A Song That Should Never Have Been Recorded ...

... at least, not in my opinion.

Before I do name the artist or the song involved, I do want to state that I do have one of this artist's CDs ... purchased legally (are you listening, RIAA? As an aside, does anybody else remember this:

"In February 2008 it became known that the RIAA has been withholding roughly $400 million from artists for several years now. The RIAA gained the money through lawsuits claiming to defend the rights of artists, although none of the artists whose music was 'illegally' downloaded have received any of the settlement money.[49]"

Here's THAT link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_group_efforts_against_file_sharing
You can find it in the "Counterclaims" section. Methinks that the RIAA has a lot of explaining to do.) (emphasis mine)

This artist was involved some years back in an accident (on 20-MAR-1990) when a speeding semi crashed into her tour bus. And yes, given that, I am speaking about Gloria Estefan.

I admire her spirit, I admire her opposition to Communism in general (and the Castro regime in particular) and I admire her hard humanitarian and philantropic works.

Having said that I do need to state that, in my opinion, her version of "Let it Snow" should never have been composed - let alone sung.

Yes, her voice is as I remember from older songs, but even her golden voice could not save this disaster of a song. Call me a reactionary, call me an old man, call me a 'purist,' call me what you will - but in my opinion, this song just doesn't work. At least, not for me.

I heard it for the first time on the radio tonight and my jaw dropped. I couldn't believe that somebody had slaughtered such a classic. Then when the DJ said it was Ms. Estefan, I was dumbfounded. I went to YouTube and found the song ... and that confirmed that the DJ hadn't made a mistake.

I was thunderstruck. Why such a luminious singer as Ms. Estefan should sing such a calamity of a song frankly escapes me.

Having said that, I'll admit that most of the comments on YouTube have been favourable. Various people have given their opinions on this particular song, and there is nothing wrong in voicing an opinion.

For me, and in my opinion, she should not have sung this song. Indeed, it should never have been composed in such a manner - again, in my opinion.

However, I'm not about to let this one blight of a song ruin my opinion of Ms. Estefan. She remains a true classic with a wonderful, golden voice. One horrible song should not a career make, and I'll be the first to admit that Ms. Estefan has earned every award she's received.

Artists (and actors) have gotten over bombs and catastrophies before - such as Gigli - which starred the wonderful and talented Ben Affleck. The movie, however, has become "...infamous as one of the worst movies ever made."* Frankly, it earned that designation.

The point, however, is that Mr Affleck's career is not defined by that misfortune of a film, nor should Ms Estefan's be defined by this one casualty of a song. They are both wonderful and talented people, neither of whom should have to suffer for one-time fiascos.

After all, we all make misteakes. (See?)

* - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigli_(film)