# I didn't know that song was a cover **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 20, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163 "2010-03-20T19:33:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/61 "2010-03-22T19:58:43Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > ELO’s _Do Ya_ (1976) is a cover of The Move’s version (1972). Jeff Lynne of ELO was with The Move at the time, wrote the song, and sings on both versions. Similarly, A) Billy Idol’s version of _Dancing With Myself_ is a remake of the Gen. X version, even though Billy sings both versions, and B) Todd Rundgren’s version of “_Hello, It’s Me_” is a remake of the Nazz version, also sung by Rundgren. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/62 "2010-03-22T20:12:00Z")
I didn’t realize until pretty recently that _Whisky In the Jar_ wasn’t written by Thin Lizzy. Does it count as a cover if it’s a folk song, though? ---
**Author:** ![ScatteredFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@ScatteredFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScatteredFrog)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/63 "2010-03-22T21:16:25Z")
One tune that many people don’t realize is a cover – George Harrison’s “Got My Mind Set On You,” a remake of an old song performed by a guy named James Ray. George left out the bridge: “Everywhere I go, you know, bad luck follows me. Every time I fall in love I melt in misery.” The one that shocked me: “Can’t Get Enough Of You, Baby” as performed by Smash Mouth. I found this out when my wife started taking go-go classes, and one of the songs they danced to was a song with the same title – by ? and the Mysterians. I looked it up in the iTunes – sho’ 'nuff, _same song_! Just imagine Smash Mouth’s version, but performed as if it were “96 Tears,” complete with the annoying organ chords. I can’t believe I played it on the radio all the time when it first came out and never knew it was a cover. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/64 "2010-03-22T21:41:43Z")
> [@kelly5078](#): > > “Down on Me,” by Big Brother and the Holding Company. I heard the original (a 1930s recording) on the radio last year, but I can’t remember what album it was on. I was curious about this so I googled it. > [@](#): > > There is an appealing 1930 recording of ‘Down on Me’, (vocal, guitar and tambourine) by obscure gospel group, Eddie Head and His Family, on the wonderful compilation CD: ‘American Primitive Vol 1: Raw Pre-war Gospel’ Revenant 206, the late John Fahey’s label. Available [here on Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/American-Primitive-Vol-Pre-War-1926-36/dp/B000001Z3Z). ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/65 "2010-03-22T21:51:35Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I recall a lot of people didn’t know Toni Basil’s big hit “Mickey” was a remake of a song called “Kitty.” > > Also Don Johnson’s 80s hit “Heartbeat” is an old Helen Reddy song. (She really did a great job on it.) > > As for me I didn’t realize that Swing Out Sister’s “Am I The Same Girl,” was a cover > > It also took me a bit to figure out every other song Linda Linda Ronstadt did in the 80s was a cover. I think her only original top ten hit (in the 70s) was “How Do I Make You.” I must say no one covers a song as well as she does 🙂 Another of Swing Out Sister’s songs, “Am I the Same Girl” is a cover of the 1968 version, which in turn became an instrumental called “Soulful Strut”, covered by Young Holt Unlimited and George Benson (to name two). ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/66 "2010-03-22T21:55:26Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > And IIIIII will always love YYYOOOOOUUUU was NOT written for The Bodyguard and did NOT originate with Whitney Houston. It was written and recorded by Dolly Parton in _1962_ dammit. > > I m amazed at how many people do not believe this. My ex-Boss once askd me to get lyrics for the Whitney Houston song and chewed me out for getting the Dolly Parton song. Don’t forget Miss Parton singing the song in Best Little Whorehouse in Texas…y ahear? ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/67 "2010-03-22T22:18:56Z")
> [@Saltire](#): > > Kim Carnes’ “Betty Davis Eyes” is a cover of a song originally recorded by Jackie DeShannon. I can’t seem to find the original on the Web, but it was markedly different. It’s on iTunes - a sort of barrelhouse country version. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/68 "2010-03-23T02:41:01Z")
> [@bourbonstew](#): > > More famous by dint of being the version used as the theme song for _ **Charmed** _. Love Spit Love’s music should be instantly recognizable vocally by anyone into alternative music (like the Smiths) in the '80’s - lead singer from the Psychedelic Furs. Google returns 5,800,000 hits for “the smiths how soon is now” and 900,000 for “love spit love how soon is now”. ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/69 "2010-03-23T02:50:58Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Google returns 5,800,000 hits for “the smiths how soon is now” and 900,000 for “love spit love how soon is now”. I think that you’ll find it’s generational. I’ve gone out with at least two goths in their mid-20s with several years of gothdom each who I had to introduce to the Smiths and the Psychadelic Furs, but who knew Love Spit Love immediately. 1970s - “Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings?” 1980s - “Paul McCartney was in a band?” 1990s - “Paul McCartney was a musician?” 2000s - “Heather Mills’ ex- was famous?” ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/70 "2010-03-23T03:06:30Z")
I’m 27 and I’d never heard of Love Spit Love until this thread. Having listened to about 30 seconds of their version on YouTube I’m fairly certain I’ve never heard their version of the song either. Curiously, I hate The Smiths but love _How Soon is Now?_ ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/71 "2010-03-23T03:07:00Z")
I was surprised to learn that: “A Taste of Honey” wasn’t written by the Beatles, but by Bobby Scott and Ric Marlow. “Summertime” wasn’t written by the Zombies but it was from Porgy and Bess. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” is a folk song, not written by Lead Belly. “How Soon Is Now” as the theme of Charmed wasn’t The Smiths. Seriously, it took until around season 3 for me to figure that out! I even knew other Love Spit Love songs, too. Likewise, I didn’t realize that the version of “People Are Strange” on the The Lost Boys soundtrack was by Echo and the Bunnymen, not The Doors. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/72 "2010-03-23T03:12:35Z")
I would have guessed Orgy’s _Blue Monday_ is probably much better known than the New Order original nowadays, but Google returns only 100,000 hits for the former and 28 million for the latter. By way of comparison, “michael jackson beat it” returns 31 million. ---
**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:** [March 23, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/73 "2010-03-23T03:23:20Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I’m 27 and I’d never heard of Love Spit Love until this thread. Having listened to about 30 seconds of their version on YouTube I’m fairly certain I’ve never heard their version of the song either. > > Curiously, I hate The Smiths but love _How Soon is Now?_ I never heard of them, either, but I’m a little older, 34. The only “How Soon is Now” cover I’m familiar with is t.A.T.u.'s (the two Russian teenaged faux-lesbian band from the early 2000s). ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/74 "2010-03-23T03:39:17Z")
I went a few years or more thinking [**I Feel for You**](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81QDKnV36TE) was a Chaka Khan original. It’s by Prince. The Prince version is a ballad and thus not suitable for breakdancing. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/75 "2010-03-23T03:44:13Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Likewise, I didn’t realize that the version of “People Are Strange” on the The Lost Boys soundtrack was by Echo and the Bunnymen, not The Doors. Umm, how is this possible? People are Strange was on the [Doors 2nd.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_are_strange) album released in September 1967 and has writing credit as “the Doors” E & TBM was formed in 1978. so unless Echo has a time machine… ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/76 "2010-03-23T03:47:20Z")
> [@enomaj](#): > > I went a few years or more thinking [**I Feel for You**](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81QDKnV36TE) was a Chaka Khan original. It’s by Prince. The Prince version is a ballad and thus not suitable for breakdancing. Prince also wrote _Nothing Compares 2 U_ (made famous by Sinead O’Connor), _Sugar Walls_ (Sheena Easton) and _Manic Monday_ (The Bangles). > [@](#): > > Umm, how is this possible? > People are Strange was on the Doors 2nd. album released in September 1967 and has writing credit as “the Doors” > E & TBM was formed in 1978. > so unless Echo has a time machine… She’s not saying The Doors covered E & TBM. She’s just saying she didn’t realize it wasn’t The Doors’ version she was hearing. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/77 "2010-03-23T04:38:50Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > I was curious about this so I googled it. > > Available [here on Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/American-Primitive-Vol-Pre-War-1926-36/dp/B000001Z3Z). That’s the one. With the add’l knowledge of who sang it, I found it on [youtube.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcXTo2lYCWA) Thanks. ---
**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:** [March 23, 2010, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/78 "2010-03-23T04:40:08Z")
I didn’t know: “Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia (orig. by Ednaswap) “Kim the Waitress” by Material Issue (orig. by Green Pajamas) “Achy Breaky Heart” by Billy Ray Cyrus (orig. Marcy Brothers) “Hard to Handle” by the Black Crowes (orig. Otis Redding–though I heard this long before I started getting into Otis Redding. In the same vain, I don’t think I heard Redding’s original version of “Respect” until many many years of hearing the Aretha Franklin version.) “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper (orig. Robert Hazard) ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/79 "2010-03-23T05:01:08Z")
Lodi Dodi by Snoop Dogg is a cover of Slick Rick’s La Di Da Di, which I love. Just throwing that one out there because I know some younger rap fans that didn’t know that. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/80 "2010-03-23T05:02:21Z")
> [@Endymion](#): > > Once upon a time, I was in my friend’s jeep and the Bruce Springsteen version of “Blinded by the Light” came on the radio. I said to my friend, “I didn’t know Springsteen covered this song.” > > “This isn’t a cover” he responded. > > So it turns that the version by Manfried Mann’s Earth Band is the cover version. Don’t forget “Spirits in the Night” and “I Came for You”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163.md?page=5)