Talk:Compared to What

Biased toward second recording

The original recording of this song by Roberta Flack has had abidingly more impact than the second recording by two male musicians, which is favored here for reasons that are not clear (unless it's the same-old same-old problem of gender bias at Wikipedia). The entry should be rewritten to remove the bias, and the box should not reference only the second, less influential, recording. Either there should be no box, or it should give equal weight to the original recording (in which all of the lyrics are sung) and the second recording (in which only the theme phrase is sung). It would also be good to include the lyrics, since they are what made the song influential. I am sorry that I don't know enough about editing Wikipedia articles to make so many substantial changes to a page, and I hope that someone will make them.Rentstrike (talk) 03:48, 3 August 2014 (UTC)

Do you have any sources that state that the Flack version "has had abidingly more impact"? I didn't see any when I created the article. The album containing their version (by five men, not two) has been certified Gold in sales, as stated in the article (and sourced). Your statement that, in the McCann–Harris version, "only the theme phrase is sung" is simply wrong – either you haven't listened to it, or you have listened to the wrong version. The lyrics can't be included in full, for copyright reasons.

Yes, the article gives more weight to the McCann–Harris version, but that's because the sources do – that is not "bias". List some sources on this talk page that refer to the impact of the Flack version and I'll happily add information from them to the article. Unless, of course, you think that the gender bias you accuse me of would get in the way, in which case we can find someone else to add it. EddieHugh (talk) 10:18, 3 August 2014 (UTC)

It's a long time since I saw a response with which I agree more wholeheartedly. But, yes, a bit more coverage of Roberta Flack's version would be very welcome, I'm sure. Martinevans123 (talk) 10:46, 3 August 2014 (UTC)

I've added a bit (in a new section) on the Flack version, having raked through one database. I again found nothing to support the claims about its importance that were made above. EddieHugh (talk) 12:18, 3 August 2014 (UTC)

Nothing added to the discussion for 7 days, so tag removed. EddieHugh (talk) 08:59, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

/* Facts about recording history are mangled */

The first recording was on the 1966 album "Les McCann Plays the Hits." Source here.

The second was the 1969 cover by Roberta Flack. The third was on the Les McCann & Eddie Harris 1969 live album "Swiss Movement," which made the song a hit. I don't know why the abstract at the top of the article refers to Flack's as the first, but I can't see how to correct that.

Rlauriston (talk) 00:57, 21 June 2016 (UTC)

Probably, but that's not the best of sources. I tried to find better ones a while ago, but will look again. EddieHugh (talk) 09:19, 21 June 2016 (UTC)

Reference to president

There seems to be an error in this entry. In fact, it seems to be internally inconsistent. It says that Nixon is meant by the reference to the president. But as the article itself states, the song was written years earlier (before the Nixon presidency). And the link below to a LOC copyright list indicates the song was copyrighted in 1966. So the the reference would seem to be Johnson, not Nixon.

https://books.google.de/books?id=szghAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA1574&lpg=PA1574&dq=compared+to+what+gene++mcdaniels+copyright&source=bl&ots=MMPYoF8L6-&sig=KYiikiCCMsDB2jvs01xi-R2HMGU&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=compared%20to%20what%20gene%20%20mcdaniels%20copyright&f=false   — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.187.98.180 (talk) 08:59, 5 July 2016 (UTC)

Good point, which could possibly be worked in to the article. However, Nixon was the target when the song became popular, so the original referent probably didn't matter at that point. EddieHugh (talk) 11:34, 5 July 2016 (UTC)

Confusion with strawmanning?

I don't understand how the phrase 'compared to what' can be associated with strawmanning, so as to need a disambiguation link. If anything, it sounds more like something that could refer to tu quoque. 62.73.69.121 (talk) 14:20, 7 January 2024 (UTC)

If you are talking about the redirect noted at the top of this article, rather than the song, you need to raise your concerns at WP:RFD. Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 17:09, 7 January 2024 (UTC)

So you yourself don't find this concerning? You're acting as if it's somehow my personal problem and are sending me off like a pesky customer/citizen to another bureaucratic office, but in fact, naturally, I don't care enough about either the article or the song to spend any more time on fixing this. It's basically an accident that I even came back to this talk page. I would have expected you as a committed, registered Wikipedian, and probably as someone who has the article on their watchlist, to care more about it, though. --62.73.69.121 (talk) 22:25, 13 January 2024 (UTC)

Oh dear, just an accident then. I'm still guessing that it was the redirect that was the cause of your confusion You're lucky you don't have a watchlist (?) But another committed, registered Wikipedian below might have understood you better. Martinevans123 (talk) 13:43, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Agreed. This meets CSD G1 as there's no explanation, reasoning or logic for the redirect. It appears to be an editorial comment about the song itself. Jfricker (talk) 13:03, 15 February 2024 (UTC)