# Covers of Songs That Radically -- And Successfully -- Re-interpreted the Work **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2010, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927 "2010-12-31T08:05:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/61 "2010-12-31T23:21:17Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I heard [this version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vEStDd6HVY&feature=&p=FB2A700B1A28B590&index=0&playnext=1) of Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” before I heard the original version. I didn’t realize it was a cover of a Gaga song, I thought it was just a great song. I was very disappointed by the original version, which I thought the cover vastly improved on. HELL YES!!! I had heard Gaga’s version before I heard the Pamplamoose version, and had sorta found it forgettable, in fact, I forgot about it, and the Pamplamoose version just blew it away. It’s great to see some indies with relatively limited resources just crushing a massively produced hit. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/62 "2010-12-31T23:26:51Z")
Thanks to everyone for all the cover posts, it’s been fun spending the holiday just listening to them and comparing them to one another. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/63 "2010-12-31T23:27:39Z")
UB40’s cover of Neil Diamond’s _Red Red Wine_. ---
**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/64 "2010-12-31T23:31:41Z")
[My Way](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E2hYDIFDIU) by Frank Sinatra. [My Way](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIXg9KUiy00) by the Sex Pistols ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/65 "2011-01-01T00:42:28Z")
I was blown away by Stan Ridgway’s cover of _[16 Tons](http://www.stanridgway.com/disco/stanard/anatomy.html)_ ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/66 "2011-01-01T05:47:38Z")
I teach a class on creativity, and one thing I do to keep my brain flexible is listen to cover songs. And if a song can make you see something in the material you didn’t before, even better, so this thread is perfect! I have a playlist called “COVERAGE” with close to a hundred covers. My best ones have been mentioned here. But I’ve gotta link to Shawn Colvin [acoustifyin’](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7ITHanhV6A&feature=related) Gnarls Barkley. And Amy Lee from Evanescence brings even more angst to a couple of Nirvana songs: [_Lithium_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J4-d-zHnUM&feature=related) (and [acoustic](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxEgNSkh4ZA&feature=related)), and [_Heart_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bHJea6GGQE&feature=related)-[_Shaped_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwCmNlMJdnE&feature=related) [_Box_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB_q7j-cyY8&feature=related). Oh, and what’s cooler than Vampire Weekend name-checking Peter Gabriel in _[Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uumPG6Shr8M&feature=related)_? Peter Gabriel [covering it](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uhi2_oBdXM) (with Hot Chip) and singing “It feels so unnatural, Peter Gabriel, too. / And it feels so unnatural… to sing your own name!” And I just found Mumford & SOns do a cover of VW’s _[Cousins](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZewnRdoqg_U&feature=related)_. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/67 "2011-01-01T08:34:18Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > It’s not very radical at all and your second link is to the same song as the first link. Oops! Here is the correct link: [The J. Davis Trio’s version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3CJI5dEQN0) [Kate’s original.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bYXYlCbBJ0#t=0m11s) ---
**Author:** ![Sodalite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@Sodalite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sodalite)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/68 "2011-01-01T09:08:12Z")
[Placebo’s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBlAdApfK9U&feature=related) version of the [Kate Bush](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQW0K83q-po) song Running Up That Hill. The bridge (about 2:59) makes me all shivery. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/69 "2011-01-01T09:10:21Z")
I can’t believe nobody has mentioned \*\*Marvin Gaye’s \*\*cover of "_I Heard It Through The Grapevine"_, originally done by **Gladys Knight and the Pips**. The original was outstanding in its own right, but Gaye took it to a whole new level. ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/70 "2011-01-01T09:55:18Z")
Yes - America (Simon and Garfunkel), a complete 10 min prog version. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/71 "2011-01-01T14:37:06Z")
[Richard Cory](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwqwAy85CgY) - Simon & Garfunkel [Richard Cory](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukIEi8ZgqK8) - Them (Van Morrison) ---
**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:** [January 1, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/72 "2011-01-01T14:48:20Z")
[Laibach](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwdOX19_ETI) doing a cover of Queen’s _One Vision_ in German. Also check out their covers of the Stones’ _Sympathy for the Devil_, amongst others. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/73 "2011-01-01T14:49:04Z")
[Missed edit window] Perhaps I should add that, as I hear it, the _Them_ version completely subverts the trite message of the [original poem](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Cory_%28poem%29). It is just possible that the Simon and Garfunkel version is intended to do the same, but if so it is not nearly as clear or passionate. ---
**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 1, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/74 "2011-01-01T16:28:49Z")
_Tears On My Pillow_ [Little Anthony and The Imperials](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we2kmO24rgE) [Clem Snide](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN4ZHNdUrpg) Vastly different cover, I think everyone would agree. As for successful, not commercially, but it works for me. The energy of the Clem Snide version\* reawakened my interest in modern music, so it’s a success for me! 😃 \*It’s icing on the cake that I heard this on the Stubbs the Zombie soundtrack. Any song associated with zombies in any manner gets double points! ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/75 "2011-01-01T18:18:44Z")
Remember that Japanese pop song known as Sukiyaki in the U.S., by singer Kyu Sakamoto? [The original version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtXQ31F1A-k) [Jazz pianist Hiromi Uehara’s instrumental version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqVDIFaCK8U) ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/76 "2011-01-01T19:05:07Z")
Bill Parson’s version of Thomas Dolby’s **[“She Blinded me with Science”](http://www.amazon.com/She-Blinded-Me-with-Science/dp/B000SFJL98)** ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/77 "2011-01-01T20:35:27Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > [Iron Man](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MII3ns2KTBc) by Black Sabbath > > [Iron Man](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzgZJEpLuw0) by the Cardigans Holy shit. It’s like a torch singer traveled back from the future in order to be awesome! That cover is unreasonably neat. And I think I’ve a crush on the singer. ---
**Author:** ![akira5822](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@akira5822](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akira5822)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/78 "2011-01-01T20:37:34Z")
Not a massively different but one of my favorite covers [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRbKc32i09c](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRbKc32i09c) ---
**Author:** ![akira5822](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@akira5822](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akira5822)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/79 "2011-01-01T20:55:07Z")
Another favorite NWA’s boyz in the hood redone by Dynamite hack [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/cRbKc32i09c/maxresdefault.jpg "CHILDREN OF BODOM - Lookin' Out My Back Door CCR Cover (OFFICIAL VIDEO)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRbKc32i09c) ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/80 "2011-01-01T21:20:23Z")
This cover of Iron Maiden’s _Number of the Beast_ is probably one of my favourites: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OueweGTvps](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OueweGTvps) Also, pretty much anything off of Pat Boone’s album _In a Metal Mood_ is great. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927.md?page=5)