Ironic soft covers of harder songs

[Half_Man_Half_Wit]

@gallows_fodder

More in the “unique” covers category, I love the Afghan Whigs’ bluesy cover of “If I Only Had a Heart” from the Wizard of Oz. Greg Dulli makes the Tin Man sound like a complete psychopath, and it’s awesome. You can hear a middling-quality live recording here, or find a much better studio recording on their “Honky’s Ladder” EP (and you can hear it here on Last.fm).

In a similar vein, here are The Flaming Lips doing If I Only Had a Brain

@panamajack

Jonathan Coulton did Baby Got Back mellowed out and slow.

Damn, I came in here to post that one. Here’s a live recording.

Not necessarily ironic, but here’s Belgian girls choir Scala doing Rammstein’s Engel; they have a version of Mutter, too, I believe.

Does Paul Anka’s version of Smells Like Teen Spirit count? How about the Ukulele Orchestra’s? Or the (German) one by Erdmöbel? Scala have done that one, also.

And not exactly covers, but for a bit of amusing genre mixing (that gets a little less funny with every new iteration), there’s always Beatallica – here’s The Thing That Should Not Let It Be.

[Half_Man_Half_Wit]

@Half_Man_Half_Wit

Damn, I came in here to post that one. Here’s a live recording.

Heh, and just browsing YouTube I found this version, by “Sirs Gilbert, Sullivan, and Mix-a-Lot”…

[msmith537]

The Ramones do a punk cover of Sinatra’s “My Way”.

[Annie-Xmas]

Neil Sedanka’s 1975 cover of Neil Sedanka’s 1962 hit Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

[Ferret_Herder]

Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, covering Soundgarden’s Black Hole Sun.

[x-ray_vision]

@msmith537

The Ramones do a punk cover of Sinatra’s “My Way”.

No, you’re probably thinking of the Sex Pistols. But this would be an example of a hard cover of a softer song.

[Cat_Fight]

Since Nina Gordon’s “Straight Outta Compton” has already been chosen (it really is a good song, and her version highlights the strength of NWA’s lyrics).

“Rave On” may not be a particularly ‘hard’ rock song, but M. Ward’s cover is excellent and definitely a whole lot dreamier.

[Ludovic]

Iron and Wine’s Such Great Heights smacked of irony to me, although it was probably not meant so.

[LateComer]

When my friend Joe Matzzie did a slow cover of the Dead Milkmen’s “Punk Rock Girl” I thought it was the greatest thing (song not on web page, lost to time I suppose).

I also love Richard Thompson’s amazing cover of Britney Spears’ “Oops I did it Again.” What makes it work so well is that he takes it completely seriously, not making a joke out of it.

[Cat_Fight]

And how could I forget all the acoustic versions of “Smell Yo Dick”? It inspired a veritable movement.

[AndyPolley]

@devilsknew

Phish’s Freebird

Unfortunately, I could only find that rather untypical version of their Freebird with Naomi Judd which, in itself, might meet your OP’s criteria. The real concert experience usually involves a White Grand Piano, Men in dresses, and a free flowing, 30 minute, blues improv, of Freebird a la The Grateful Dead.

Even better is when Phish does their a ca pella version of Freebird, complete with wonderfully goofy, and strangely accurate sung ‘guitar solos’ at the end.

[GrandWino]

Nickel Creek does a fantastic cover of Britney Spears’ “Toxic.” Here’sa video of it.

I don’t know if it’s meant to be ironic though, as it’s already a pretty decent song.

[Quercus]

@LateComer

When my friend Joe Matzzie did a slow cover of the Dead Milkmen’s “Punk Rock Girl” I thought it was the greatest thing (song not on web page, lost to time I suppose)

That reminds me of the Circle Jerks doing a lounge acoustic cover of their own “When the Shit Hits the Fan” in Repo Man (and on the soundtrack album)

That’s got to meet the OP.

[BrainGlutton]

Dynamite Hack did a very ironic cover of “Boyz-n-the-Hood,” by Eazy-E.

[DoctorJ]

Unfortunately, I could only find that rather untypical version of their Freebird with Naomi Judd which, in itself, might meet your OP’s criteria.

Hey, I was there! (Except it was Wynonna.) It was in Nashville. They had already had the Del McCoury Band and Ricky Skaggs sit in on a few songs. Wynonna said that her divorce had become final that day, and was pretty obviously hammered.

I talked with Ronnie McCoury a few weeks later and he said Wynonna just showed up backstage and really, really wanted to do a song with the band. The guys in Phish weren’t entirely sure who she was. He wouldn’t confirm that she was drunk off her ass, but he’s the sort of Southern gentleman who wouldn’t.

[RealityChuck]

Eric Clapton’s acoustic Layla.

Going in the opposite direction (soft to hard), there’s Joe Cocker’s version of Cry Me a River

[Minnie_Luna]

I think what this perfectly illustrates how talented some song-writers and singers are.

Watching Richard Thompson do Oops, the song takes on a whole other meaning. It may have started out as a joke bit, but he just nails that song.

[Student_Driver]

Not quite ironic, but noteworthy: Young@Heart, a choir of senior citizens, covers songs such as the Ramones’ I Wanna Be Sedated. They do Nirvana, the Bee Gees, a wide variety of groups. There’s a documentary out on them, pretty interesting to watch.

The other day, I heard a soft cover of a song that I thought couldn’t get much softer. A Turkish restaurant was piping in canned Muzak-style instrumentals, and among them was a cover of Candy Dulfer’s Lily Was Here. It actually threw me for a loop.

[justrob]

Universal Hall Pass - Ring of Fire.

Universal Hall Pass - Ring Of Fire

[Mahna_Mahna]

Phish also do a pretty hilarious southern-fried cover version of Gin And Juice.

Other great covers:
William Shatner covers Common People (not a hard song to begin with, but it’s even less hard by the time he’s through with it)
Paul Anka does Wonderwall as a lounge/swing track
Travis turns Hit Me Baby One More Time into an indie-folk ballad

…and just for the hell of it, Nostalgia 77 does an awesome 70s funk remake of Seven Nation Army. It’s still pretty hard, but it’s miles away from the original.