# Cover songs that are better than the original **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2010, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505 "2010-04-09T08:50:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505/41 "2010-04-09T18:29:11Z")
Sinead Lohan’s cover of Dylan’s _[To Ramona](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nHwILs8bdo)_ Granted, most of Dylan’s work isn’t about the vocal talent, but this is exceptional. Also agree with _Sweet Jane_ by the Cowboy Junkies. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505/42 "2010-04-09T18:37:20Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > (And of course it’s been covered like 500 times since then, in every imaginable style). [Man, has it ever.](http://www.amazon.com/Best-Louie-Vol/dp/B0000032IJ) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505/43 "2010-04-09T18:37:21Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > I’ll submit: > Joan Jett - I Love Rock and Roll - originally by The Arrows Agreed, one of the best examples of a vastly superior cover. > [@](#): > > Great White - Once Bitten, Twice Shy - more rockin’ than Ian Hunter’s version. Disagreed, the cover was duller and less energetic. Ry Cooder’s version of “All Shook Up” rocks and is a lot more fun than Elvis’ recording. I’m sure I mentioned this one in another thread, but the Dickies’ “Nights In White Satin” takes the Moodies’ song to a whole different level. And to maximally offend as many people as possible, I’ll offer that every Dylan song cover I’ve ever heard has been markedly superior to the original. And every Joe Cocker cover has been _worse_ than the original. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505/44 "2010-04-09T18:37:56Z")
I’ll take Van Halen’s version of “You Really Got Me” over The Kinks’. Vladimir Horowitz’s version of _Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor_, Op. 30 over Sergei Rachmaninoff’s. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505/45 "2010-04-09T18:41:17Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > Another genre that you could almost start a complete thread on is reworking of old blues songs. Of course, as with my Dylan comments above, this could be seen as sacrilege, if you believe the originals are sacrosanct. But I don’t. So my starter for ten is The Doors version of _Back Door Man_, closely followed by Led Zeppelin’s _I Can’t Quit You_ and _You Shook Me_. I can’t agree with that, man. On the other hand, I do believe that the Rolling Stones’ version of “Little Red Rooster” is better than Howlin’ Wolf’s. Fortunately, Willie Dixon agrees with me, so I cannot be stoned for my apparent heresy. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505/46 "2010-04-09T18:53:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Love that song, prefer the Animals version. Oddest semi-cover-but-not really version I’ve ever heard was The Five Blind Boys of Alabama (gospel group) singing the words of Amazing Grace to the tune of House of the Rising Sun. I like both songs…but not together like that. If you want to hear an odder one, listen to Andy Griffith’s (!!) cover. It’s on the album **Golden Throats** , and will have you shaking your head in disbelief. Not only can you sing “Amazing Grace” to that song (and vice versa), you can do “O Little Town of Bethlehem”. The album **a Twisted Christmas** has OLToB done in the style of The Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun”. Very weird. just for the record (hah), I’m not recommending any of these as good covers, let alone “the best”. They’re just outstandingly weird. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505/47 "2010-04-09T18:57:17Z")
I prefer the Puppini Sisters’ cover of “Wuthering Heights” to the Kate Bush original (and have had the opportunity to tell them so in person!). ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505/48 "2010-04-09T19:00:59Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > I’ll take Van Halen’s version of “You Really Got Me” over The Kinks’. OK, but you can’t ingnore the influence the 1964 Kinks version had on all rock music, especially metal and later on, punk. Interesting fact, Van Halen’s cover of “Where Have All the Good Times Gone” uses the lyrics from the Kinks original, yet the guitar riff is from another Kinks song ,“Tired of Waiting for You”. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505/49 "2010-04-09T19:34:56Z")
I’m sure I’ll think of a hundred other examples as soon as I post this, but here are a couple that come to mind immediately: (all links are to YouTube) [\*\*Fiona Apple’s \*\*cover of Elvis Costello’s “I Want You”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAJ2HK2Epqs) (w/ Costello on guitar) is amazing. Costello has basically said that the song belongs to Fiona now. It gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. **Nickel Creek** used to do[a live cover of Britney Spears’ “Toxic”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWQo0bktuAI) that is much superior to the original. **Amy Winehouse’s** [cover of The Zuton’s “Valerie”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQVxFPxYyw0) is also much better than the original. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505/50 "2010-04-09T19:46:36Z")
Bob Dylan is the poster child for this. I can’t even begin to name all the Dylan songs that other people have done better. **Peter, Paul, and Mary** with _Blowin’ in the Wind_, **Guns and Roses** with _Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door_, **Jimi Hendrix** with _All Along the Watchtower_, **Calexico** with _Dark Eyes_… The only Dylan song that I really think no one else could do better is _Everybody Must Get Stoned_, and I’m not even positive about that one. He seems to gracefully accept his place in music, too; it seems like everyone in the world wants to cover one of his songs. I love Jimmy Buffet’s cover of _Mexico_; that song is more appropriate for him than James Taylor, and I think that Jimmy Buffet also did _Uncle John’s Band_ better than **The Grateful Dead**. I have a cover of _Brown Eyed Girl_ by **Everclear** that I really love. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505/51 "2010-04-09T19:47:23Z")
I’ve never actually heard Snoop Dogg’s version of “Gin and Juice” but I can’t imagine liking it more than The Gourds’ bluegrass cover. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505/52 "2010-04-09T19:50:41Z")
Anything by _ **Richard Cheese** _. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505/53 "2010-04-09T19:52:15Z")
Eva Cassidy’s cover of Sting’s _Fields of Gold_. Jimmy Buffett’s cover of Van Morrison’s _Brown Eyed Girl_. To counter everybody else: as good as Hendrix’s version of _Watchtower_ is, I prefer Dylan’s acoustic version. Heck, I like Dave Mason’s cover better than I like Jimi’s. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505/54 "2010-04-09T19:52:36Z")
**[Aerosmith’s “Come Together”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klvWtrtIRyI)** squashes the Beatles original like a grape. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505/55 "2010-04-09T19:57:26Z")
Cream’s version of _Cross Road Blues_ is definitive. Robert Johnson would have been proud of the cover. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505/56 "2010-04-09T21:09:58Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > **[Aerosmith’s “Come Together”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klvWtrtIRyI)** squashes the Beatles original like a grape. Really? That one doesn’t do anything for me. Here’s the same song, with Bobby McFerrin and Robin Williams. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/P_7xoC6k7PA/hqdefault.jpg "Come together - Robin Williams & Bobby McFerrin") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_7xoC6k7PA) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505/57 "2010-04-09T21:20:24Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Really? That one doesn’t do anything for me. [Try the live version.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VokZ_GGZ5yY&feature=related) Sorry, but this just has more soul and kicks a lot more ass than the Beatles original. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505/58 "2010-04-09T21:23:29Z")
Alanis Morrissette’s cover of “My Humps” is about a million times better than the original. Came here to mention Johnny Cash’s “Hurt,” but somebody beat me to it upthread so I’ll just agree. I like Adam Lambert’s version of “Mad World” even a little bit more than Gary Jules’. Marilyn Manson’s version of “Personal Jesus” is better than Depeche Mode’s, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Cemetery\_Savior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Cemetery\_Savior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cemetery_Savior)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505/59 "2010-04-09T21:25:53Z")
I like the original, but Iron and Wine’s _Waiting for Superman_ is a really interesting take on it. I&W’s _Love Vigilantes_ is markedly better IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505/60 "2010-04-09T21:32:48Z")
Missed the edit window, but I also like Peter Gabriel’s cover of “[Flume](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7y7FC4m0iM)” better than the original (which I didn’t even know about until I heard the PG version). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-are-better-than-the-original/535505.md?page=4)