# Covered by a woman? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 27, 2011, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covered-by-a-woman/569181 "2011-01-27T14:19:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![67java89](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/aeb1de/32.png) [@67java89](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/67java89)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covered-by-a-woman/569181/1 "2011-01-27T14:19:09Z")
I was listening to The Pina Colada song on the radio, and it reminded of how I felt the first time I heard it when I was young. I thought, “This guy is a real pig,” then when you think about it, his girlfriend is doing the same thing. I wonder how the song would have gone over if it had been sung by a woman? This got me thinking, what songs would you like to see covered by an artist of the opposite sex? ---
**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:** [January 27, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covered-by-a-woman/569181/2 "2011-01-27T14:36:12Z")
One song I wouldn’t want to here covered by a guy is Charlene’s circa 1981 hit _I’ve been to Paradise (But I’ve Never Been to Me)_. I saw a copy of the sheet music once, and it had lyrics for a guy to sing the song to. They’re even more insipid that the ones Charlene sings. I know that the song has been covered by guys, but I’ve thankfully never heard any of these versions. According to the Wikipedia entry on it, the song was originally written for a guy, and Charlene’s lyrics are actually the revision. This is enough to make me lose all hope. > **[I've Never Been to Me](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27ve_Never_Been_to_Me)** > > "I've Never Been to Me" is a ballad, written and composed by Ron Miller and Kenneth Hirsch and made popular via a recording by American singer Charlene. Although its original release in 1977 barely registered on the Billboard Hot 100, its re-release in 1982 hit #3 in the US and earned her a gold certification in Australia, where it held the #1 spot for six weeks. In addition, the song topped the charts in Canada (4 weeks), Ireland (3 weeks) and the United Kingdom. It was also a top ten triu The... ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covered-by-a-woman/569181/3 "2011-01-27T14:50:18Z")
Britney Spears is tryna make a comeback. Let’s see her cover AC/DC’s _Big Balls_, with reversed lyrics. Either her or Susan Boyle. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covered-by-a-woman/569181/4 "2011-01-27T15:15:12Z")
I’d like Britney to cover “Sideshow” by Blue Magic. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covered-by-a-woman/569181/5 "2011-01-27T15:45:33Z")
I can think of a few existing ones I’ve liked. RESPECT was originally written for a man Don’t remember who did it, but there was a cover of I WILL SURVIVE by a male singer that I liked. Indigo Girls did ROMEO AND JULIET (by Dire Straits), which worked reasonably well. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covered-by-a-woman/569181/6 "2011-01-27T15:54:53Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Don’t remember who did it, but there was a cover of I WILL SURVIVE by a male singer that I liked. Cake, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covered-by-a-woman/569181/7 "2011-01-27T15:58:31Z")
_Every Breath You Take_ should be covered by a woman but renamed _Psycho Bitch_. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covered-by-a-woman/569181/8 "2011-01-27T16:31:47Z")
I have a feeling a reversed-gender version of _Goodbye Earl_ wouldn’t go over very well. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covered-by-a-woman/569181/9 "2011-01-27T16:47:46Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/8Wvl6vvD0cg/hqdefault.jpg "AC/DC Tribute - Squealer") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wvl6vvD0cg) The Genitorturers take AC/DC’s Squealer and… well. That girl’s never gonna see a man again, I tell you what. ---
**Author:** ![Lethal\_Babydoll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@Lethal\_Babydoll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lethal_Babydoll)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covered-by-a-woman/569181/10 "2011-01-27T18:26:53Z")
**"A Girl Named Sue"** Then we can scratch our heads and say, “What’s your beef?” But still admire her fighting skills ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covered-by-a-woman/569181/11 "2011-01-27T18:33:28Z")
“The house of the rising sun”, takes on a very differant meaning when sung by a woman [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/rD80eZ6Gxz0/maxresdefault.jpg "Joan Baez ~ House Of The Rising Sun") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD80eZ6Gxz0) [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbCJtxEFlSA) ---
**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:** [January 27, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covered-by-a-woman/569181/12 "2011-01-27T18:53:57Z")
> [@](#): > > “The house of the rising sun”, takes on a very differant meaning when sung by a woman House of the Rising Sun was probably originally a song from the woman’s point of view. It requires quite a bit of work to turn a song about a traditional brothel into something about _male_ degradation, but it’s pretty straighforward for it to be about the downfall of a woman. One of the first (if not the first) recordings of it was the 1937 recording by Georgia Turner. But the famous version was by The Animals in the 1960s: > [@](#): > > The Animals’ version transposes the narrative of the song from the point of view of a woman led into a life of degradation, to that of a male, whose father was now a gambler and drunkard, as opposed to the sweetheart in earlier versions. > **[The House of the Rising Sun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_of_the_Rising_Sun)** > > "The House of the Rising Sun" is an American traditional folk song, sometimes called "Rising Sun Blues". It tells of a person's life gone wrong in the city of New Orleans. Many versions also urge a sibling or parents and children to avoid the same fate. The most successful commercial version, recorded in 1964 by the English rock band The Animals, was a number one hit on the UK Singles Chart and in the U.S. and Canada. As a traditional folk song recorded by an electric rock band, it has been d... ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covered-by-a-woman/569181/13 "2011-01-27T19:06:04Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > I have a feeling a reversed-gender version of _Goodbye Earl_ wouldn’t go over very well. Yeah, that’s part of why I can’t enjoy that song. I can’t get the niggling feeling out of my head that this is really, really sexist. I think that _Don’t Want To Miss A Thing_ would seem either clingy, stalkerish, or both if sung by a woman. _Roxanne_ might lose a lot of its punch, unless you could really emphasize a lesbian relationship. _Fat Bottom Girls_ might flop if performed as a girl-power song but might work if the singer can really emphasize the sexuality inherent in the song. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covered-by-a-woman/569181/14 "2011-01-27T19:56:16Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Yeah, that’s part of why I can’t enjoy that song. I can’t get the niggling feeling out of my head that this is really, really sexist. Well, there’s always “Delia’s Gone” or “Hey Joe”. (Though both seem less serious than “Goodbye Earl”). Forget to mention [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLjNGcd1whQ). I think it works because the song is third-person. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covered-by-a-woman/569181/15 "2011-01-27T20:08:35Z")
Cake’s old cover of I Will Survive was interesting for this reason. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covered-by-a-woman/569181/16 "2011-01-27T20:10:37Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > Forget to mention [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLjNGcd1whQ). I think it works because the song is third-person. Oh, that certainly works (god, I loves me some Me First), but a guy singing about how getting together with an old friend to kill his shrew of a wife probably might raise a few eyebrows (although to be fair, _Goodbye Earl_ raised a few of them itself when it was released). ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covered-by-a-woman/569181/17 "2011-01-27T20:21:46Z")
> [@67java89](#): > > I was listening to The Pina Colada song on the radio, and it reminded of how I felt the first time I heard it when I was young. I thought, “This guy is a real pig,” then when you think about it, his girlfriend is doing the same thing. I wonder how the song would have gone over if it had been sung by a woman? “Babushka” by Kate Bush is pretty close. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covered-by-a-woman/569181/18 "2011-01-27T20:31:45Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > One song I wouldn’t want to here covered by a guy is Charlene’s circa 1981 hit _I’ve been to Paradise (But I’ve Never Been to Me)_. I saw a copy of the sheet music once, and it had lyrics for a guy to sing the song to. They’re even more insipid that the ones Charlene sings. How about [a turkey from Dublin](http://www.we7.com/#/song/Dustin/Never-Been-To-Meath)? I’ve been to Bothar And Kilfanora And other places that are no fun. Stole a rasher From a butcher in Cashel And now I’m on the run… 'Cause I’ve been run out of places For paying with pesos That look like the new 10Ps. I’ve been to Tullamore But I’ve never been to Meath. ---
**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:** [January 27, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covered-by-a-woman/569181/19 "2011-01-27T20:43:31Z")
The Wikipedia page mentioned this, but I never saw the lyrics. Og knows they’re an improvement over both Charlene’s lyrics and the “original” male lyrics, even if they’re reduced to rhyming “rasher” with “Cashel”. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covered-by-a-woman/569181/20 "2011-01-27T20:58:33Z")
Janis Joplin did pretty well with her version of “Me and Bobby McGee.” Lyle Lovett does a very interesting version of “Stand By Your Man.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covered-by-a-woman/569181.md?page=2)