“All that work and what did it get me? Why did I do it?” are the age-old questions from a cover of Bette Midler’s song “Rose’s Turn” performed by “Glee’s” very own Kurt Hummel. In this episode, Kurt goes above and beyond to change from a stereotypical theater kid into the perfect small town boy that his dad will want to spend time with.
The craving for his father’s approval is rooted in the jealousy of his dad choosing to spend time with Finn Hudson, his dad’s girlfriend’s son and a member of the Glee club. As you could probably guess, plans did not go as expected, but lucky for us it blossomed into this beautifully emotional cover and trend going viral on TikTok.
On the platform, users are making videos to Kurt’s cover of these lyrics reflecting on decisions they made that did not pay off or turn out how they expected. A couple captions to these videos include “me as a child snitching on my siblings so they would get grounded, but then I had no one to play with,” by user @elliemillar96 and “when you spent hours of giving your friend the most amazing advice just for them to go and do the exact opposite.” You can find a lot more unhinged examples if you scroll on the sound long enough.
Naturally, this reminded me of my former hyperfixation with “Glee,” which is a show about a group of high school kids from different cliques that come together and sing covers from a variety of genres. The series released its pilot episode on my seventh birthday in 2009.
I wish I could say I love this show because of the nostalgia, but I did not sit down and start watching each episode from the first season until eight months ago. It is one of those pieces of media you have to consume because you know it is bad but cannot get enough, like Twilight.
Anyway, I started thinking about the curse of the show and all of the tragic events with the cast, the theory that Lea Michelle cannot read, and most importantly, the covers that changed my life.
Right away, I have to talk about “Somewhere Only We Know” by Blaine Anderson. First of all, *chefs kiss* his voice scratches an itch in my brain. Of course it was in my Spotify Wrapped playlist in 2023 and will likely make it into this year as well. This performance takes place at William McKinley high school and is dedicated to the one and only Kurt Hummel.
Kurt is returning back to public school after spending some time at an all-boys private institution after being bullied by a closeted McKinley football player for being gay. At his new school, he joined their Glee club and started dating the lead singer of their group, Blaine. He dramatically sings at a piano randomly placed in the outdoor eating area where they cry and hug and move on with their lives.
For the next performance, I have to talk about Santana Lopez and Britney Pierce’s duet of “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac. This song takes place in the episode where Santana reveals her feelings for her best friend Britney, but she already has a partner and is not interested in acting on these feelings.
Santana is known for being the mean cheerleader type, so seeing her break down and get emotional hit hard. The eye contact and tears during “Time Makes You Bolder” gets me every time. A true cinematic masterpiece.
Last, but certainly not least, Blaine’s rendition of “Cough Syrup” by Young the Giant. Before I even dive into this, I have to say that Darren Criss will kill any song they throw at him in this show. The emotion he has during this scene feels so raw and adds to an already intense story.
While Blaine is singing, we see the closeted football player, Dave Karofsky, walk into the locker room to see a homophobic slur spray painted on his locker as his teammates surround him. We see the emotional rollercoaster he goes through as he gets dressed in his suit for what he plans to be the final moments of his life. This is one of the more intense scenes in the series that formed a whole new meaning to this song.
I know “Glee” is easy to poke fun at, but they cover heavy topics and produce some bangers along the way. If Lea Michelle could read, she would hate to see that a performance of hers was not featured on my list, but from the two seasons I have watched all the way through, I have had enough of you Rachel Berry.
