It seems to me that one of the most reliable and artistically lauded cover song tropes, for respected artists, is to take a song and amp up the dark undertones, making it more pensive, depressing, gloomy, ominous, lonely, etc.; I’m having trouble thinking of many covers that brought out new upbeatness or sunniness in a song.
Can anyone think of some? Particularly non-ironic covers.
Bobby Darrin’s “Mack the Knife”
Bobby Darin’s version of “Mack the Knife” was a helluva lot more cheerful than the original.
The Scissors Sisters’ remake of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” sounds like the Bee Gees got hold of it and made a fast-tempo dance/pop version. (And I love it. 
)
I heard a country version of Piece Of My Heart, which, upon Googling, I learn is performed by Faith Hill. I’ve only ever heard the Janis Joplin version, which is a yelling, angry piece of work. This is sunny and ho-downie and makes you want to skip through the clover.
I was appalled!
Weird Al Yankovic polka, anyone?
I liked the Lemonheads’ more rocked-out version of Mrs. Robinson.
Manfred Mann’s cover of “Blinded by the Light” is a bit more upbeat than Springsteen’s.
Janis Joplin’s “Me & Bobby McGee” is much more upbeat than Kris Kristofferson’s.
10,000 Maniacs’ version of “Everyday is Like Sunday” was (marginally) less morose than Morrissey’s.
Louis Armstrong did the same upbeat arrangement a few years earlier.
Someone once did a disco version of Pink Floyd’s “Have a Cigar,” turning the song from a bitterly ironic comment on the music business into a congratulatory paean to how big people were going to be. Really appalling.
Bananananarama’s (sorry, I got carried away typing) cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s “A Hazy Shade of Winter”. Brrrr.
The most interesting one is “Seasons in the Sun” by Terry Jacks.
It was origiannly written in French under the title “Le Moribond” (The Dying Man), by Belgian poet-composer Jacques Brel. In 1964, Rob McKuen translated the song into English. Jacks rewrote the last verse and rearranged the words and chords in the chorus in order to “lighten up” the song. Jacks received permission to do this, but not the credit, so the royalties still go to Brel/McKuen, even if Jacks does say he wrote it.
Here you can find a clip of Nirvana giving the song a go. As well as an excerpt from Jacquew Brel “Le Moribond”.
Jacks was actually producing the Beach Boys when he first heard the song and got them to record a demo of it, you can hear a clip here.
If you want to compare, here is Jacks’ version of the lyrics.
Here is the version as song by the Beach Boys, which are very close to McKuen’s translation.
Well, technically it’s in reverse, but…
Green Day’s version of Operation Ivy’s “Knowledge”, though considerably slower than the original, sounds so much more laidback and fun, without the urgency of the original. Though the original is much faster, louder, and in-your-face.
Sooo… I don’t know if it counts. But I’m submitting it for scrutiny. 
“There She Goes” by the Las. A dark, scary, haunting song about heroin addiction…
turned into a pop love song by Christian band Sixpence None The Richer.
Stunned me the first time I heard the cover. I remember thinking, “Do they even KNOW what the song is about?”
I think you mean the Bangles.
Well, it’s a self-cover, but the version of “Hard Rain” on the Rolling Thunder Live album (Bootleg #5) is the rockingest, cheeriest song about doomsday I’ve ever heard. A lot different from the original or the other concert versions.
I don’t know, I’ve actually always been surprised at how faithful the Sixpence None The Richer cover is-- to the point of why bother. The arrangements are almost exactly the same, I think. Maybe the Sixpence cover is a tiny bit more lush in terms of adding some soft textures in the background, but overall it’s some pretty stunning unoriginality.
THAT’s what it’s about? :eek: Shit. I heard the song eight million times, and the blandness of Sixpence’s music and singing made it impossible for me to dig into it and find any meaning. Damn it, how I hate bad covers.