My list-
Don’t Start Me Talkin’-The New York Dolls
We Gotta Get Out Of This Place-Fear
Kaw Liga-The Residents
War (what is it good for)-DOA
(This is awesome-search it out!)
Hey Little Girl-Dead Boys
Help-The Damned
Stepping Stone-Minor Threat
and the NUMBER 1 ALL TIME GREATEST COVER SONG EVER IN THE KNOWN UNIVERSE…
ISTANBUL (not Constantinople) by They Might Be Giants.
Jon
“Black Rain” redone by Tricky.
I MUST disagree!!! Manson ruined a perfectly good song… I love the Eurythmics.
I’d have to agree that Tina Turner’s cover of “Proud Mary” is incredible. I actually saw an interview with John Fogerty where he said that every time he performs the song, he thinks of how good her version was. Best damn cover song there is, in my opinion.
You are absolutely correct! SRV’s version is better.
Another cover of a Hendrix song that deserves mention is “Little Wing” by Sting. Very good.
A few other notable covers:
Amazing Grace-- Ani DiFranco
Across The Universe-- Fionna Apple
Higher Ground–Red Hot Chili Peppers
Smells Like Teen Spirit–Tori Amos
Just remembered this one:
Dynamite Hack did a cover of NWA’s “Boyz-N-The-Hood” that is hilarious. The video is even better, with preppy white guys walking the golf course while acting like gangstas.
Busta Rhymes’ cover of Johnny Paycheck’s “Take this job and shove it”
Grateful Dead’s cover of “Not Fade Away” (Buddy)
Booby Darin “Beyond the Sea” (Some Fench Guy)
Janis Joplin “Me & Bobby McGee” (Kris Kristofferson)
and…Best. Cover. Ever.:
UB40 “Red Red Wine” (Neil Diamond)
‘Superstar’ by Midler/Carpenters was redone about 15 years ago by Luther Vandross. I love his version of that, so much soul.
‘Tears of a Clown’ by English Beat, I prefer it over the original which was good in it’s own right.
Ditto on ‘Brand new Cadillac’ and ‘Police and Thieves’ by the Clash. I remember when the former came out, reading a review and the reviewer said something like “The Clash have no right to do this song better than…(whoever did it, I can’t remember)” great.
‘Baltimore’. The Tamlins redid the Randy Newman song, reggae style of course. Probably my favorite reggae song, beautiful voices.
‘I Did It My Way’ was redone by Gipsy Kings, and is superior to the Sinatra version.
‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ by Nilsson. I was in a spinning class and the teach played this to cool down. After class I had to ask her who it was, I think it’s in some soundtrack, one of those Hanks-Ryan movies I think. The original was in some soundtrack too. 
Fields of Gold by Eva Cassidy.
She took a very good song and turned it into something incredibly beautiful.
Sea of Love by the Honeydrippers
Welcome to the Boards, Marianne!
I’m sorry, but are you trying to get yourself completely shut down. You do not deserve to be answering these questions, sure one or two answers that you like that may be obscure are acceptable but you make a mocary of original music! Cake is better than Gloria Gaynor? Blink 182 vs ANdrew Lloyd Webber? Jimi Hendrix, Maddona and U2? You are pyscho
“Red Red Wine” I much prefer UB40 doing it to the original by Neil Diamond! (So slooooooow!)
I also add that I’m quite fond of many cover songs as sung by… The Muppets.
(While my Guitar gently Weeps; Tenderly; Let’s call the whole thing off; Ipanema)
(but then, I am a huge Muppet fan )
And I rather like the *Sex Pistols version of “My Way”.
Black Oak Arkansas’ “Jim Dandy”…far superior to LaVerne Baker’s earlier version
Jewel’s “Sweet Home Alabama” over Skynyrd’s original (I KNOW most will disagree, and I love Skynyrd’s version, but she adds plenty to it!!)
“Alone Again Or” by UFO.
Time by Tori Amos (orginal Tom Waits)
Suzanne by Peter Gabriel (original by Leonard Cohen)
Blinded by the light by MMEB (original by Springsteen)
Song to the siren by This Mortal Coil (original by Buckley)
Broken bicycles/Junk by Anne-Sofie von Otter/Elvis Costello (original by Waits and McCartney)
The Damned does a (Heh)damned fine version of this as well. Speaking of Love…Prong does an interesting version of “7+7 Is”.
A cool, kind-of-a-covers/tribute album is The Chesterfield Kings LETS GO GET STONED, an album of a few Stones covers, a few covers of songs that are the type the Stones cover, and a few originals that are written to sound like songs the Stones would have wrote. They do a awesome song in the style of “Sympathy For The Devil” called “Long Ago and Far Away” that might be better than “Sympathy”. They also do a cool country cover (in a Stones style of course) of Merle Haggards (?) “Sing Me Back Home”. If you’re a Stones fan at all, get this record!
Jon
Everclear - Brown Eyed Girl
Lovers in a Dangerous Time- Bruce Cockburn’s version was good, but the Barenaked Ladies’ version was better.
867-5309 by Less than Jake