – “Eye of the Tiger” (original by Survivor)
What are some of your favorites?
