# Best Cover Songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 22, 2004, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478 "2004-04-22T18:44:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kitchen\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kitchen\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitchen_Wench)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478/41 "2004-04-23T12:47:37Z")
I’ll put in another thumbsup for “All Along the Watchtower” from Hendrix. Stevie Ray Vaughan- “Little Wing.” Big Head Todd and the Monsters’ version of Zep’s “Tangerine” My hubby loves “The Star Spangled Banner” by _Kiss!?!_ ---
**Author:** ![typhoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed8c4c/32.png) [@typhoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typhoon)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478/42 "2004-04-23T12:53:08Z")
> [@Spoot](#): > > Johnny Cash “Down By The Train” (Tom Waits) I don’t think Waits ever recorded that himself, so it’s not really a cover. Great recording by Cash, though. Another that I think wasn’t mentioned: The Rolling Stones’ “Love In Vain” (Robert Johnson). ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478/43 "2004-04-23T13:15:06Z")
I’m always late, and as such, most of my suggestions have been covered. As for Me First & the Gimme Gimmes - their best cover is the “Phantom of the Opera”. My personal favourite oddball cover is Jim Carrey doing “I am the Walrus”. But the best overall cover album ever, is Pat Boone’s “[In a Metal Mood](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000005KOE/qid=1082725906/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl15/002-2653008-2594455?v=glance&s=music&n=507846)” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478/44 "2004-04-23T13:17:07Z")
> [@SteveinSpain](#): > > Always look on the bright side of Life - Art Garfunkel (Monty Python) Bruce Cockburn has also covered this. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478/45 "2004-04-23T14:03:02Z")
The Clash have already received credit in this thread for several excellent covers. To that list, I’ll add: “Brand New Cadillac” orig. by Vince Taylor “Police on my Back” orig. by The Equals “Junco Partner” orig. by Nobody Knows For Sure In fact, with the exception of “Every Little Bit Hurts” (by Ed Cobb, first recorded by the Small Faces), every song re-made by The Clash was miles above the original version. ---
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478/46 "2004-04-23T16:38:46Z")
I’ll second: “All Apologies” by Sinead O’Connor “Pictures of Matchstick Men” by Camper Van Beethoven And add: “Animal Farm” by the Judybats (the Kinks) “Don’t Let me Be Misunderstood” by Elvis Costello (though I always forget who the original is – The Animals, maybe?) “Hot Burrito #1” by Belly (Flying Burrito Brothers) “I Hope That I Don’t Fall in Love With You” by 10,000 Maniacs (Tom Waits) “I Walked With a Zombie” by R.E.M. (13th Floor Elevators) “Wall of Death” by R.E.M. (Richard and Linda Thompson) – it’s not _better_, but it is _just as good_ “Ring of Fire” by Wall of Voodoo (Johnny Cash) “Ruby’s Arms” by Frente! (Tom Waits) “Time Won’t Let Me” by The Smithereens “You DOn’t Love Me Yet” by Bongwater (13th Floor Elevators) 'You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away" by Eddie Vedder (Beatles) “Withered and Died” by Elvis Costello (Richard & Linda Thompson) “Stairway to Heaven” by Dread Zeppelin “Cruella DeVille” by The Replacements “Underdog” by Butthole Surfers “Spider-Man” by Ramones “Because the Night” by 10,000 Maniacs (Bruce Springsteen/Patti Smith) “New York City” by They Might Be Giants (Cub) “Victoria” by Cracker (The Kinks) “Better Things” by Fountains of Wayne (The Kinks) “Interstellar Overdrive” by Camper Van Beethoven (Pink Floyd) ---
**Author:** ![Yamirskoonir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/c0e974/32.png) [@Yamirskoonir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yamirskoonir)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478/47 "2004-04-23T17:03:05Z")
My ska obsession started with **Save Ferris’** cover of _Come on Eileen_ (Dexy’s Midnight Runners). Single-handedly made me a devotee of their music, and of the entire 3rd wave ska genre! They also did awesome, awesome covers of **Operation Ivy’s** _Artificial Life_ and **The Waitresses’** _Christmas Wrapping_. And they do a rockin’ version of the _Carnival Cruiseline Jam_! Other favorite covers that are unique/awesome interpretations of the original song are **The Smashing Pumpkins’** _Landslide_ (Fleetwood Mac) and _My Blue Heaven_ (Walter Donaldson), and anything by **Skankin’ Pickle** or **Me First and the Gimme Gimmes**. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478/48 "2004-04-23T17:07:11Z")
I liked The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Let Me Stand Next To Your Fire,” David Bowie’s “China Girl,” and Patti Smith’s “Gloria,” although in each case the original was better. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478/49 "2004-04-23T20:15:48Z")
Elvis Costello - What’s So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love and Understanding? (Nick Lowe) ---
**Author:** ![Furry\_Mongoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Furry\_Mongoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furry_Mongoose)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478/50 "2004-04-23T20:36:52Z")
Been mentioned before… but the White Stripes cover of Jolene is really, really good. Before Vanessa Carlton came and wrecked it the Counting Crows version of Big Yellow Taxi was pretty damn good. My favourite cover ever though isn’t by a “big” band… but might be known around the Country music scene… is a cover of “Paint it Black” by the Cheap Seats… Been covered a lot… but this is a truely brilliant cover of a great song. ---
**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478/51 "2004-04-23T22:43:01Z")
_Smooth Criminal_ by **Alien Ant Farm** , far superior to the original **Micheal Jackson** version. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478/52 "2004-04-23T23:44:24Z")
**The Jam** did a great cover of **The Kinks’** _David Watts_, as well as a cracking cover of _Get Yourself Together_ by **The Small Faces**. ---
**Author:** ![Ender\_Will](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Ender\_Will](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ender_Will)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478/53 "2004-04-24T00:23:15Z")
Yet another vote for Hendrix’s “All Along the Watchtower.” Best cover ever. I’m gonna second Metallica’s “Turn the Page” and throw in Johnny Cash’s version of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” and AFI’s cover of Misfits “Last Caress” ---
**Author:** ![jweb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/71c47a/32.png) [@jweb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jweb)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478/54 "2004-04-24T01:04:01Z")
Tool did a cover of Led Zepplin’s _No Quarter_ that is pretty excellent. I’ll also add my vote for Nirvana’s version of _Where Did You Sleep Last Night_ (never heard the original though), and Cash’s version of _Hurt_. Oh, and **Nightwatch Trailer** , if you want to hear another most excellent Apocalypica cover, on their Inquisition Symphony album they do a cover of _One_. ---
**Author:** ![spiralscratch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@spiralscratch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spiralscratch)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478/55 "2004-04-24T02:19:51Z")
A couple more i thought of… Yo La Tengo, “Little Honda” (Beach Boys) Echo & The Bunnymen, “Paint It Black” (Rolling Stones) ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478/56 "2004-04-24T02:29:06Z")
**The Dickies** doing: _Knights in white satin_ (Moody Blues) _Paranoid_ (Black Sabbath) _Communication Breakdown_ (Led Zep) _She_ (The Monkees) And I love **Jeff Beck** ’s _She’s a woman_ (The Beatles). ---
**Author:** ![dook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@dook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dook)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478/57 "2004-04-24T05:43:57Z")
Yeah, anything by Me First is great. I don’t have my list in front of me right now, but I’d say their version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow is one of my favorites. Luther Wright & the Wrongs - The Wall (in its entirety) Clapton’s version of I Shot the Sheriff was infinitely better than Bob Marley’s. A fairly new country artist did a pretty good cover of Flowers on the Wall. (Simon & Garfunkel) Jim Carey’s delivery of I am the Walrus (Beatles)was absofreakinlutely SUPERB. I love it. Metallica - Tuesday’s Gone (skynard) Kelly Osbourne’s version of Papa Don’t Preach is much better than Madonna. Moxy Fruvous did pretty damn good covers of both Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Deep Blue Something and Psycho Killer by the Talking Heads. Lemonheads - Mrs. Robinson Some chick band did a damn good version of “I want you to want me” And somebody recently (Fountains of Wayne, maybe?) did a really good cover of Hit me baby one more time. I love a good cover, and am especially interested in cross-genre covers. The biggest exception to this is when any country band covers either the Eagles or Janis Joplin, I want to scream. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478/58 "2004-04-24T05:46:59Z")
> [@](#): > > Clapton’s version of I Shot the Sheriff was infinitely better than Bob Marley’s. I applaud him for trying an excellent song by a great artist, but I always thought Clapton’s version was very flat. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478/59 "2004-04-24T08:21:04Z")
> [@Alcatraz](#): > > Some chick band did a damn good version of “I want you to want me” Letters to Cleo. HTH, HAND. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478/60 "2004-04-24T10:10:11Z")
> [@G.B.H. Hornswoggler](#): > > “Ruby’s Arms” by Frente! (Tom Waits) Frente! also do a brilliant cover of “Bizzare Love Triangle”(New Order) My favourites are “Love Will Tear Us Apart” Swans - both Michael G. and Jarboe versions(Joy Division) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cover-songs/241478.md?page=4)