# Wow, that's a great cover of that song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [April 12, 2020, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596 "2020-04-12T02:35:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596/61 "2020-04-13T03:58:30Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > [Creep - Vintage Postmodern Jukebox Radiohead Cover ft. Haley Reinhart](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3lF2qEA2cw) > > This is my favorite cover ever. Liked it! ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596/62 "2020-04-13T04:42:42Z")
Surprised this one hasn’t come up already: [Proud Mary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAZ3qFvKAKg), Ike and Tina Revue. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596/63 "2020-04-13T04:52:50Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > Dust in the Wind is: > A fondly remembered song from my youth. > A corny song by a rock band trying to be “deep” > A fun guitar tune that I worked at a lot but never got smoothed out. > The truest song ever. > > [Here’s somebody that got the guitar part down better than I ever did. Wait for her to switch to electric!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mf5Ggx0Rvg) Holy shit. That’s sweet. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596/64 "2020-04-13T05:46:29Z")
[A Buddhist Monk reminds us we all live in a yellow submarine.](https://youtu.be/QLELtdrRyhs) Followed by [Teenage Lobotomy.](https://youtu.be/B8A1dqsiNSI) Ommm. Ommm. Raaaange… ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596/65 "2020-04-13T16:00:58Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > [Creep - Vintage Postmodern Jukebox Radiohead Cover ft. Haley Reinhart](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3lF2qEA2cw) > > This is my favorite cover ever. If you like that Postmodern Jukebox cover, try this one; I really like it: [This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) - Vintage 1940s Swing Talking Heads Cover ft. Sara Niemietz](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qWJPglDkB0) ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596/66 "2020-04-13T16:38:31Z")
Paul Simon approved, IIRC. [Disturbed - The Sound Of Silence [Official Music Video] - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4) ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596/67 "2020-04-13T18:09:19Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > [Radiohead’s OK Computer album](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wKIvYmlOS_o), done by a reggae band (the album, inevitably, is “Radiodread.”) I think it’s great! Ah, the Easy Star All-Stars! They also did an excellent reggae cover of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s album; this cover of [A Little Help From My Friends](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2Qa-0pfoco) is actually one of my favorite versions of it! A lot of my favorite covers have been mentioned, especially the ones that have seen chart success on their own possibly surpassing the original; here are some more not yet mentioned: [Love Rollercoaster](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjZbPA1cMIU), a #1 hit in 1976 for The Ohio Players, [covered in 1996](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n6D8lB0A9w) by the Red Hot Chili Peppers for the 1996 movie _Beavis and Butthead Do America_ that is now my preferred version. [Turn The Page](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GONmFCkCGCc) was never a chart-topping hit for Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, though it gets regular airplay on Classic Rock stations; [the cover version by Metallica](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMqNFAU0tOw) was one of their biggest hits. [Killing Me Softly With His Song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4A5XuMz_Tw) was a #1 hit in 1973 for Roberta Flack; but I will always remember being transfixed and blown away the first time I heard [the cover version by The Fugees](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-RBJNqdnoM) in a dollar store in New York City in 1996 (also a big hit). (Another time I was so amazed by a great cover that I remember exactly where and when I was when I heard it, is the already mentioned CAKE version of “I Will Survive.”) Elton John first recorded [Country Comfort](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vlPgDhIzKM) in 1970; later that same year, it was [covered by Rod Stewart](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQtrkGiAnD8) in a tribute album to Sir Elton. It’s a tossup to me which I’d prefer on any given listening. Another Rod Stewart cover I like as much or more than the original: his version of [I’m Losing You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p-WDv2sLTw), particularly for the drum solo not found in the original [by the Temptations](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWr_F4Gg8sY). ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596/68 "2020-04-13T18:20:08Z")
Jackknife Stiletto’s cover of [Wannabe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQPXDMqXubY) (yes, the Spice Girls song) is fantastic. Dollyrots cover [Brand New Key](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbQ43sFDQTM) is unique but still very respectful of Melanie Safka’s original. And who doesn’t like what Big Bad Voodoo Daddy did with the Jungle Book song, [I Wanna Be Like You](https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl)? ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596/69 "2020-04-13T18:24:19Z")
More of my favorite covers: k.d. lang’s rendition of [The Beatles’ Golden Slumbers/The End](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeB4V2QFE1g), and of course, her cover of Leonard Cohen’s [Hallelujah](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_NpxTWbovE) Sinead O’Connor’s version of [Nothing Compares 2 U](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-EF60neguk) almost doesn’t count, since Prince didn’t record it before she did… Neil Young’s [Only Love Can Break Your Heart](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=364qY0Oz-xs) has been covered a lot, mostly in the same style as the original piece; the other day, I heard [a very interesting version of it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZAajrxvDs4) by St. Etienne, from the 1990s. It was playing in the background somewhere and I didn’t realize it was a cover for maybe a whole minute (where the original is one of my favorite songs). ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596/70 "2020-04-13T18:31:06Z")
Paul Weller had a UK hit that didn’t surface in the US called [Wild Wood](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgIw51zmiy8); I first heard, and prefer, [a later remix with Portishead](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnbSidxUjQE) (but still featuring his vocals). Back in the 1990s, Harvey Danger had a Top 40 hit with their song [Flagpole Sitta](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYsMjEeEg4g); but ever since I heard it about ten years ago, I prefer [the harder cover by Chiodos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVGXJtWP4tU). ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596/71 "2020-04-13T18:31:07Z")
And just because nobody else is doing it…Simon and Garfunkel’s [Sound of Silence](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4) after Disturbed made some corrections. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596/72 "2020-04-13T19:02:03Z")
Another transfixing cover version of a song I was already well familiar with: Sting’s [Fields of Gold](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLVq0IAzh1A), as [done by Eva Cassidy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UVjjcOUJLE); this cover brought her to some fame, sadly 2 years after her passing away at age 33 of cancer. The incredible ukelele-driven cover of [Somewhere Over The Rainbow](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1bFr2SWP1I) by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596/73 "2020-04-13T19:08:10Z")
Not sure if mashups count as a DJ-style version of a “cover”, but these two are awesome, mad genius crossbreeds: [Stayin’ Alive In The Wall](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U13xOvDa19U) (Bee Gees/Pink Floyd) [Justify My Whole Lotta Love](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtcQW8xdTWA) (Madonna/Led Zeppelin) ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596/74 "2020-04-13T19:18:06Z")
Also in the “dubious cover” category - my kids showed me this on YouTube a while ago, of a pianist who plays non-ragtime music in ragtime style upon request; I long for the day I can hear [The Canadian National Anthem (ragtime)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02BDjoeKB9U) that starts at 0:57 played before a hockey game… And when’ the last or next time I’ll hear _Deutschland Ueber Alles_ and go “a-ha-cha-cha!” at the end? ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596/75 "2020-04-13T19:20:23Z")
Jeff Beck’s version of [Since We’ve Ended As Lovers](https://youtu.be/89OTZV-NHkU) ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596/76 "2020-04-13T19:21:56Z")
Some of my favorites: [Where is my Mind?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZvVeQI0heg) (Pixies covered by Trampled by Turtles) [Your Woman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiG9BGUkA_0) (White Town covered by Princess Chelsea) [Down with the Sickness](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at02Fvdhk2I) (Disturbed covered by Richard Cheese) ---
**Author:** ![FastDan1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fastdan1/32/427_2.png) [@FastDan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FastDan1)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596/77 "2020-04-13T19:27:30Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > [Cake covers “I Will Survive.”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9rCUQjmkxU) Apparently Gloria Gaynor is not a fan of that version, but I like it. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596/78 "2020-04-13T19:29:44Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > [A Buddhist Monk reminds us we all live in a yellow submarine.](https://youtu.be/QLELtdrRyhs) . In that vein, I give you Krishna Das’s “Sri Angala Stotram”. It’s a long and unusual cover of Foreigner’s “I Want To Know What Love Is?” I like it way better than the original. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/igsoFGv-Dw0/maxresdefault.jpg "Beautiful Song - Krishna Das - Sri Argala Stotram - Show Me Love") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igsoFGv-Dw0) One of my other favorites is REM’s cover of John Lennon’s #9 Dream. It’s from the compilation album Instant Karma -The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/RKbTlmgEtis/hqdefault.jpg "#9 Dream by R.E.M. (John Lennon Tribute)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKbTlmgEtis) The album is composed entirely of John Lennon covers and there are some really good ones. I highly recommend it if you like such things. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596/79 "2020-04-13T19:31:44Z")
Puddles covers the Who and Johnny Cash. Simultaneously. Sort of. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6bfPwtUTP4k/maxresdefault.jpg "Puddles Pity Party - Folsom Prison Blues / Pinball Wizard Mash Up (Official Music Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bfPwtUTP4k) ---
**Author:** ![Made\_in\_Macau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@Made\_in\_Macau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Made_in_Macau)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596/80 "2020-04-13T19:40:38Z")
Chantel Kreviazuk - Leaving on a Jet Plane [Chantal Kreviazuk - Leaving On A Jet Plane (Video) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbt2G71uT1M) Anything by Tragedy but here’s Stayin Alive [TRAGEDY - Stayin' Alive (official video) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZsTPLSm2co) Street Spirit by The Darkness [The Darkness - Street Spirit (Fade Out) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foGUOG-fa3Y) Lisa Hannigan - Oh You Pretty Things [Lisa Hannigan | Oh! You Pretty Things - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pokc-BAmebQ) Irreplaceable - Robbie Fulks [Irreplaceable - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twHmPbNk9Pc) btw the aforementioned Radiodread album - Toots and The Maytals are the band playing Let Down on there. MiM [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thats-a-great-cover-of-that-song/851596.md?page=5)