And I’m not saying that the original is bad. You have to have a good song to have a good cover in my opinion. But sometimes the cover artist just understands the mission and takes what the original song did and expands on that a hundred times over.
What’re some of your guys’s favorites?
I prefer Van Halen’s versions of Pretty Woman and California Girls - to some this is sacrilege but I like Eddie’s guitar work.
Quite a few famous songs people think are the originals were actually covers of songs by musicians who never got famous. Some of Elvis Presley’s hits were older blues songs. “I Love Rock & Roll” by Joan Jett was originally done by a group called The Arrows. “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” was originally recorded by a guy named Robert Hazard. Who?? Yeah, exactly lol.
I will survive by cake.
My first high school dance freshman year they played the original and i belted out every word from memory because i spent all summer listening to Fashion Nugget.
Were you surprised that the original lock was only stupid, not fucking?
Against All Odds by The Postal Service
my mind was blown when I learned that was Ben Gibbard from Death Cab For Cutie on vocals
this live version is especially fantastic, from an album of covers by them, I think the Baby One More Time cover is more popular but I prefer the recontextualization of this one
ridiculously emotional, can really feel his pain in it. I would never have thought this was a Black Sabbath cover had it not been mentioned at the top of the video
no notes. perfect cover.
never would have thought this would work as a duet but it’s perfect, 10/10
Someday I Suppose by Drug Church
Boston.
I love a good cover, the best covers recontextualize the meaning of the song imo
The Civil Wars pretty much made everything perfect.
And sad. But perfect.
Pilotredsun “Warsaw” Jazz fusion Cover by poruu.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW9Mk7DXPcI
The original is great, it takes simple Chiptunes and manages to convey a stunning range of emotion and movement.
This cover is fantastic because it takes what’s at the core of the original and explores it even more, with varying loudness, instruments, ect.
It feels like the last warm august evening before going back to school.
It sounds like moving to a far away place in the search of opportunities.
It conveys the nostalgia of remembering your childhood friends with happiness, but also realizing that there’s a great and unknown road ahead of you.
It gives you the comfort of knowing that every moment will pass, so you should enjoy it while it lasts and be hopeful for the future.
It’s change, it’s movement, it’s nostalgia, it’s hope, it’s happiness, it’s a bitter sweet end and a fresh beginning.
This cover gave me a lot of comfort and peace during difficult moments in my life and I can say with confidence that it far surpassed the original.
Jefferson Airplane- Wooden Ships
Ghost- If You Have Ghosts
Dave Stewart covering Zombie by The Cranberries https://youtu.be/1iDTYnxCNXM
I love Avantasia’s “Lay All Your Love on Me” (Originally by ABBA). Metal covers can sometimes feel lazy, but this is an excellent rendition. It feels like the perfect coming together of two distinct parts of me: the me that daubs myself in rainbows to dance to ABBA at the gay club; and the metal/punk energy of the majority of my style and music taste. It always goes down well at parties.
Edit: I am having more songs coming to mind, but a weird one I can’t help mentioning is Edmund Welles cover of “Hallowed Be Thy Name”.. It’s a clarinet quartet (+vocals) cover that I didn’t know I needed until I heard it. So delightfully weird, and it has no right to go as hard as it does
Do mashups count? Chris Cornell’s One (Metallica and U2) https://youtu.be/uTJxAdrnkP4
U2’s With or Without You cover by April Meservy and Aaron Edson. It infuses the original with raw emotion - you can feel the pain and exhaustion.
Edited to add: And Marilyn Manson’s version of Tainted Love. It sounds sickening and toxic, making the song about much more than a breakup.
Save Ferris’ cover of Come On Eileen, by Dexy’s Midnight Runners.
While I love the original version, Seethers cover of Careless Whisper is one of my favourite songs ever.
I’m not sure Last Kiss by Pearl Jam is actually better than the original but it definitely deserves honorable mention.
faith no more’s easy
Eleanor Rigby by Pain
Saw that one live in 2002. Amazing show.
Cardigans, Burning Down the House with Tom Jones. Of course the original is incredible, but this version slaps.
I find the original Talking Heads version to be too whiny. I don’t find it enjoyable to sit through. The Cardigans/Tom Jones version I have one note, one change I’d make: Nina’s vocals seem to have a band-pass filter applied, it sounds like she’s literally phoning it in. I wouldn’t have done that.
