# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/161 "2011-02-10T20:24:57Z")
How about Elbow’s cover of [Independant Woman](http://www.rathergood.com/independent_woman), here played by dancing kittens. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/162 "2011-02-10T20:37:28Z")
Queensryche did a haunting cover of Simon and Garfunkle’s “Scarborough Fair.” Counting Crows’ cover of “Friend of the Devil” by the Grateful Dead was pretty good. Ben Folds, Ben Lee and Ben Kweller did a great remake of NWA’s “Bitches Ain’t Shit.” And I like The Dan Band. Most people know them as the band that sang “Total Eclipse of the Heart” during the wedding scene in \*Old School[/.] Youtube some of their stuff. It’s great. ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/163 "2011-02-10T20:51:54Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > I think it works best if you know the original … more of a satire than a cover. And who doesn’t know the original? ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/164 "2011-02-10T21:38:04Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I love the Over The Rainbow part of that song. Then he segues into What A Wonderful World, though, and the whole thing is ruined. ☹ That’s a different version. He first did it as all “Over the Rainbow”. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/165 "2011-02-10T22:05:42Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > And of course Ben Fold’s [cover](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSJxvi767kQ&feature=related) of “Bitches ain’t shit” originally by [Dr Dre](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KhUnu0T7G0). There’s also an A Cappella version [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjNNxnKVEpQ&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjNNxnKVEpQ&feature=related) This is an awesome thread. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/166 "2011-02-10T22:13:38Z")
I was surprised to find out that the Johnny Cash song “I Hung My Head” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcmbFKstspk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcmbFKstspk) was actually a cover of a Sting song [- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udhZ9U4Q8-A). The songs have fairly different sounds to them. ---
**Author:** ![irritant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@irritant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irritant)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/167 "2011-02-11T03:48:47Z")
Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice it’s All Right” as covered by [Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons (as “Wonder Who”)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTeBkoOTChA) Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm” by [The Specials](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igMMDzBKHyc) ---
**Author:** ![kevlaw](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kevlaw/32/2281_2.png) [@kevlaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevlaw)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/168 "2011-02-11T07:13:43Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > 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. Huh! I always assumed that Marvin’s was first! I thought Gladys’s “cover” was a bit cheeky after the sublime beauty of the “original”. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/169 "2011-02-11T13:55:13Z")
Patti Smith did a cover of “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” It’s fairly different from Cobain’s. I think there’s a banjo in there. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvR-JBPhnxI](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvR-JBPhnxI) ---
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/170 "2011-02-13T16:01:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by Peanuthead > 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. The Slits - I Heard it through the Grapvine https://www.youtube.com/embed/IQxvo_9DEqY?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque Smooth Criminal Stjepan Hauser and Luka Sulic https://www.youtube.com/embed/OlVbEclPj4c?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**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:** [February 13, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/171 "2011-02-13T18:36:16Z")
> [@fjs1fs](#): > > And who doesn’t know the original? My point was that if you had to know the original to appreciate it, it wasn’t really a success in its own right. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/172 "2011-02-13T18:37:28Z")
> [@SecretaryofEvil](#): > > There’s also an A Cappella version [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjNNxnKVEpQ&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjNNxnKVEpQ&feature=related) > This is an awesome thread. Yes, it was brilliant of me to start it, of course, I had help from a few posters here and there … I’d like to thank all the little people that made this thread possible! ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/173 "2011-02-13T18:42:21Z")
Yannick’s [Ces soirees la](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAPzTFlVUN0), a French cover the the Four Season’s “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night”) And I don’t particularly like rap. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/174 "2011-02-13T19:17:31Z")
I posted this in another thread a while ago and thought to put it in this one, but this thread had fallen off the first page. But here it is again so-- [Billy Stewart’s Summertime.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giIN7u4mBVc) The fancy mic work cracks me up. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2011, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/175 "2011-02-13T19:50:47Z")
> [@irritant](#): > > Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice it’s All Right” as covered by [Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons (as “Wonder Who”)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTeBkoOTChA) I’ll give you “radical” but I don’t know that it’s an improvement. The more souped-up arrangments and styling kind of detract from the soulful tone of the original, IMHO. > [@](#): > > Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm” by [The Specials](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igMMDzBKHyc) Also not an improvement. The tone is all wrong. There’s some serious rebellion and anger in the original song, and some intelligent analysis too. Not seeing a lot of that in this version. I’m thinking it’s another song that could be improved by a driving blues beat and a rough bass male vocalist … kind of Howling Wolf-ish … the lyrics sure sound like an old-time blues tune. ---
**Author:** ![justrob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@justrob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justrob)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/176 "2011-02-13T20:07:22Z")
I’ve always liked Dire Straights [Romeo and Juliet](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tim4VzHUUyQ&feature=related) but really liked the Indigo Girls [cover](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0bmHO4Qi7Y). I don’t know if it will have been succesful enough to pass **Evil Captor** ’s scrutiny but the way they make it a softer, almost timid at times, song really works for it. (I still love the original as well though.) ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/177 "2011-02-13T20:34:35Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > I can’t believe I forgot this one: > > Rush’s 1982 original version of [Subdivisions](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu9Ycq64Gy4). > > Jacob Moon’s 2008 one-man solo [cover version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4vd9OVLO7Q). > > He’s using looping techniques to perform everything you hear, by himself, live. He also got to perform this _for Rush themselves_ at Rush’s induction into the Canadian Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. They were suitably impressed. That is indeed awesome. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2011, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/178 "2011-03-19T00:30:53Z")
I just thought of another example. “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden,” by Lynn Anderson [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvyramcYAfQ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvyramcYAfQ), and the punk cover by Suicide Machine [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu1sL2gk7Eo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu1sL2gk7Eo) I hope this bump rejuvenates this thread for a little while. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2011, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/179 "2011-03-19T00:35:55Z")
> [@Lobot](#): > > How about “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by Devo? Turns the Stones version on its head. The Residents dropped that song [on it’s head](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpQU68U92wU). And Laibach did the same with [Sympathy For The Devil](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E-OsFSr5h8). ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2011, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927/180 "2011-03-19T00:40:03Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > Does Madonna’s “Ray of Light” count? Best thing she’s ever done. It is a to say the least radical reinterpretation of Curtiss Maldoon’s "[Sepheryn](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyCURI6PiaI)"from 1971. I prefer [my version](http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?PID=128884&t=4342). I also prefer my version of [Deeper & Deeper](http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?PID=129295&t=2792). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-of-songs-that-radically-and-successfully-re-interpreted-the-work/565927.md?page=10)