Now Hear This

You know how there are songs you hear that either remind you of an occasion in your life?  Then there are other songs that remind you of where you first heard them, or that stir up some kind of memory that makes you smile.  For example, when I hear the song "Don't You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds, I automatically think, "The Breakfast Club!"  Or when I hear Haddaway's "What Is Love" I want to nod my head like the Roxbury guys from Saturday Night Live.  I also think of the Diet Pepsi Max commercial that was made for a recent Superbowl, cleverly taking the Roxbury nod and adding the tag line "Wake Up People".  And at the end of that commercial we have Chris Kattan yelling "Stop It!" 

I could go on and on with examples, but you get my point.  Which brings me to the song "Forever" by Chris Brown.  I first heard it on the famous Wedding Entrance Dance,  which went so viral on youtube that it was recreated for the Today Show Plaza,  Everyone loved the dance so much that they even put it in the show "The Office".  Each time the same song, "Forever", was used.  The concept was even extended to the 2011 Royal Wedding, with a commercial made by T-Mobile.  Sadly, they used a different song.  

Back to the song "Forever", I really love the song.  However, I do NOT like Chris Brown and what he has come to represent.  The couple from the original wedding entrance dance has put a link on their video for donations to violence prevention.  As for me, I was in a quandary.  How do I enjoy a song made by a person I want to have nothing to do with?  I can almost hear people say that the person has nothing to do with the song, but that argument doesn't sit well with me.  

Enter Mike Tompkins, a youtube sensation I had never heard of, from North of the Border.  Apparently he is well known for covering songs by doing a full A Capella.  He takes beatboxing to a whole different level.  He provides vocal percussion for a bongo, kick and a snare.  He also vocally replicates a synthesizer,base, pad, guitar and does the lead vocals.  He records them separately and then superimposes all sounds over each other.  The end result is not too shabby.  I am so glad he covered "Forever", because here's a version I can truly enjoy.  I just hope he doesn't go beat up somebody.