Here's the original version of "Fever", recorded by Little Willie John in 1956. Since then, it's been covered by a slew of artists, including Madonna, Ray Charles, and Michael Bublé. Here, I've decided to go with one of the most successful versions to look at, the 1965 cover by The McCoys.
I can honestly understand why this one made it big. It seemed to capture the mood of the song the most successfully, even more so than the original, I think. It's got this bluesy, jazzy feel, sultry and sexy. Just the way I like my fevers.
But are the lyrics any good? After all, if people decided to cover Justin Bieber's "Baby", that wouldn't make it any less terrible (though it would make me weep for humanity). Let's take a look:
Never know how much I love you
Never know how much I care
When you put your arms around me
I get a fever that's so hard to bear
A fever's one of those metaphors that kind of makes sense, but not quite. If you were to take it a little more literally, wouldn't it mean "you make me sick"? Though that can still work, with "lovesick" being a thing. It's a well-used metaphor, I guess.
There's only one part in the song where I think the lyrics falter a bit:
Everybody's got the fever
That is somethin' you all know
Fever isn't such a new thing
Fever started long time ago
Well, the fever she gave you certainly seems less special now.
This is still a great song, though. Simple, powerful, and fun to listen to. What more can you expect out of a pop song? Stop being so greedy.
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