# Popular songs covered in a significally different style. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 13, 2005, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-covered-in-a-significally-different-style/312314 "2005-07-13T09:59:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kitchen\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kitchen\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitchen_Wench)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-covered-in-a-significally-different-style/312314/1 "2005-07-13T09:59:55Z")
I quite liked a snippet of and orchestral rendition of Pink Floyd’s _Comfortably Numb_ and it got me thinking. Who else has had their songs covered by artists of a different genre? I’ve heard Hayseed Dixie doing AC/DC bluegrass style (hilarious!) and Pat Boone’s album, _In A Metal Mood_ (yuck). Mom has an album of Queen’s tracks played by an orchestra (pretty good). What have you heard, and in your opinion, was it a butchering of the original, or worth checking out? ---
**Author:** ![Ithaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Ithaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ithaka)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-covered-in-a-significally-different-style/312314/2 "2005-07-13T10:24:45Z")
My next door neighbour plays for the [Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain](http://www.ukuleleorchestra.com/). They do brilliant covers of stuff like Come As You Are by Nirvana entirely on ukuleles. Whilst some of their stuff is very funny, they play it straight and are actually rather funky. ---
**Author:** ![Kitchen\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kitchen\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitchen_Wench)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-covered-in-a-significally-different-style/312314/3 "2005-07-13T10:31:48Z")
> [@Ithaka](#): > > My next door neighbour plays for the [Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain](http://www.ukuleleorchestra.com/). They do brilliant covers of stuff like Come As You Are by Nirvana entirely on ukuleles. Whilst some of their stuff is very funny, they play it straight and are actually rather funky. I love this concept. Ukelelies! I’m bookmarking their site and will give them a listen when they load some audio. Cheers! ---
**Author:** ![TheOnlySaneOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@TheOnlySaneOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOnlySaneOne)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-covered-in-a-significally-different-style/312314/4 "2005-07-13T10:57:40Z")
Snoop Dogg’s old song “Gin and Juice”: entertaining song. “Gin and Juice” covered by a bunch of country singers: hilarious song. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-covered-in-a-significally-different-style/312314/5 "2005-07-13T11:18:35Z")
Big Daddy’s “Cutting Their Own Groove”: “Money for Nothing” as “Sixteen Tons” “Welcome to the Jungle” as “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” “Ice Ice Baby” as “Johnny B. Goode” ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-covered-in-a-significally-different-style/312314/6 "2005-07-13T11:23:14Z")
I somewhere have a reggae version of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here, sung in a broad Spanish accent. Not a butchering but not much more than novelty value either. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-covered-in-a-significally-different-style/312314/7 "2005-07-13T11:25:40Z")
Oh and the king of doing this to screamingly funny effect in comedian [Bill Bailey](http://www.bill-bailey.co.uk/home.php) . ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-covered-in-a-significally-different-style/312314/8 "2005-07-13T12:16:51Z")
The London Symphony Orchestra recorded an album of Jethro Tull songs. It sounded pretty good. There’s also [Moody Bluegrass](http://www.moodybluegrass.com/) Joe Cocker’s versions of _The Letter_ and _Cry Me a River_ were complete reworkings of the original. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-covered-in-a-significally-different-style/312314/9 "2005-07-13T12:23:20Z")
Speaking of **Queen** , the kleptones (Nope, I am not going to link to it) have a song out called “Bo Rap”. Basically, it consists of clips of just about every remake of “Bohemian Rhapsody” ever made, strung together into a semi coherent whole. They also have other queen related stuff, but it is not so much remakes, as it is sampling. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-covered-in-a-significally-different-style/312314/10 "2005-07-13T12:37:24Z")
Weird Al commonly does this with his polkas - check out the polka mix of various alternative songs on his latest **Poodle Hat** - it’s called something like “Angry White Guy Polka.” It’s great. There’s also some guy (I forget the name) who covers alternative rock in smarmy lounge singer style. It could be [Richard Cheese](http://www.iloverichardcheese.com/home.html) - I don’t have any of his CDs, but heard a cover on the radio and it’s hysterical. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-covered-in-a-significally-different-style/312314/11 "2005-07-13T12:39:16Z")
I’m a big fan of the **Stranglers’** punky version of Dionne Warwicke/Bacharach & David’s “Walk On By” with its lengthy “Light My Fire”-style instrumental break. Also the **Nice** ’s Bached-up takes on Dylan songs (“She Belongs to Me,” “Country Pie/Brandenburg Concerto #6”). ---
**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:** [July 13, 2005, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-covered-in-a-significally-different-style/312314/12 "2005-07-13T12:54:24Z")
Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” covered by: The Bad Plus - Jazz (but good, soulful, rockin’ jazz!) Tori Amos - Mellow mystical pop piano The Moog Cookbook - Zany tongue-in-cheek electronica Paul Anka - Swing ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-covered-in-a-significally-different-style/312314/13 "2005-07-13T12:57:24Z")
At the NPR station where I work, I’ve seen a CD of the music of The Ramones performed by a string quartet. The morning guy has used it as fill music on Morning Edition quite a few times. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-covered-in-a-significally-different-style/312314/14 "2005-07-13T13:07:20Z")
**Devo** did the Stones’ _Satisfaction_ in a pretty twisted way. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-covered-in-a-significally-different-style/312314/15 "2005-07-13T13:10:50Z")
> [@TheOnlySaneOne](#): > > Snoop Dogg’s old song “Gin and Juice”: entertaining song. > > “Gin and Juice” covered by a bunch of country singers: hilarious song. The Gourds did that wonderful bluegrass cover of “Gin and Juice,” although on file-sharing servers, the song was commonly (erroneously) attributed to Phish or Ween. Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine do modern pop, rock, and hip-hop songs in the Vegas lounge-singer style, complete with tinkly piano and corny banter. Less Than Jake remade the entire _Grease_ soundtrack as uptempo ska-punk. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-covered-in-a-significally-different-style/312314/16 "2005-07-13T13:21:54Z")
**Mr. Blue Sky** beat me to it. I’m not generally a fan of 1950s doo-wop, but I _love_ the way Big Daddy transforms later hits into 1950s music. There’s a _lot_ more to their stuff than that one record, but most of it is sadly out of print. My favorite is the Star Wars theme done as a 1950s guitar solo: [http://music.channel.aol.com/artist/main.adp?tab=disco&artistid=12351](http://music.channel.aol.com/artist/main.adp?tab=disco&artistid=12351) There’s alsio Walter/Wendy Carlos’ “Pompous Circumstances”, which makes Elgars Pomp and Circumstance sound like a great many other classical pieces: [http://www.wendycarlos.com/+br.html](http://www.wendycarlos.com/+br.html) Charles Ives did the same thing with his “America Variations” back in 1891: > **[MYXA - Shopping Guides for Tech and Consumer Electronics](https://myxa.com)** > > Myxa features thousands of detailed shopping guides on Tech, Consumer Electronics, Home Appliances, and more -- so you can find what you're looking for. Back when I was studying piano one of my lessons was such a “take a theme and render it in different styles”. ---
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-covered-in-a-significally-different-style/312314/17 "2005-07-13T13:22:09Z")
A while ago, I was in California for a wedding. Whilst driving along some interminable highway in a car with power nothing, I managed to hear the most amazing cover on the radio – Billy Idol’s “White Wedding,” done in a big-band jazz style. It was a duet between a man and a woman, and it kicked ass…and I’ve never been able to track it down since. David Palmer put out a CD entitled “We Know What We Like,” which was a bunch of early Genesis music arranged for orchestra. Some of the tracks played like Muzak; but some – where they arranged a number of tunes into a medley – really rock. ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-covered-in-a-significally-different-style/312314/18 "2005-07-13T13:27:34Z")
Practically everything by Me First and The Gimme Gimmes ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-covered-in-a-significally-different-style/312314/19 "2005-07-13T13:27:58Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” covered by: > > Paul Anka - Swing Damn you, pulykamell! I came here specifically to post about Paul Anka. I guess I’ll just add that entire CD is swing remakes of popular rock songs. It is titled _[Rock Swings](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0009A1BXG/qid=1121261190/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_ur_1/102-7084218-2566521?v=glance&s=music&n=507846)_. I like the _Blackhole Sun_ cover, too. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-covered-in-a-significally-different-style/312314/20 "2005-07-13T13:28:03Z")
> [@RobuSensei](#): > > A while ago, I was in California for a wedding. Whilst driving along some interminable highway in a car with power nothing, I managed to hear the most amazing cover on the radio – Billy Idol’s “White Wedding,” done in a big-band jazz style. It was a duet between a man and a woman, and it kicked ass…and I’ve never been able to track it down since. That cover is by a late-'90s swing band called The New Morty Show, the singers are Vice Grip and Connie Champagne, and the album it is from is called _Mortyfied!_ . It’s a great album, which also includes a swing cover of Metallica’s Enter Sandman. You can order a ridiculously cheap used copy off [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com)’s Marketplace: [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000006CQX/qid=1121261213/sr=8-1/ref=pd\_bbs\_ur\_1/103-1918418-1553405?v=glance&s=music&n=507846](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000006CQX/qid=1121261213/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_ur_1/103-1918418-1553405?v=glance&s=music&n=507846) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-covered-in-a-significally-different-style/312314.md?page=2)