# Songs that should never be covered/played by someone else
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-should-never-be-covered-played-by-someone-else/977552
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** music
**Created:** [January 2, 2023, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-should-never-be-covered-played-by-someone-else/977552 "2023-01-02T22:34:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2023, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-should-never-be-covered-played-by-someone-else/977552/81 "2023-01-07T15:12:30Z")
> [@running\_coach](#):
>
> > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
> >
> > No one except Arlo Guthrie should perform “Alice’s Restaurant.” -
>
> ETA: No one should cover any of Weird Al’s originals.
Now I want to hear an Arlo Guthrie cover of “Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung.”
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2C-Hwr3ozk)
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### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2023, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-should-never-be-covered-played-by-someone-else/977552/82 "2023-01-07T15:15:36Z")
> [@Toxylon](#):
>
> Christian Death Metal doesn’t make much of a contradiction, but Christian Black Metal would.
Thanks, I must admit that I’m not very versed in the intricacies of different metal genres and couldn’t tell the difference between death and black metal. I assumed both were about the fascination with death, doom and gloom and general morbidity.
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### Author:  [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2023, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-should-never-be-covered-played-by-someone-else/977552/83 "2023-01-07T15:18:55Z")
The song itself sounds more like _Tombstone Blues_.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2023, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-should-never-be-covered-played-by-someone-else/977552/84 "2023-01-07T15:20:30Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#):
>
> > [@running\_coach](#):
> >
> > > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
> > >
> > > No one except Arlo Guthrie should perform “Alice’s Restaurant.” -
> >
> > ETA: No one should cover any of Weird Al’s originals.
>
> Now I want to hear an Arlo Guthrie cover of “Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung.”
>
> [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2C-Hwr3ozk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2C-Hwr3ozk)
How about a compilation album of artists that W.A. has parodied doing covers of his originals.
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### Author:  [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2023, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-should-never-be-covered-played-by-someone-else/977552/85 "2023-01-07T15:40:33Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#):
>
> An album of Who covers reached #2 on the charts. I’d venture to say more people have heard Elton John’s version of “Pinball Wizard” than The Who’s.
Not sure why but I feel a soundtrack album like that is something a bit different to a straightforward cover.
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### Author:  [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2023, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-should-never-be-covered-played-by-someone-else/977552/86 "2023-01-07T16:40:19Z")
nevermind
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2023, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-should-never-be-covered-played-by-someone-else/977552/87 "2023-01-07T17:31:19Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#):
>
> nevermind
Paul Anka - _Smells Like Teen Spirit_
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM_xvTaYavw)
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### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2023, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-should-never-be-covered-played-by-someone-else/977552/88 "2023-01-07T17:53:24Z")
Not a single song, but a whole band that is hard to cover and maybe shouldn’t be covered is AC/DC. To get that sound and that tightness and letting it sound so easy is hard to do. I have rarely encountered bar and cover bands that did AC/DC, and the times I did, it was awful. And where do you get a singer who sounds like Bon Scott or Brian Johnson?
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2023, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-should-never-be-covered-played-by-someone-else/977552/89 "2023-01-07T18:12:03Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#):
>
> Not a single song, but a whole band that is hard to cover and maybe shouldn’t be covered is AC/DC. -
Weird Al strikes again.
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lvGADgehKoM/hqdefault.jpg ""Weird Al" Yankovic: Alapalooza - Young, Dumb & Ugly") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvGADgehKoM)
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### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2023, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-should-never-be-covered-played-by-someone-else/977552/90 "2023-01-07T18:23:08Z")
Ok, with the exception of Weird Al. He can do everything. 😉
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### Author:  [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2023, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-should-never-be-covered-played-by-someone-else/977552/91 "2023-01-07T20:12:55Z")
Queen-Somebody to Love.
Awhile back I was thinking about having a thread on ‘What’s the most quintessential Queen song’, not your favorite, or the most successful, but one that’s just theirs, and that’s my choice.
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### Author:  [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2023, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-should-never-be-covered-played-by-someone-else/977552/92 "2023-01-07T20:15:08Z")
Covers can be weird, man.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl7rkIc9b24)
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az91u7ni1Q4)
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Tx4FyPf7s)
OK, that last isn’t a cover, but still.
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2023, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-should-never-be-covered-played-by-someone-else/977552/93 "2023-01-07T22:29:42Z")
> [@outlierrn](#):
>
> Queen-Somebody to Love.
>
> Awhile back I was thinking about having a thread on ‘What’s the most quintessential Queen song’, not your favorite, or the most successful, but one that’s just theirs, and that’s my choice.
I dunno. I really like this cover.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QOWwIUJods)
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2023, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-should-never-be-covered-played-by-someone-else/977552/94 "2023-01-07T22:39:25Z")
Are you referring to either of these horrid examples?
[©John Mayer sings American Pie (HD) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqOKdRwRytI)
[Madonna - American Pie (Official Video) [HD] - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4RDB-mMDJg)
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### Author:  [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2023, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-should-never-be-covered-played-by-someone-else/977552/95 "2023-01-08T03:09:35Z")
Cream - No original Cream song should never be played by anyone but Cream. After decades of searching and listening to “kinda Cream”, including 2/3rds combos like Jack and Ginger, Jack and Eric. I’ve come to realize that it was only those short 2 1/2 years (actually more like two years, only after they started jamming live), that were the truly magic moments that defined their legacy.
Even their reunion, with the possible exception of _Spoonful_ lacked the “We’re playing for ourselves!” attitude that made them so great.
I’ll give a couple of okay’s to Hendrix playing _Sunshine of Your Love_, especially the way he makes his guitar “sing” the lyrics.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0qOVMeHZ6g)
And Rory Gallagher playing lead on _Politician_ despite not knowing the song, except for a Jack explaining it’s a blues tempo and humming a few bars backstage.
Argghhh…I can’t find the video!
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### Author:  [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2023, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-should-never-be-covered-played-by-someone-else/977552/96 "2023-01-08T03:24:59Z")
> [@Didi44](#):
>
> Any Black Sabbath song, originally sung by Ozzie and OMG! NOT DIO!
**Cake** ’s cover of War Pigs is GREAT
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### Author:  [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2023, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-should-never-be-covered-played-by-someone-else/977552/97 "2023-01-13T01:38:33Z")
> [@Didi44](#):
>
> Cream - No original Cream song should never be played by anyone but Cream.
You can’t say Ella didn’t try:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV4bZDkh7RI)
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### Author:  [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2023, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-should-never-be-covered-played-by-someone-else/977552/98 "2023-01-13T01:46:27Z")
If there’s a “Worst of Ella” album, that belongs on it.
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### Author:  [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2023, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-should-never-be-covered-played-by-someone-else/977552/99 "2023-01-13T16:09:27Z")
My criteria is not just the singer, but the musical interplay of the musicians. It’s been said that Cream was two bands, studio Cream and live Cream. I spent decades listening to them individually and in pairs, play “their songs” and they have never replicated the magic of their live performances.
Someone said sometimes it was “war” onstage as they played with and against each other, alternately taking the lead. This the type of “war” I can fully support!
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