Anyone else seen the video (that link may not work…) of Alanis’s cover of “My Humps”? It reminds me of the Tori Amos album Strange Little Girls somehow, & not just because of “'97 Bonnie & Clyde” (actually, maybe more because of her version of “Happiness Is a Warm Gun”).
I know there are other cases of 90’s college-radio style covers of hip-hop. What other weird covers are there that really change the sense of the song?
Anything by Richard Cheese.
Everything by Cake sounds inherently ironic due to the singers singing style, but they claim that their cover of “I Will Survive” is not ironic.
I don’t really see that: it still seems a bit forced and self-consciously a cover. In a straight reading, it doesn’t change the meaning of the song completely, but it does seem more apathetic resigned to their decision and less crowing and celebratory than the original.
“I am the Walrus” by Lol Coxhill. The weirdest cover of any song. Can be found about halfway down this page.
“Walk on By” turned into a psychedelic-punk rave-up by the Stranglers.
A musical episode of Xena: Warrior Princess had a warlord singing a cover of Naked Eyes’ “Always Something There to Remind Me” and coming off like a complete madman. Not sure how weird or ironic it was but it was pretty cool.
Acoustic guitar god Michael Hedges doing Madonna’s Lucky Star or Neneh Cherry’s Buffalo Stance . And turning them into great songs.
Thanks! I have a bunch of covers of that song, now I have one more.
Lyle Lovett doing Stand By Your Man is my contribution.
“Boyz In Da Hood” by Dynamite Hack – Eazy E’s gangsta rap classic done as pretty, acoustic folk-rock by a '90s college radio band, drenched in irony.
“Gin and Juice” by the Gourds – Snoop Dogg’s early G-funk hit transformed into a semi-sincere bluegrass jam.
“Common People” by William Shatner, Ben Folds, and Joe Jackson – my favorite cover of all time, which turns the song by Britpop mainstays Pulp into something awe-inspiring and epic.
You do realize that the Naked Eyes’ version of that song was already an ironic cover of an old Bacharach-David chestnut?
I always thought the cover of one of England’s sexiest gay guy’s (George Michael) most famous songs (“Faith”) by one of America’s ickiest “manly” bands (Limp Bizkit) was a bit off.
Granted, the sex of the partner in the song is irrelevant but it made me think “Heh, you guys know that’s a song from a dude to a dude, right? PWNED!”
My personal favorite is Ben Folds’ rendition of “Bitches Ain’t Shit,” by Dr. Dre.
Top of my “weird” list would have to be Sid Vicious’ version of “My Way” and Devo’s cover of “Satisfaction”.
I wanna say the original was by the lovely Sandie Shaw, but I’m not certain.
I was at a bar with a rather eclectic jukebox and someone put on the Richard Cheese cover of “Me So Horny”…needless to say, everyone cracked up at a cheesy lounge singer mentioning the rather explicit instructions in that song 
That’s what I thought, too, but according to Wikipedia the original was by one Lou Johnson (unfortunately, the link on that name leads to an entry for a baseball player of the same name).
Cristina’s version of “Is That All There Is” took already ironic lyrics to depths (heights?) of irony previously unknown. Leiber/Stoller didn’t like her additions, so the single was pulled. (Now, I believe it’s available on CD.) Not Cristina Aguilera–this Cristina’s “hit” LP was the lovely, decadent Sleep It Off.
And I remember a hard-core punk medley on the radio: “She’s Having My Baby” & “D I V O R C E.” Didn’t catch the band’s name. But it was rather touching.
Aztec Camera’s cover of “Jump” by Van Halen
Does “absolutely horrific” count? If so, I was in Gap Kids last week and heard Mandy Moore doing a shitty cover of the Waterboys tune Whole of the Moon.
:eek:
Mary Lou Lord does a good cover of it as well. Mellow and acoustic until the guitar solo.
Cat Power does the Stone’s “Satisfaction”… its been awhile since I’ve heard it but I am almost certain she never actually says the word “satisfaction” in the song.