Fever!

 “Fever,” originally recorded in 1956 by Little Willie John, has been covered by many world renoun singer/song-writers. Peggy Lee, Elvis Presley, Madonna, and Michael Buble, are a few of the big-leaguers who have tasted the “Fever,” but Beyonce recently released her own recording that I think gives the song a whole new heat, if you will. Elvis had it pretty steamy in his 1960 cover, but Beyonce adds another level of vigor and sexuality that may have been a bit too feisty at the time of the song’s original release. Her cover shares the tweaked lyrics of Peggy Lee’s and Elvis Presley’s versions, with verses including the iconic love affairs of Romeo & Juliet, and John Smith & Pocahontas, but in no way does it take away from the song’s original message.

Little Willie John maintains a slightly quicker tempo throughout the song, and sings the lyrics with a moderate intensity and pitch. He is also accompanied by backup singers, layered saxophones, and the occasional dab of piano; providing the timbre with a little more complexity, and giving the song a bit of a noisy quality. I believe Peggy Lee was the first to strip the clutter away from LWJ’s original, to give the song more sizzle; Elvis put a little swing in to it, and Beyonce took it to bedroom.

In Beyonce’s cover, the tempo is taken down a notch, and kind of eases us through the song. She also brings the intensity of the vocals down a bit, along with the pitch, as she almost whispers you straight through to the final beat. The ride becomes ever smoother with a heavy bass line, which was not as prevalent in the original. The timbre is simplified by eliminating the saxophones, back up singers, and piano; by replacing them with finger-snaps (one beat off the bass), and slipping a quick roll of the bongo in right after she seductively exclaims “Fever! ”

The lyrics in this particular version were tweaked a bit, as I mentioned earlier, but the song’s main message stills rings through. In the text, lines like “When you put your arms around me, I get the fever that’s so hard to bare,” and  “I light up when you call my name, and you know I’m gonna treat you right, you give me fever,” when given literal meaning, sound like someone’s in love with a person who has Malaria or the West Nile Virus. Given the fact that no one would sing a hit song about the love of having a fever, an alternate meaning is probably hiding in there somewhere. Regarding Beyonce’s cover; by adding a heavy pluck of the bass, with some jazzy finger snaps, and her sultry whisper; you know the fever is that deep warm feeling, when your heart’s racing as you grab hold of that vixen with whom you’ve waited all week to do the shimmy in the sheets. At least that’s my take on the subtext. In regards to the cover once again; tension builds with each verse. The lyrics pull you along, with the help of that soulful bass, until release! As she exclaims “fever!” and it starts all over again, providing multiple releases in only a few minutes, if only.

If you couldn’t tell, I am a huge fan of the latest cover by miss Beyonce. I think this really captured the entire feel of what LWJ was describing in his original version. Combining all the changes made from the original song, along with the golden voice that is Beyonce, the song gains the hot and sexy vibe it needs, as previously described with the shimmy, and the sheets.