Are there any covers that you prefer over the original?

[JWaggy]

I recently heard this cover of Simon and Garfunkel's 'The Boxer' done by Jerry Douglas (featuring Mumford and Sons) and just fell in love with that song all over again. I think I'm starting to like it more than S & G's.

What about you? Are there any covers of songs that you prefer over the original?

[maxpowr9]

All the ones I can think of atm...

I Will Always Love You originally by Dolly Parton, Whitney Houston's version is supreme.
Hurt originally by Nine Inch Nails, Johnny Cash's version is better.
Heaven originally by Brian Adams, DJ Sammy's song is better.
Black Magic Woman was originally by Fleetwood Mac (shocking I know), but Santana's version is the standard.
Whiskey in the Jar is not a Metallica song, I know Thin Lizzy covered it but they were not the original group either.

[JWaggy]

All the ones I can think of atm...

I Will Always Love You originally by Dolly Parton, Whitney Houston's version is supreme.
Hurt originally by Nine Inch Nails, Johnny Cash's version is better.

These two for sure I can say I agree.

[JP.]

Sometimes dudes make it better

[johaninsc]

I like Judas Priest's version of The Green Manalishi better than Fleetwood Mac's


Metallica's version of Whiskey In A Jar is the best I've heard



some rockin' tunes

[johaninsc]

I like Cyndi Lauper's version of I Drove All Night better than the Roy Orbison original and Celine Dion's version

[JWaggy]

Invariably, I have to post Jeff Buckley's cover of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah'.

[LilBit]

Janis Joplin's rendition of "Me and Bobby McGee" is MUCH better than Kris Kristofferson's.

[tombastep]

All Time Low cover of Rihanna's "Umbrella".



Also, "Everything I Do, I Do It For" You by Bryan Adams covered by New Found Glory.

[AshyPhoenix]

Pretty much the entirety of Across The Universe, but especially these:




^This is pretty much my favourite cover of any song I've ever heard.

[johaninsc]

I like The Power Station's version of Get It On (Bang A Gong) better than the T-Rex version

[refujiunderground]

[MisterMajestic]

I Will Always Love You originally by Dolly Parton, Whitney Houston's version is supreme..

Man I wanted to mention that one but you beat me to it....LOL...Queen Dolly's original version is great, Linda Ronstadt's cover is Good but Whitney's unique vocals just took the song to another level & place....

When Dolly learned of Whitney's death she said she will Always Love Whitney and she acknowledges her in Concert...Dolly is forever the Classy Icon...


Another Classic I have to add to the list is Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't make you Love me"..So many people have TRIED to reproduce Bonnie's Magic...Many have come close but none have made it their own....This does not fall under the topic of this thread but I'm just saying the Truth...Prince covered the song and it was good but he didnt make it better....Bonnie owns that Classic....

[loki81]

(hate the original version of that song)





(so good most people don't even know it's a cover)

[loki81]

[loki81]

I like Cyndi Lauper's version of I Drove All Night better than the Roy Orbison original and Celine Dion's version

little known fact: "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" was also a cover (original version was by a guy in the late 70's)

[bankside]

My favourite cover of Hallelujah, by K. D. Lang. And perhaps more of note, Leonard Cohen's favourite cover of Hallelujah.

[loki81]

this is almost sacriledge to say, but I prefer this cover of the Beatles original:

[bankside]

Alanis Morissette - My Humps

Perfect!

[kevbo]

[Telstra]

For this song, the cover is better.
"Fix you by cold play"

[Telstra]

This one, not bad but abit messy:

[Telstra]

Oh my god I'm sorry.
Hardup is going to kill me:

[menRsexii]

Pretty much the entirety of Across The Universe, but especially these:




^This is pretty much my favourite cover of any song I've ever heard.

they did do a very good job covering the songs! and "because" was absolutely gorgeous!

but i still cant say theyre better than the beatles. I guess neither is better. theyre both just different

[menRsexii]

this is almost sacriledge to say, but I prefer this cover of the Beatles original:

that was very well done! i like this version a lot! beautiful

[BreakTheIce]

Kelly Clarkson's cover of Wide Awake by Katy Perry



Sings it like 10x better than Katy does it live.

[Redsummersun25]

[Essex Boy]

The first time I heard Talking Heads doing Once In A Lifetime my jaw dropped. Previously I only knew a version by Barb Junger. It's almost a different song. Vive la Junger! She's much better.

[DaviiSkye]

Damien Rice's cover of the Radiohead song creep is so way more intense than the original and Susan Boyle's version of Mad World is way more breathtaking than the original !

[Benjoe]

[pasacon]

Not really a cover. But It's Dinah Washinton's This Bitter Earth, with the original music replaced with Max Richter's On the Nature of Daylight. I love it more than the original.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/jXHGoaEtmFM

[wilbur33]

Lisa Edwards - "Cry" (original by Godley And Creme)

Marcia Hines - "You" (original by Rita Coolidge)
Marcia (again) - "Fire And Rain" (original by James Taylor)
Marcia (a third time!) - "What I Did For Love" (originally from A Chorus Line)
Marcia (still going!) - "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" (original by Dusty Springfield)
(as much as I adore and worship Dusty, I must admit Marcia's version just has a little something extra)

Marianne Faithfull - "Dreaming My Dreams" (original by Waylon Jennings)

Alison McCallum - "Excuse Me (For The Strange Things I Do)" (original by Junior)

The Reels - "Bad Moon Rising" (original by Creedence Clearwater Revival)
The Reels (again) - "This Guy's In Love With You" (original by Herb Alpert)

Kylie Minogue - "The Locomotion" (original by Little Eva)

Martika - "I Feel The Earth Move" (original by Carole King)

Kirsty MacColl - "Days" (original by The Kinks)

Kim Carnes - "Bette Davis Eyes" (original by Jackie DeShannon)

Tori Amos - "American Pie"/"Smells Like Teen Sprit" (originals by Don McLean/Nirvana)

********************************
I was going to post YouTube clips, but my list kept on growing and growing - and I don't think anyone would be happy to see nearly 30 embedded vids in one post! I know I certainly wouldn't - the page/thread would take me an hour to load!

[alister]

I like "Boys of Summer" by the Ataris much better than the original by Don Henley.

Dolly Parton's bluegrass version of "Heaven Let Your Light Shine Down" is way better than Collective Souls version. Dolly has actually made quite a few bluegrass covers of rock songs that I prefer.

[wilbur33]

A couple more:

Donna Summer - "MacArthur Park" (Jimmy Webb)



The Pigs - "All The Single Ladies" (Beyonce)

[wilbur33]

Taco - "Puttin' On The Ritz" (Fred Astaire)

[roadtripboy]

Beside the K D Lang song mentioned above. The only one I can think of is Hall & Oats...You've Lost That Loving Feeling.

[blackbeltninja]

My absolute favourite cover is The Gun's version of Word Up, a raunchy hard-rock cover of the original early 80s funk song by Cameo.

I also rather enjoyed the interpretation of Simon and Garfunkel's Mrs Robinson by The Lemonheads, Siouxsie and the Banshees reimagination of Iggy Pop's gloomy The Passenger, and The Smashing Pumkins' brilliant reworking of the Stevie Nicks classic, Landslide. And my old band did a beautiful job on the old Queen classic Under Pressure featuring David Bowie; admittedly, though, we were doing the Tusnami Aid version recorded by My Chemical Romance and The Used which was fantastic to start with.

And lastly, Pearl Jam have done a number of excellent live covers as part of their concerts - typically The Who and Neil Young material, but also a lovely version of Dock of the Bay. But I'll quite happily listen to any rendition of them doing Baba o'Riley (aka, the theme from CSI: New York).


Covers I can't abide are numerous - Sheryl Crow fucked up Sweet Child o' Mine; the All Saints massacred Under the Bridge, and U2 absolutely raped All Along the Watchtower. For a band of their caliber, that cover was shocking.

-d-

[JWaggy]

Not a cover I prefer over the original, it's just completely different. A melancholy cover of 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' by Greg Laswell.

[Essex Boy]

How can we ignore the absolute granddaddy of all cover versions: My Way by the Sex Pistols.

[TheLyingGame]

[backagain]

Blue Moon by Cowboy Junkies



Also "Sweet Jane"


Love the style.

[wilbur33]

Grace Jones - "La Vie En Rose" (Edith Piaf)

[wilbur33]

Pretenders - "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"

I'm not sure who sang the original, but I've heard many versions and Pretenders/Chrissie Hynde is the best BY FAR!

[penayforay]

Mariah Carey - Without You

[desertboi]

I know that this was mentioned already, but Johnny Cash's version of the Nine Inch Nails song "Hurt." The way Johnny sings that song is powerful, I get chills listening to it!

[blackbeltninja]

I like "Boys of Summer" by the Ataris much better than the original by Don Henley.

Dolly Parton's bluegrass version of "Heaven Let Your Light Shine Down" is way better than Collective Souls version. Dolly has actually made quite a few bluegrass covers of rock songs that I prefer.

The Ataris did a good job on that track.

However... Shine is made entirely by the unabated and shameless fury of the epic, balls-to-the-wall screamer of a solo by Collective Soul's brilliant and underrated former guitarist Ross Childress, which lifts the song from merely above-average way up into the echelons of epic. I have had the good fortune to see that same piece performed live prior to his leaving the band; in my not-at-all humble opinion, the song is nothing without the solo (in much the same way as the ghastly covers I mentioned earlier were ruined by their lack of interest and innovation on the part of the covering guitarists).

I will have to find this Dolly version and give it a listen and hope to be pleasantly surprised.

-d-

[JohannBessler]

Most of the time, I consider covers to be a pale imitation of the original.

Recently, though, Ashy Phoenix pointed me to a superior cover--Our Generation, by John Legend & the Roots.

Based on a tune composed in the 1970s, it actually sounds more early-70s than the original did.

[wilbur33]

Edith Bliss - "Anything Goes" (Cole Porter)

[JohannBessler]

I know another version of that song.

1967, Ted Templeman, the lead singer of a sunshine-pop group named Harpers Bizarre, changed some of the words. The original lyrics had become hopelessly dated. (For example, by 1967, no one remembered Anna Sten):

[aaronxp]