Cyber Launch Party Day 12: The Ballad of Vanessa Barneveld

Welcome to Day 12 of the Ballads of Suburbia Cyber Launch Party! For all of the details on the party including guests, the daily contests and the grand prize drawing be sure to read the information at the beginning of Day 1's blog.

Today's Winner:

Each day I am announcing the winner of the contest that was posted one week earlier. Today's winner gets a signed copy of Ballads of Suburbia and some Ballads swag from me! And that winner is... Sab H from blogger! I will email you for your address shortly! Remember to enter last week's contests! Each contests lasts one week!

Now, today's guest blogger is author Vanessa Barneveld!
Vanessa Barneveld lives in Australia. When she's not busy writing YA fiction, she keeps her fingers crossed in the hope that a publishing contract will soon come her way. She's a 2009 finalist in Romance Writers of America's Golden Heart Award for unpublished authors.

You should also know that Vanessa is one of my critique partners. You will find her name in a prominent spot in the Ballads acknowledgments because I really could not have gotten through revisions without her. I think she was emailing me back at 3 am sometimes right before the book was due. And she is an amazingly talented writer in her own right and will no doubt have a publishing deal soon.

Here's Vanessa's ballad:

Congratulations to Stephanie on her sophomore release, BALLADS OF SUBURBIA! (Thanks for inviting me to the party, Steph!) It’s an intense read about a bunch of kids whose stories resemble a ballad. The choruses echo mistakes they make again and again, while in the verses they try to make sense of it all.

To help celebrate the book’s launch, Steph’s asked me to talk about music. The characters in her novel put on acts of bravado but they reveal their true selves in a secret notebook, so I thought it’d be fitting to blog about cover songs.

I was at a gig recently where the band covered a song by a revered artist. This version was so far removed from the original that most people didn’t know it was a cover until the chorus kicked in. One outraged person, a diehard fan of the original, turned to me and said this bordered on blasphemy. But I thought the whole point of covering a song is not to mimic but to put a new interpretation on an old song.

Johnny Cash, whom Liam in BALLADS idolises, did a great cover of U2’s One. While I liked the original, the gravel in Cash’s voice and the sparse guitar makes the song much more compelling.



When Oasis released Wonderwall, buskers on every corner of my home town wailed it out on high rotation. Ryan Adams does a version that Noel Gallagher himself prefers over his own.



Is it a gimmick when a “serious” band covers a frothy pop song? Travis tried it on with Britney Spears’s Hit Me Baby One More Time.

Cowboy Junkies did an ethereal, hypnotic version of the Velvet Underground’s Sweet Jane. They recorded it, along with the album The Trinity Session, with a single microphone in a Toronto church.

In 1980, English band Japan hit Smokey Robinson’s I Second That Emotion with New Wave and lashings of make-up.


Siouxsie and the Banshees put some Beatles fans offside with their version of Dear Prudence, but I actually find it joyous.

And lastly, Fun Boy Three covered Our Lips Are Sealed a couple of years after the Go-Go’s recorded it. Here’s a fantastic live version:


The Model School is a brilliant Australian band that describes their sound as “Casio ‘N Western.” (Okay, I’m biased ‘cause my husband’s in the band, but they honestly are brilliant). They’ve recorded a version of Prince’s Controversy. The band kindly donated their latest EP, plus their album Alarm Clock Radiation and a T-shirt. You could win this entire Model School prize pack by telling me what you think about cover songs—are they blasphemous? A case of one-upmanship? Genuine song interpretation? Wacky novelty? What song would you cover if you were in a band?

Today's Contest:
Well, Vanessa introduced the contest fabulously. You know exactly what to do and what is up for grabs, so comment away. And you'll earn additional entries by blogging/tweeting/etc about this blog or the cyber launch party. Just note your additional entries in your comment. Winner will be chosen at random on Tuesday, August 4.

As for my answer to Vanessa's question. I think it depends on the cover. Johnny Cash definitely does a mean cover. I prefer his version of "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails and listened to it constantly while writing Ballads. I also adore both the Cowboy Junkies and Siouxsie and the Banshees covers that Vanessa reference. When it comes to bands I really adore, I'm extra picky about covers, though. Take the Cure. I've loved them since I was like 10. They are sacred. Put on 311's cover of "Love Song" and I will scream bloody murder. Total blasphemy in my opinion. But Dinosaur Jr's cover of "Just Like Heaven"? That one will probably go on the iPod for my wedding mix. I love the way the chorus is scream-sung. It's all a matter of opinion really, so comment away, I won't judge, even if you feel completely opposite about those Cure covers.

Tomorrow's Guest:

Well, tomorrow the guest will be me. I want a chance to talk about an issue that is very close to my heart in this book and I'll be giving out another copy of it and some taffy! So please come back and visit! Deliciousness!