FOFC's Best Cover Songs
 

One of the things this board had going for it back in its golden era was robust music debate/discussion.

So with a tip o' the cap to the past, I'm starting a thread on cool cover songs. Maybe if we get enough listed here, someone can turn it into a bracket or poll or whatever. But, for now, I'm more just interested in what's out there and what we like.

A few of my personal favorites

Hurt Originally by Nine Inch Nails. Covered by Johnny Cash. Certainly the first one to come to mind for me. To take an iconic song by an iconic band and so thoroughly make it one's own is the essence of a cover for me.

With a Little Help from My Friends Originally by the Beatles. Covered by Joe Cocker. I might still like the Beatles' version better. But this cover is the one I find myself humming when the song pops into my head. There's a depth to the lyrics that you miss with the peppier Beatles' version.

How am I Different? Originally by Aimee Mann. Covered by Bettye Lavette. Certainly more obscure than the first two entries on this list. She takes an angsty white girl song and turns it into a smart-ass black lady song. Just an amazing transformation.

Anything by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.

Sweet Jane Originally by the Velvet Underground. Covered by The Cowboy Junkies. Even songwriter and member of the Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, says his favorite version of his song is this cover. To be honest, I don't think I've heard the original and nor do I need to.

Mad World Originally by Tears for Fears. Covered by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules. I really enjoy both versions of this song and love Tears for Fears (I've seen them in concert twice over the last 8 or so years). The cover does, what I think great covers do, take the original song in a new, interesting direction, as opposed to just trying to mimic the original (see, e.g., Weezer's cover of Toto's "Africa".)

Apologies for the basic takes. While I really enjoy music, I am not really much of a music person, so I lack the ability and vocabulary to adequately capture my thoughts.

On reading the thread title, my first thought was also Tears For Fears. Half the time I hear that song, I think "Caught somebody cheat at FastFL"

This goes a long with my "different song, same name" contest. Like which is the better "Best of My Love," The Emotions or Eagles.

Also, Sabrina Carpenters Espresso has been stuck in my head ever since I saw the Good Neighbors cover it on Triple J. They turned it into a Phoenix style song and it works really well.

Like a Version from Triple J is generally pretty good for finding one off covers for modern music.

I'm a big fan of Beatles covers, but not this one. Pleasant vibes since I associate it with the Wonder Years, but otherwise I hate it. Here's some I like, though:

Not A Second Time -- Robert Palmer
Norwegian Wood -- Sergio Mendes
Norwegian Wood -- Cornershop
Eleanor Rigby -- Jellyfish
Got to Get You Into My Life -- Earth, Wind, and Fire
We Can Work It Out -- Stevie Wonder

Summer Breeze - Type O Negative
Gonna Get Close to You - Queensryche
Killer Queen - Sugarbomb
Across the Universe - Rufus Wainwright
War Pigs - Faith No More
Pretty Ballerina - Jason Falkner
Am I Evil - Metallica
Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown) - Judas Priest
Raining Blood - Tori Amos
Manhattan Skyline - Ihsahn/Einar Solberg
Would? - Opeth

Pretty much any cover by Nouvelle Vague is good.

Nouvelle Vague (band - Wikipedia)

They're a French band that covers new wave songs of the 70s and 80s in a Bossa Nova style.

I feel like this has come up before…but maybe I’m thinking of another venue.

I’m with Pass on Stevie’s version of “We Can Work it Out.” I’m also a big fan of Amii Stewart’s version of “Knock on Wood,” but then like the Peter Gunn theme I like just about every version of it.

Power Station’s “Get it On (Bang a Gong).”

There is definitely a post somewhere from years ago on this subject. Maybe a Mount Rushmore. Anyway, in addition to some of the ones mentioned thus far, I think the following all surpass the originals:

Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinéad O'Connor
Torn - Natalie Imbruglia
Blinded by the Light - Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
Lovers in a Dangerous Time - Barenaked Ladies
All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
The Man Who Sold the World - Nirvana
Lotta Love - Nicolette Larson
Killing Me Softly - The Fugees

First thing that came to mind was "Bad Company" - Five Finger Death Punch

"The Sound of Silence" was a huge cover for Disturbed but I always and forever insist that the Bobaflex cover released a few months earlier was the better of the two (and not really all that close IMO)

For an obscurity, Dokken's 1999 cover of "One" (Harry Nilsson/Three Dog Night) was a barely heard favorite of mine.

Jorn Lande's cover of "Running Up That Hill" certainly accounts for 99.99999999% of my time spent listening to anything involving Kate Bush.

State of Mine has done quite a few covers from multiple genres, probably the standouts are "The Thunder Rolls" (also f. No Resolve) and "God's Country" (f. Drew Jacobs). All That Remains has a solid version of "Thunder Rolls" too.

Can't ignore I Prevail's cover of "Blank Space" since it really helped break them.

Cody Parks & The Dirty South -- described as "Def Leppard on cornbread" are kind of a hybrid at covers to an extent but remixes/mashups too. "ThunderCash'69" (Folsom Prison Blues + Thunderkiss '65) , "Seminole Wind", "Grundy County Cowboys" (Pantera "Cowboys from Hell" + John Michael Montgomery "Sold")

Some favorites, from a glance at my big playlist

Ramblin' Rose - MC5 (originally Nat King Cole)
Just Like Heaven - Dinosaur jr (originally The Cure)
Take Me to the River - Talking Heads (originally Al Green)
Police and Thieves - The Clash (originally Junior Murvin)
I'm So Glad - Cream (originally Skip James)
And Your Bird Can Sing - The Jam (originally The Beatles)
Suzanne - Nina Simone (originally Leonard Cohen)
Comin' Home Baby - Jackey Yoshikawa and his Blue Comets (originally Dave Bailey Quintet)
Zorba the Greek - Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass (originally Mikis Theodorakis)
Mule Skinner Blues - The Fendermen (originally Jimmie Rodgers)
Me! I Disconnect from You - Grace Jones (originally Gary Numan)
Darling Be Home Soon - Slade (originally The Lovin' Spoonful)
A Message to You Rudy - The Specials (originally Dandy Livingston)
Sacrifice - Melvins (originally Flipper)
Pink Moon - Sebadoh (originally Nick Drake)
I'm Movin' On - John Kay (originally Hank Snow)
Trains and Boats and Planes - Dionne Warwick (originally Burt Bacharach)
Can't Get Used to Losing You - The Beat (originally Andy Williams)

Oh that reminds me of another good one! Here's the J Davis Trio, who I'd never heard of, doing a cover of There Goes a Tenner:

There Goes A Tenner (2020 Remaster) | The J. Davis Trio | Tom Dunning & Your Boyfriends

If we stuck on Kate Bush, Hounds of Love by The Futureheads.

As far as good versions that the cover is as good or better, I’d throw in Metallica’s version of Whiskey in the Jar and Pet Shop Boy’s Always on My Mind. Both pretty different and maybe not better, but very good and hold up well for me.

New Found Glory has 3 albums of covers. MxPx also did some great covers of everything from I Would Walk 500 Miles to Vacation by the Go Gos.

And why not? Ra Ra Riot also does a good cover of Hounds of Love.

I wanted to include Wait by Rufus Wainwright when I was coming up with my list of Beatles covers, because I was pretty sure I have heard it on Pandora a few times and liked it, but when I googled to see if it really existed, all I could find was Across the Universe. Now I'm wondering if I hallucinated it or what.

Is this the best or is this the worst?

Alone by Oceans of Slumber (original by Heart)

Tough to do Ann Wilson, but Cami nails it

I've been thinking about this pretty often ever since the thread came up

Higher Ground - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Bizarre Love Triangle - Frente
I Wanna Dance with Somebody - David Byrne


I don't know if doing "Hey Joe" counts as a cover, but if so Hey Joe - Buckwheat Zydeco.

- YouTube

Speaking of Heart, we went to their concert at Ravinia on Friday night and they did covers of "Let's Dance" by David Bowie and "The Ocean" by Led Zeppelin. Both were good but the latter rocked, especially.

Ann still has a great voice for someone who's 74 and had a cancer diagnosis last year. They definitely constructed the set list to warm her voice up gradually, but in the end the only notes she didn't attempt were the high ones from "Barracuda", which was the last song of the night.

Cami could sing the phone book and I'd listen. Their covers of Wicked Game and House of the Rising Sun are good as well, although HotRS has been covered by nearly everyone.

A long time ago a good friend of mine (who also was the drummer for a band I was in) wanted to have a party. We both loved talking about music and started talking about bands/songs that were from the musical road less taken. I had the idea that the theme of his party should include a contest for the most obscure album. So all the guests brought an album that would qualify and everyone would vote for the one they considered the most obscure. I can't remember what album I brought, but my friend thought it was the most likely record to win the "contest". My album was the favorite until one of the guests pulled out "Golden Throats: The Great Celebrity Sing-off". Your post reminded me of that day.

For your listening "pleasure": Golden Throats

Aretha's version of "The Weight."

I'll offer some "thinking" here...

-I don't want to support a "surprise it's a remake of a song you never heard as an original" here... so yeah, we get it that Torn bandied around a while before becoming a megahit, but to me that's not really the essence of being a remake and wouldn't make my list for greatness in that specific category (though the anatomy/construct of that particular song is fascinating)

-Also, a basically note-for-note remake of a song is far less interesting/worthy to me (looking at you, Ataris) than some degree of re-visioning... even if it's just a different vocal style for the same lyrics and pacing, I want the cover artist to exert some flair

-Maybe more controversially, I'd also offer relative demerits for covers of sings that are, themselves, the real engine behind the success... I think you can put just about any two-bit karaoke clown on stage with the high school jazz band and Just Like Heaven would sound pretty great, not because of the cover but because of its essence. So that's a dive without many twists, in my book.

Nobody is bound to follow this guidance, it just feels right to dump it here.

And I don't see any mention of Marvin Gaye's Heard it Through the Grapevine yet, forgive me if I just missed it, and in my book, that cover version is in the conversation for the greatest single ever, and would make my own top ten on that front.

"Heard it Through the Grapevine" is a good one, yeah - kind of an omission if it hadn't been mentioned. If we're on covers of CCR*, Ike & Tina's version of "Proud Mary" is pretty solid too.


I was somewhere the other day where I swore I was hearing a remake of "Genius of Love" which sounded really like Tom Tom Club but I was almost certain wasn't. I didn't understand the point.** Why remake a song to sound almost exactly the same? I mean, I get the "designer imposter" songs used in commercials, it's to cut out the artist.


* Unless you mean the GLADYS KNIGHT & The Pips version...which I very much enjoy too, even if not Marvin (emphasis there for Ben, know he just LOVES giving Gladys her due)

** I suppose it's possible it was a live version? I don't get those most of the time either.

Thought I'd pop this thread back up. Not that I'd nominate for best, but my Apple Music shuffle played a cover of Hong Kong Garden by Uffie, then it played the original by Siouxsie and the Banshees. I have an app that I use to shuffle playlists myself, so I know it was completely a coincidence.


I was just talking about this with someone yesterday, who refused to engage with me on it (i.e. he ignored my texts about it, and just responded to other stuff). I contend that Marvin Gaye's version isn't a cover. CCR, that's a cover, but Marvin Gaye's version is just a different version of the song.

How Can You Mend A Broken Heart - All Green ( originally the Beegees)
The Immigrant Song - Karen O and Trent Reznor (originally Led Zeppelin)
Jackson - Johnny and June Cash ( Originally the Kingston Trio mostly because I love the Kingston Trio)
I Will Survive - Cake ( Originally by Gloria Gaynor)
Big Ten Inch Record - Aerosmith (Originally by Bull Moose Jackson)
You Really Got Me Van Halen ( originally by the Kinks)
Dedicated to the One I Love - The Mamas and the Papas ( originally by the Shirelles)
Proud Mary - Ike and Tina Turner ( originally by CCR)

Admittedly not a big or knowledgeable music person, but two that I liked:

Disturbed—“The Sound of Silence”

Nightwish—“Phantom of the Opera”

Can’t help falling in love - Nomy (starts off slow but picks up as it goes)

- YouTube

I usually don't care for the cover unless I never heard the original and the cover is my first exposure to the song but I do love Lana Del Ray's version of Sublime's Doin' Time. - YouTube

I'm sure there are lots of mgk fans in here haha. Not a huge fan, but his this recent Gorillaz cover slaps