# Wait, that's a cover song?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 6, 2012, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575 "2012-01-06T01:19:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575/61 "2012-01-09T06:54:01Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > (psst! I gave you an out but you are letting your age show!) Hey, once you pass 40 what’s the point of trying to pretend you’re stll young and hip? 🙂 (The Broadway version of **Hair** began the year I was born. The movie was released when I was ten.) ---
**Author:** ![BeaMyra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@BeaMyra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeaMyra)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575/62 "2012-01-09T07:18:33Z")
> [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > Even Brannigan’s “Gloria” is a cover - of a recent Italian hit song. The late Laura Branigan used Diane Warren a lot when she first came on the scene. It really wasn’t a cover version. They took the song and wrote English lyrics to the music Diane Warren has bascially rewrote the same song for the last 30 years and had hit after hit after hit. Toni Basil’s “Mickey” which came out about the same time as Branigan’s “Gloria” was also a remake of an old song called “Kitty” ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575/63 "2012-01-09T07:46:40Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > Hey, once you pass 40 what’s the point of trying to pretend you’re stll young and hip? 🙂 > (The Broadway version of **Hair** began the year I was born. The movie was released when I was ten.) And featured the love of my life, Beverly D’Angelo, topless. Which she has since demonstrated. And I, as a one-time kid, can only say, “You were 10? You pass the heterosexuality quiz?” Wife baby-sat a couple of boys who loved the “Shena” series, thunderthighs and all. I mean, did you LOOK at them?" It proved to be true. ---
**Author:** ![Teufelblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@Teufelblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teufelblitz)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575/64 "2012-01-09T12:27:50Z")
The song “Kiss” always confused me. I thought Prince surely had to cover Tom Jones on that. I mean, Tom Jones is way old, right? Nope, that one was all Prince, and Tom Jones was just featured in the video by Art of Noise. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575/65 "2012-01-09T12:49:46Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I came here to mention the prolific, talented and heartbreaking work of Jacques Brel. > > I’ve often ranted about ill-translated covers of his work. Rod McKuen’s adaptation of _Le Moribund_ - a [satire](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad6m3OBSLoE) where a dying man ironically praises those who have helped his wife’s infidelity - into Terry Jacks’s insipid, lovelorn ‘Seasons’ drives me a bit mad. > > Anyway, he is also the same singer/songwriter who gave us: > > _If You Go Away_ - Terry Jacks\* > > \*Another lame McKuen translation, turning a heart-wrenching plea that is so raw that his live performance is [almost painful to watch, but emotionally true](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za_6A0XnMyw), into a wistful hypothetical. Yes. I know I’ve posted this here in the past, but I was in a band for a while that did a lot of Brel’s songs (in French), and the singer [did a translation of _Ne Me Quittte Pas_](http://theromanceofparis.com/pages/lyrics/ne%2520me%2520quitte%2520pas.htm) for me so I could get a better sense of the song. It is the most tragic lyric ever penned, in my opinion. _If You Go Away_ is a pale shadow. I don’t think it counts as a translation really, just a loosely related text that happens to use the same melody. To compare, the Jacks version: > [@](#): > > But if you stay, I’ll make you a day > Like no day has been, or will be again > We’ll sail the sun, we’ll ride on the rain > We’ll talk to the trees, we’ll fly with the wind > > But if you go away, if you go away > If you go away Brel: > [@](#): > > We’ve often seen erupting the fire of the ancient volcano > We believed to be too old > There are, I was told, burnt fields that produce more corn > Than the best April > And at dusk, for a flamboyant sky, doesn’t red > Blend perfectly with black? > Don’t leave me, don’t leave me, don’t leave me ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575/66 "2012-01-09T19:03:29Z")
A lot of people think House of the Rising Sun was an original by The Animals. Here it is, recorded in 1933 by Tom Ashley, who said he learned it from his grandfather. [Tom Clarence Ashley & Gwen Foster: House Of The Rising Sun (1933)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=147kS8O59Qs) ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575/67 "2012-01-09T21:07:31Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > A lot of people think House of the Rising Sun was an original by The Animals. Here it is, recorded in 1933 by Tom Ashley, who said he learned it from his grandfather. > > [Tom Clarence Ashley & Gwen Foster: House Of The Rising Sun (1933)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=147kS8O59Qs) Wow. Lots of versions on that link, including an almost unrecognizable Beatles version. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575/68 "2012-01-10T00:31:15Z")
I listened to and thoroughly enjoyed the song “Solsbury Hill” by a little-known band called Glass Moon for years before I ever knew that it was originally done by . . . (excuse me, have to go google this) Peter Gabriel. I still think the Glass Moon version is far and away superior. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575/69 "2012-01-10T03:22:29Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I’m sure the real fans always knew this, but I was surprised to find that my favorite Zeppelin track, “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You”, was actually a 50’s folk song [originally recorded by Joan Baez](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG9YUDaQk_I). Lee Zep weren’t real sticklers for crediting songwriters, so that’s understandable. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575/70 "2012-01-10T03:24:11Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > “You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog” was originally recorded by a woman whose last name was Thornton. > > Also, a number of songs from “Godspell” had lyrics written by other people, including “Day by Day”, “All Good Gifts”, and “God Bless the People”. Big Mama Thornton. Godspell used lyrics from several familiar hymns. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575/71 "2012-01-10T13:56:03Z")
> [@Roadfood](#): > > I listened to and thoroughly enjoyed the song “Solsbury Hill” by a little-known band called Glass Moon for years before I ever knew that it was originally done by . . . (excuse me, have to go google this) Peter Gabriel. I still think the Glass Moon version is far and away superior. All these years I assumed that was spelled “Salisbury Hill.” Have I really never seen it in print?! ---
**Author:** ![Chicagojeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@Chicagojeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicagojeff)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575/72 "2012-01-10T14:11:43Z")
> [@Roadfood](#): > > I listened to and thoroughly enjoyed the song “Solsbury Hill” by a little-known band called Glass Moon for years before I ever knew that it was originally done by . . . (excuse me, have to go google this) Peter Gabriel. I still think the Glass Moon version is far and away superior. Yeah that song is about Peter’s breakup with Genesis.. ---
**Author:** ![Chicagojeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@Chicagojeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicagojeff)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575/73 "2012-01-10T14:13:32Z")
> [@11811](#): > > Lee Zep weren’t real sticklers for crediting songwriters, so that’s understandable. Hence “Lot of Love” by the great blues bassist Willie Dixon.. one lawsuit later credited 'Whole lot of Love".. Also theirs “When the levee breaks” by Zepp original by Memphis Minnie.. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575/74 "2012-01-10T14:17:36Z")
Killing Me Softly With His Song was originally recorded by Lori Lieberman. Roberta Flack’s cover was monster hit, receiving the Grammy for Best Song. I once read a biography of Barbra Streisand that stated “Elaine Paige’s cover of Steisand’s “Memory” was a top 10 hit in England.” Methinks the author should have verified who’s covering whom? ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575/75 "2012-01-10T14:29:25Z")
Shawn Colvin includes Tenderness on the Block on her album Fat City, which I listened to plenty when it was new. It was many years later when I heard Warren Zevon’s original version in a music store. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575/76 "2012-01-10T16:37:37Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > “You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog” was originally recorded by a woman whose last name was Thornton. Well, Elvis was never a songwriter, so it’s not a surprise that all of his songs were written by other people, nor that many of them had been recorded by other people previously. I’m occasionally surprised when I find that an artist who USUALLY writes his/her own material has recorded a song written by someone else. For instance, I didn’t learn until after George Harrison’s death that his biggest solo hit, “I Got My Mind Set On You,” was actually an old soul song that James Ray recorded in the early Sixties. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575/77 "2012-01-10T18:02:38Z")
> [@Motorgirl](#): > > All these years I assumed that was spelled “Salisbury Hill.” Have I really never seen it in print?! The actual hill (and the song) is indeed spelled Solsbury, and is not in Salisbury. ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575/78 "2012-01-10T21:17:57Z")
> [@11811](#): > > Lee Zep weren’t real sticklers for crediting songwriters, so that’s understandable. [Quite](http://www.coversproject.com/artist/Led%20Zeppelin) ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575/79 "2012-01-10T23:24:54Z")
“I shot the sheriff” it was only after a couple of years that I founf it wasn’t Clapton’s but Marley’s. “California Dreamin’” by the Beach Boys from the original Mamas and the Papas. ---
**Author:** ![coolbyrne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bc79bd/32.png) [@coolbyrne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coolbyrne)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575/80 "2012-01-11T04:54:27Z")
“Hold On” by Santana is actually by Canadian songwriter, Ian Thomas ([Dave Thomas’](http://www.sctvguide.ca/episodes/images/gwn_takeoff.jpg) younger brother). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-a-cover-song/608575.md?page=5)