# Are any remakes better than the original song? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 2, 2003, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-remakes-better-than-the-original-song/172737 "2003-05-02T22:57:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-remakes-better-than-the-original-song/172737/21 "2003-05-03T02:29:03Z")
Tina Turner’s “The Bitch is Back” Godhead’s “Elenor Rigby” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-remakes-better-than-the-original-song/172737/22 "2003-05-03T03:00:50Z")
Sonic Youth’s cover of The Carpenters’ **Superstar** is amazing, and Gary Jules’ version of Tears for Fears’ **Mad World** is, IMHO, much more haunting than the original. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Gui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@El\_Gui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Gui)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-remakes-better-than-the-original-song/172737/23 "2003-05-03T03:11:40Z")
Mama’s and the Papa’s version of Dedicated to the One I Love. The trippy, psychodelic remake of the Supreme’s You Keep Me Hanging On (I can’t recall the band’s name). A bit on the corny side, I’ll admit. ---
**Author:** ![Dana27](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Dana27](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dana27)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-remakes-better-than-the-original-song/172737/24 "2003-05-03T03:12:21Z")
Marley23- Man I don’t have that same feeling about SRV’s Little Wing. I hate that version and my wife has to keep me from going postal when it comes on the radio. Ok maybe there’s a little hyperbole there but still the basic feeling is there. flybynight- yeah love that song and still today it’s one of my all time favorites. Gotta go dig that CD out again. All my CD’s are still packed after my most recent move over 1 year ago. Damn I’m lazy. Back to the playoffs. ---
**Author:** ![Quack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e99b99/32.png) [@Quack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quack)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-remakes-better-than-the-original-song/172737/25 "2003-05-03T03:12:34Z")
Goldfinger’s version of Nena’s **99 Red Balloons** ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-remakes-better-than-the-original-song/172737/26 "2003-05-03T03:21:54Z")
pulykamell was the one who preferred the Stevie Ray version, not me. ---
**Author:** ![sajwalke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/edb3f5/32.png) [@sajwalke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sajwalke)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-remakes-better-than-the-original-song/172737/27 "2003-05-03T03:22:55Z")
Nirvana’s rendition of David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World” ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-remakes-better-than-the-original-song/172737/28 "2003-05-03T03:25:36Z")
_Higher Ground_ by Red Hot Chili Peppers _Superman_ by REM _Spirit in the Sky_ by Dr. and the Medics It’s a close call, but I’ll take Elvis over the Righteous Brothers singing _You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling_. ---
**Author:** ![AntaresJB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@AntaresJB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AntaresJB)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-remakes-better-than-the-original-song/172737/29 "2003-05-03T03:53:53Z")
Noise Ratchet’s version of Mandy Moore’s “Crush” and Starting Line’s version of J.Lo’s “I’m Real” remix, both from the [Punk Goes Pop](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000630WG/qid=1051934085/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-0644139-5856833?v=glance&s=music) compilation album, are much cooler than the originals, IMHO. Especially “I’m Real”. It’s actually listen-able! ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-remakes-better-than-the-original-song/172737/30 "2003-05-03T04:18:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by El Gui \* > \*\*The trippy, psychodelic remake of the Supreme’s You Keep Me Hanging On (I can’t recall the band’s name). \*\* You probably mean the Vanilla Fudge. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-remakes-better-than-the-original-song/172737/31 "2003-05-03T04:22:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Quack \* > \*\*Goldfinger’s version of Nena’s **99 Red Balloons** \*\* AMEN!! I head this on the \* Not Another Teen Movie \* soundtrack. It sincerely rocks. ---
**Author:** ![flybynight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@flybynight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flybynight)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-remakes-better-than-the-original-song/172737/32 "2003-05-03T05:07:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lissa \* > \*\*AMEN!! I head this on the \* Not Another Teen Movie \* soundtrack. It sincerely rocks. \*\* Yep - I was mentally including that in my “punkish covers” list - they do a great cover of “Is She Really Going Out With Him” too, which was originally a pretty poor (IMO) Joe Jackson song. They do a Japanese version of _Livin’ La Vida Loca_ too, which is just funny… SRV’s _Little Wing_, as mentioned earlier, is my favorite instrumental ever to play on the guitar… very different from the original, so I’d say it’s an excellent “cover,” in that it doesn’t just copy the song, it takes it to another place - which I like. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-remakes-better-than-the-original-song/172737/33 "2003-05-03T06:33:02Z")
Metallica - **Whiskey in the Jar** Pseudo Echo - **Funky Town** Mest - **I Melt With You** ---
**Author:** ![lokij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@lokij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lokij)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-remakes-better-than-the-original-song/172737/34 "2003-05-03T06:42:28Z")
Cowboy Junkies covered The Velvet Underground’s “Sweet Jane” and did it better I think. ---
**Author:** ![Short\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Short\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-remakes-better-than-the-original-song/172737/35 "2003-05-03T10:37:27Z")
For those who’ve seen _The Million Dollar Hotel_, there’s a scene in that movie in which [Peter Stormare](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Stormare,+Peter), who happens to be one of my favourite “sideshow” actors, plays and sings a version of the Beatles song _I am the walrus_. It’s raw and sounds improvised, but it’s great. I really like the original, but it can’t hold a candle to this version. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find it outside of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-remakes-better-than-the-original-song/172737/36 "2003-05-03T12:27:42Z")
Gotta agree with the Cowboy Junkies’ version of “Sweet Jane” being the best. Also, Counting Crows (whom I normally don’t care for) recently covered “Big Yellow Taxi” by, I think Joni Mitchell. Far superior. Warren Zevon’s cover of “Back in the High Life”. Even though it’s so vastly different from the original as to be almost a wholly different song, I prefer (slightly) Sting’s version of “Little Wing” to Hendirx or SRV’s. Willie Nelson’s cover or Arlo Guthrie’s cover or Steve Goodman’s “City of New Orleans”. Despite being a fanatical fan of Springsteen’s old stuff, I have to take Johnny Cash’s cover of “Johnny 99” and Cowboy Junkies’ cover of “State Trooper” as being slightly better. That being said, in my world almost no one is allowed to cover anything Springsteen did before 1987. The above examples are rare exceptions. Mary Chapin Carpenter’s cover of Dire Straights’ “The Bug” is equal to the original, although I’d love to hear her sing it with Knoffler on guitar. Jimmy Buffett’s covers of the Dead’s “Uncle John’s Band” and James Taylor’s “Mexico” both edge out the originals. Alright. I’m done. Time for sleep. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-remakes-better-than-the-original-song/172737/37 "2003-05-03T12:42:30Z")
DOA’s **WAR** is much better than Springsteens, and IMHO better Than Edwin Starr (may he rest in peace) ---
**Author:** ![Liz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/liz/32/17737_2.png) [@Liz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liz)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-remakes-better-than-the-original-song/172737/38 "2003-05-03T12:57:02Z")
I second the Johnny Cash cover of NIN’s “Hurt”. Also, Ozzy & Dweezil Zappa’s cover of the BeeGee’s “Stayin’ Alive” is one of the most awesome things I’ve ever heard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-remakes-better-than-the-original-song/172737.md?page=1)