- Joined
- Sep 7, 2016
This poem has been set to music many times before her. I actually think Phil Oches did it far better.
That's definitely a good song and I like that style of music but I think it's unfair to both artists to compare their rendition to the other ones. The appeal in McKennitt's version to me is how she pulls a lot of emotion and drama of it and builds up to that urgency, sorrow and then the rage.
Wayfaring Stranger is a song that's been recorded a million times and that one's much easier to use when comparing artists. If an artist or band have recorded it it can be used as a standardized benchmark to get a feel for their style and sound. If you feel lukewarm about their Wayfaring Stranger you might feel the same way about the rest of their music, if it is pop-country shit everything else will be pop-country shit, if you really like it then that's a very good sign.