# Cover songs that missed the spirit of the originals? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 4, 2018, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543 "2018-12-04T09:27:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543/81 "2018-12-07T01:48:01Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > [What do I win?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye3ecDYxOkg) I was going to suggest a bad cover song, but you’ve kind of wasted the competition with that one. OMG, that’s awful. ---
**Author:** ![BenedictusXIV](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b19c9b/32.png) [@BenedictusXIV](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BenedictusXIV)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543/82 "2018-12-07T12:33:17Z")
I’ve never been a great Bon Jovi fan, mainly because I never got “living on a prayer”. With lyrics all about sadness and misery, somehow the boomba-boomba bass and the happy chant chorus just didn’t fit. It wasn’t until many years later that I learned the song was written as a ballad and then got produced into a hit by the Canadian chartbuster Bruce Fairbairn (AC/DC, Aerosmith, etc.). So essentially they covered their own song and definitely not in the spirit it was written. The Italian ska band Giuliano Palma & The Bluebeaters did a cover of “Don’t Bring Me Down” (ELO) that totally breaks with the spirit of the original. It’s still lots of fun though and it revealed to me that ELO songs may be slightly overrated to begin with. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543/83 "2018-12-07T13:42:55Z")
> [@cookingwithgas](#): > > sweet jesus… iswydt ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543/84 "2018-12-07T14:21:02Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Fast forward to 1994, and the very same song was covered by [Toad the Wet Sprocket](https://youtu.be/3em45zhVQ1E). > > I’m not calling the TtWS version bad, per se. But it’s so vastly different from the original that there’s no drive to it. There’s no energy. It’s completely stripped of all of the power that made the original so great, and the Poison version at least decent. The problem with this cover is that Toad the Wet Sprocket does not “rock”. Neither at night nor part of every day. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543/85 "2018-12-07T15:38:15Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Boy oh boy do I disagree with all of this. There is no way a song describing the night of a boyfriend killing his girlfriend in a car accident can be anything but sad. The original version makes absolutely no sense as the peppy 60s beat. Pearl Jam nailed it. > [@RickJay](#): > > I would argue that Pearl Jam’s “Last Kiss” misses the point of music and joy and a reason to live. These two posts make clear that often, the meaning of a song is in the ear of the belistener. But I will make the important argument here: the “spirit of the original” is ALWAYS the spirit with which it is imbued by the original artist. In the case of this song, that was actually Wayne Cochran, who wrote it, and recorded it, and got no where with it. [You can listen to his original version here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsQ5W90M5Tw). As you can hear, [this is almost identical to the version done by J. Frank Wilson & the Cavaliers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEWW2pMX-g0). Since they essentially popularized the song (I doubt much of anyone recalls the attempt by Cochran to get people to listen to it), and sang essentially the same spirit to the song, we can, I think, consider it the “spirit of the original”. And it is quite clear that, for whatever reason (popularity of that type of music, most likely), the original spirit of the song is upbeat, NOT downbeat. Pearl Jam’s version may make more “sense” to some, but it totally misses the “spirit of the original”. As shown by the quotes above, that may be good or bad; ymmv. > [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I can’t say the same for the subtext or whatever about Disturbed’s version of Sound of Silence other than it takes the original’s creepy vibe and makes it more powerful. > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Agreed. I grew up listening to Simon and Garfunkel, and am a big fan of Paul Simon. And very much _not_ a fan of metal. But Disturbed’s “Sound Of Silence” absolutely nailed the song’s outrage at the alienation and isolation it’s describing. It’s a powerful cover of a powerful song. > [@Brayne\_Ded](#): > > I found it interesting The original “Sounds of Silence” is not a song of “outrage”. If you think so, I suggest re-listening to the lyrics. It’s a song about futility, a resigned confession to the darkness that no one is “listening”, that the masses are just led by whatever bright, shiny thing catches their eye at the moment. There’s no “outrage”. And whatever “creepy” vibe it has, that vibe is not in any way helped by the fact that Disturbed take the third verse, kick it up an octave, and start screaming their way through the song, as if in some deft counter-point to the whole concept of the “sound of silence”. As I said, their cover is eminently listenable; I have it on my iTunes and it gets played fairly often by choice. But it totally misses the point, the “spirit” of the original. ---
**Author:** ![txjim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@txjim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txjim)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543/86 "2018-12-07T15:45:58Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > [What do I win?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye3ecDYxOkg) [Sorry, you have to beat this to declare victory](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lul-Y8vSr0I) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543/87 "2018-12-07T16:39:36Z")
“Ol’ Man River” is probably the most iconic song of the burden of black slaves at the hands of white owners. That is, until Bing Crosby came up with his [jazzy, upbeat version](https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-adk-adk_sbnt&hsimp=yhs-adk_sbnt&hspart=adk&p=youtube+old+man+river+bing+crosby#id=2&vid=be822e40a3764014eaabc05448e03da7&action=click). ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543/88 "2018-12-07T16:59:21Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > I had no idea that Big Brother & the Holding Company was _not_ the original [_Piece of My Heart_]. Ignorance fought. Sometimes life can surprise you. A while back at a party on the host’s mix tape the Flying Lizards’ version of [_Money (That’s What I Want)_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-P2qL3qkzk) came up.[sup]1[/sup] The host, about ten years younger than I, indicated he thought it was original with them. “You gotta be kidding me!” I said.[sup]2[/sup] ["The Beatles](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeWjEYhk7Xo) did it like fifty years ago." When I got home I went to YouTube to send him a link to what the “original” sounded like, only to discover the Fab Four’s version was itself a cover of R&B artist, Barrett Strong’s [version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5KU34DrrPI). Knowing the Beatles’ early history I should have known. I confessed my ignorance in the email I sent the host. [sup]1[/sup]Not that it’s grist for this thread; I kind of like it. [sup]2[/sup]I mean, he’s a Deadhead for crying out loud. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543/89 "2018-12-07T18:28:55Z")
The Carpenters covered ‘Ticket to Ride’( Beatles) in a slow ballad-y version. It is bad. It seems they got good reviews though. They did a bunch of covers. Harry Nilsson did a whole album of standards. Some were pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543/90 "2018-12-07T18:40:12Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > The problem with this cover is that Toad the Wet Sprocket does not “rock”. Neither at night nor part of every day. It seems pretty clear to me that the cover is at least somewhat tongue-in-cheek. Heck, even Gene Simmons had good things to say about it: > [@](#): > > I give that an absolute ‘A’ just for balls-to-the-wall bravery … to me, Toad’s version is every bit as relevant as everyone else’s, ours included." [Cite](http://ultimateclassicrock.com/toad-the-wet-sprocket-rock-and-roll-all-nite-terrible-classic-rock-covers/). I’ve never heard that cover before, but, yes, it fits the OP very well, but it’s also a pretty good cover. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Thomas\_Erpingham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9adbd/32.png) [@Sir\_Thomas\_Erpingham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Thomas_Erpingham)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543/91 "2018-12-07T20:40:44Z")
How about Nils Lofgren’s cover of For Your Love? It was so sleepy it knocked the entire Cry Tough album down from an A to about a B-. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Thomas\_Erpingham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9adbd/32.png) [@Sir\_Thomas\_Erpingham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Thomas_Erpingham)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543/92 "2018-12-07T20:42:16Z")
How about Nils Lofgren’s cover of For Your Love? It was so sleepy it knocked the entire Cry Tough album down from a solid A to about a B-. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543/93 "2018-12-07T21:09:46Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > The problem with this cover is that Toad the Wet Sprocket does not “rock”. Which is also what dooms Britany Spear’s version of “I Love Rock and Roll” ---
**Author:** ![doverpro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@doverpro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doverpro)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543/94 "2018-12-07T21:50:02Z")
Hilary Duff covering “My Generation.” She changes a crucial line: “Hope I don’t die before I get old.” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ue5kotMLjws/hqdefault.jpg "My Generation") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue5kotMLjws) ---
**Author:** ![ReptoidBusiness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b5e925/32.png) [@ReptoidBusiness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReptoidBusiness)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543/95 "2018-12-07T23:03:12Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > Bowie’s _John, I’m Only Dancing_, released in 1972, is an amazing song, with all the hard rocking, gender-bending beauty of the best early Bowie music. > > He remade it in 1974, changing everything but the chorus and making it into a disco track. > > Not your best idea, Dave. I actually love the soul version, “John, I’m Only Dancing (Again)” because I think it draws a perfect parallel between Bowie’s mental states at each time. I’m not sure that was necessarily his intention but I think the artistry in the second version is how much it seems a perversion of the original. It’s coked out, plastic, bloated, goes on and on and on, etc. There’s a BBC documentary called _Cracked Actor_ about Bowie’s move to Hollywood and his change in direction from glam rock to plastic soul, a term that he quoted to describe his music during this period, so I don’t think he was completely ignorant about the impression it put out there. The documentary ends with his live performance of “John, I’m Only Dancing (Again)” and a stoic voiceover proclaiming something like “So, he finally became a soul singer” with aerial footage of the Hollywood Bowl. But the original, unaired cut that the BBC (probably wisely) decided to edit showed Bowie being filmed (without his knowledge) through a crack in his dressing room door as he chugs milk, sniffs from an enormous bag of coke and slumps down in a chair, staring at himself in the mirror, all soundtracked to “John, I’m Only Dancing (Again)”. When he realizes he’s being filmed, he jumps up, pulls a girl into the room with him, leans out and says something to the cameraman with a somewhat threatening, cartoonish grin before slamming the door in his face. As a huge Bowie fan, I always loved that juxtaposition and felt it was so perfectly resonant of his fractured mental state at the time. So, I totally agree with you, it missed the point of the original. But I actually think it was artistically, though most likely unintentionally, brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543/96 "2018-12-08T03:31:39Z")
Any version of “Angel of the morning”. All the versions you’ve heard, including Juice Newton, play the song as an adult women. So the implication is that it’s a one night stand, or it’s a doomed relationship for some other reason. But in 1967, Billie Davis, then only 21~22, sang it as a teenager in love with an alder man. As she had been at 17. There’s an underlying background of naive innocence and trust and hope that just doesn’t exist in the later well known versions. [Angel of the morning](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXZqdEAPR9U) ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543/97 "2018-12-08T05:23:47Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Any version of “Angel of the morning”. > > All the versions you’ve heard, including Juice Newton, play the song as an adult women. So the implication is that it’s a one night stand, or it’s a doomed relationship for some other reason. > > But in 1967, Billie Davis, then only 21~22, sang it as a teenager in love with an alder man. As she had been at 17. There’s an underlying background of naive innocence and trust and hope that just doesn’t exist in the later well known versions. > > [Angel of the morning](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXZqdEAPR9U) That was nice. I had never heard of this singer. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543/98 "2018-12-08T05:42:47Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > Personally I find that Janis Joplin frequently overdid the soul side of her song far too much, and Piece of my Heart was one such example, > > so here is the original, I didn’t know Aretha had a big sister. I like that version better than Janis. I also preferred the original version of [Cry Baby by Garnet Mimms.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBVFcnbAz28) I know this is heresy coming from a child of the 60s, but I always thought Janis sounded rather like she was being burned alive. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543/99 "2018-12-08T08:39:35Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Any version of “Angel of the morning”. > > All the versions you’ve heard, including Juice Newton, play the song as an adult women. So the implication is that it’s a one night stand, or it’s a doomed relationship for some other reason. > > But in 1967, Billie Davis, then only 21~22, sang it as a teenager in love with an alder man. As she had been at 17. There’s an underlying background of naive innocence and trust and hope that just doesn’t exist in the later well known versions. > > [Angel of the morning](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXZqdEAPR9U) I thought she was a working girl actually ……… ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543/100 "2018-12-08T22:33:49Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Any version of “Angel of the morning”. > > All the versions you’ve heard, including Juice Newton, play the song as an adult women. So the implication is that it’s a one night stand, or it’s a doomed relationship for some other reason. > > But in 1967, Billie Davis, then only 21~22, sang it as a teenager in love with an alder man. As she had been at 17. There’s an underlying background of naive innocence and trust and hope that just doesn’t exist in the later well known versions. > > [Angel of the morning](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXZqdEAPR9U) I am sad that I am only now learning of this version. It is lovely, and does read 100% “been there, felt that” authentic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-songs-that-missed-the-spirit-of-the-originals/825543.md?page=6)