What Memes Mean: The Kitten Covers and Creative Praise

Last updated on: November 16, 2011 at 9:00 am by Kirk Bozeman

What Memes Mean: The Kitten Covers and Creative Praise 2011-11-16T09:00:43-07:00 Kirk Bozeman

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Each Wednesday in What Memes Mean, Kirk Bozeman questions the significance, humor, and subtexts of viral videos, memes, and other Internet fads.

Not everyone likes cats, but most people like kittens. Some of these people who like kittens listen to a lot of rock and roll. At least one of those people has Photoshop. Hence, The Kitten Covers.

Maybe you’ve stumbled across this tumblr feed of late; it’s been making the rounds. The designer behind The Kitten Covers works solely in the iconic — Bowie, Dylan, The Beatles, The Cure, Prince — all bands and artists with respected careers and catalogs. The cover art that graces the great works of rock and roll history is now repainted in shades of kitty cat — a rock and roll hall of fame with feline stand-ins. There’s not a pic of four cats meandering across Abbey Road yet (unfortunately), but I’m sure it’s on its way.

Clearly, the creator of The Kitten Covers is trying to pay tribute, not lampoon. This is a tongue-in-cheek reimagining of the musical world, like mini-KISS or Dark Side of the Moon played behind The Wizard of Oz (which doesn’t really work, by the way). The Kitten Covers, unlike other Internet fads, is not poking fun at something because it’s laughable or kitschy; it pays homage to it. We’re simply honoring the rock and roll greats through cat-addition.

It’s fascinating to note all of the strange ways people pay homage to the things they love. Posters, t-shirts, bumper stickers, tweets, and status updates all make us willing advertisements for our attachments. In a million little ways, in a million little name- and product-drops, we reveal to the world the things that bring us joy. In the more extreme cases, people get very large, ill-placed tattoos. Adoration is something we long to do for its own sake; it is deep-seated in the human heart.

My high school library had a copy of C. S. Lewis’s Reflection on the Psalms (which was one of the few things I ever enjoyed checking out from there — Steinbeck, ugh!). The ideas Lewis penned there never left me: “I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.” I have never come across a more beautiful and helpful expression of the method and purpose of praise (and worship) than this.

The Kitten Covers is an exercise in natural theology. All of us — imago Dei — are created to express the Creator’s image. Perhaps part of this is our constant desire to express “this is good” concerning the things we “create.” Ironically and beautifully, we are creative creatures and even express this creativity in our praise. We were made to express to God his goodness and glory — the ultimate consummation of the ultimate enjoyment — and to do so in a creative, meaningful, God-imaging way. And even if we don’t realize it, we are indirectly doing this when we praise the goodness of His world and works. If that praise involves kittens and rock and roll, all the better.

Previous Post

November 16, 2011

The CaPC Superlatives: Noteworthy Achievements in Film, Music, Advertising, and Games

Next Post

November 16, 2011 Music at Mars Hill: Does the Message Matter?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Asides Elsewhere Featured Film Games General Culture Headline Literature Music Of the Moment Podcast Politics RetroPost Sports Technology Television Uncategorized Viral

Select a Month February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz