# What an awful cover version **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 21, 2006, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502 "2006-07-21T16:46:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502/41 "2006-07-22T06:29:45Z")
[QUOTE=Foldup Rabbit] Okay, I will absolutely second Madonna covering _American Pie_. That was dreck. Horrible. Worst cover ever. I will also put forth Rufus Wainwright’s _Halleluja_. I mean, it wasn’t _terrible_, I suppose. He, however, also wins the award for a note-for-note cover. And his cover covered another cover! Plus, Jeff Buckley was smart enough to realise that “outdrew ya” makes more lyrical sense than “outdrew you.” [/QUOTE] In a circular karmic sort of way, both Bono and Don Henley come up again - Bono for his wretched cover of “Hallelujah” on a Leonard Cohen tribute album the name of which escapes me, and Henely for his even worse hatchet job on “Everybody Knows” from the same album. The only mitigating factor for anyone covering “Hallelujah” is that next to John Cale’s version, even Leonard Cohens is crap. mm ---
**Author:** ![Foldup\_Rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Foldup\_Rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foldup_Rabbit)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502/42 "2006-07-22T07:23:08Z")
[QUOTE=mamboman] The only mitigating factor for anyone covering “Hallelujah” is that next to John Cale’s version, even Leonard Cohens is crap. mm [/QUOTE] I considered Leonard Cohen’s _okay_… Jeff Buckley sang the definitive version for me. It’s so sad that it makes me ache. To prevent hijacking this thread, I will also nominate Tiffany’s _I Saw Him Standing There_. The reason? Well, [epinions.com](http://epinions.com) said it better than I could. They had a hip, young teenager cover a song released before she was born in order to sell tickets to both teenage girls _and_ their mothers. Smart marketing, bad reason to cover. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502/43 "2006-07-22T08:24:38Z")
I’ve called the Guns ‘n’ Roses cover of _Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door_ a crime against humanity. I stand by that. As for Molly Hatchett’s cover of _Dreams_ (Allman Brothers Band)… well, I think the word Hatchett pretty much takes care of it. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502/44 "2006-07-22T08:39:29Z")
[QUOTE=Jeep’s Phoenix] And Sheryl Crow’s cover of _Sweet Child O’ Mine_ was pathetic. [/QUOTE] This is clearly the winner. I was gonna post it, and thought it would have been ranked higher, much higher. Clearly the most blasphemous cover ever. End of discussion. She shat on rock. Damn her to hell. ---
**Author:** ![George\_Kaplin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3e96dc/32.png) [@George\_Kaplin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/George_Kaplin)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502/45 "2006-07-22T09:25:23Z")
I know it’s wrong to speak ill of the dead, but try as I might I just can’t forgive Johnny Cash for his risible version of ‘Hurt’. 😛 gotcha! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502/46 "2006-07-22T10:05:26Z")
[QUOTE=George Kaplin] I know it’s wrong to speak ill of the dead, but try as I might I just can’t forgive Johnny Cash for his risible version of ‘Hurt’. 😛 gotcha! [/QUOTE] No, you were right in your first sentence. I just don’t get the love for his version (even from Reznor) - the NIN version at least doesn’t sound like a drunken geriatric wino in a back alley crooning to his bottle of meths as he pisses his pants. The Cash version does. Oh, and Britney Spears doing Joan Jet. That was bad. ---
**Author:** ![George\_Kaplin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3e96dc/32.png) [@George\_Kaplin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/George_Kaplin)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502/47 "2006-07-22T10:18:38Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > …the NIN version at least doesn’t sound like a drunken geriatric wino in a back alley crooning to his bottle of meths as he pisses his pants. And that’s where they went wrong 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502/48 "2006-07-22T10:38:27Z")
[QUOTE=George Kaplin] And that’s where they went wrong 🙂 [/QUOTE] No, not the _good_ sort of wino - not _Tom Waits_. The bad kind of wino, like _Aqualung_… ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502/49 "2006-07-22T11:16:18Z")
Two words, [Pat](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Boone) [Boone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_a_Metal_Mood:_No_More_Mr._Nice_Guy) CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502/50 "2006-07-22T12:46:07Z")
Boney M’s cover of Neil Young’s _Heart of Gold_. ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502/51 "2006-07-22T16:14:26Z")
Shaggy’s desecration of _Angel of the Morning_, _Angel_. > [@](#): > > She was there through my incarceration > I wanna show the nation my appreciation What a gal! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Hedonism\_Bot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Hedonism\_Bot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedonism_Bot)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502/52 "2006-07-22T17:42:46Z")
[QUOTE=Blanche] I thought I heard “Frankenstein” on the radio the other day, and was singing along with the guitar solo when my version and the version on the radio diverged suddenly…there was this twiddly bit that spoiled the flow of the song and didn’t fit in at all. Up until then it was note-for-note and close enough I didn’t realize it was a cover. I don’t know who did the cover, though. [/QUOTE] That would be Overkill’s cover of the song. Really good rhythm players they are, but could never do leads all that good. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502/53 "2006-07-22T18:21:28Z")
Mary J. Blige also mangled “One” on the most recent **American Idol**. They should have let Elliott Yamin sing it on his own instead of forcing a duet with her. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502/54 "2006-07-22T22:38:40Z")
No mention of Celine Dion’s cover of ACDC’s ‘You shook me (all night long)’? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502/55 "2006-07-23T03:57:45Z")
[QUOTE=MrDibble] Oh, and Britney Spears doing Joan Jet. That was bad. [/QUOTE] CITE! CITE! I NEED A CITE!..Oh, you mean musically? ---
**Author:** ![bloo-bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c77e96/32.png) [@bloo-bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bloo-bird)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502/56 "2006-07-23T06:58:52Z")
[QUOTE=Lochdale] No mention of Celine Dion’s cover of ACDC’s ‘You shook me (all night long)’? [/QUOTE] You are making that up! ---
**Author:** ![pope\_hentai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@pope\_hentai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pope_hentai)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502/57 "2006-07-23T08:09:08Z")
umm… all this time and no mention of “imagine” by a perfect circle? sounds like a damn funeral dirge… ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502/58 "2006-07-23T19:15:42Z")
[QUOTE=bloo-bird] You are making that up! [/QUOTE] I’m afraid not. [http://www.lyricsandsongs.com/song/64191.html](http://www.lyricsandsongs.com/song/64191.html) ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502/59 "2006-07-23T19:15:46Z")
[QUOTE=bloo-bird] You are making that up! [/QUOTE] I’m afraid not. [http://www.lyricsandsongs.com/song/64191.html](http://www.lyricsandsongs.com/song/64191.html) ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502/60 "2006-07-23T23:56:31Z")
That’s unbelievable. Celine Dion covering _any_ AC/DC song would be in contention for the most horrific cover of all time, but YSMANL adds blasphemy to the monstrosity. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-an-awful-cover-version/365502.md?page=4)