Cover versions that are better than the originals

I'd say "Police on My Back" by the Clash (written and originally performed by Eddie "Electric Avenue" Grant), but I've never heard the original. I cannot imagine it'd be better. I could be wrong, though.

OTM. And don't foeget Grandmaster Flash and Stevie Wonder.

Also OTM. His version even beats John Cale's (which it's really based on).

My pick: "Disorder" by Joy Division, as covered by Bedhead.

You need feel no shame. It's bloody unlistenable. It took a genius (like Cale, for instance) to hear that piece of crap and say, "You know, there's a great song there."

No way, dude!

Not!

*OK, I've never actually heard the original, but it was by the horrid Sting, so Cash's version obv. better

I thought their version was an embarrassment compared with the original. What they did to it borders on blasphemy.

And i agree with the "Mad World" mention up above..

uh... What exactly makes the Raincoats version (which I love) better than the original? Anything in particular?

"Gigantor" -- The Dickies
"Griselda" -- Yo La Tengo
"Look Back In Anger" -- Seam
"Mr. Blue Sky" -- The Delgados
"Suzanne" -- Fairport Convention
"Holocaust" -- Kendra Smith/ Rainy Day
"Lipstick on Your Collar" -- The Saints
"For What It's Worth" -- Staple Singers
"Boots of Spanish Leather" -- Nic Jones
"I'm Not In Love" -- Dexter Methorphan (Tim Rutili of Califone/ RRM)
"Street Fighting Man" -- ripped at the start of "Soda Pop" by the Grifters

SO way.

best luna covers: Sweet Child of Mine, Neon Lights, Bonnie and Clyde (not the one off penthouse but the liquid guitar version)

Covers surpassing the originals:
You Keep Me Hangin' On - Vanilla Fudge
Hey Joe - Hendrix
In the Ghetto - Nick Cave

You definitely need the context of the original in order to appreciate the Sonic Youth version, but that's the case with most "covers that are better than originals," isn't it? Would you really prefer Nick Cave's version of "In the Ghetto" without Elvis's version lurking in the background?

"Superstar" was just another Carpenters song until I heard Sonic Youth's reinvention of it. It's one of those rare cases where a cover not only improves on the original, but improves the original.

Best cover ever! And wasn't the original from Elvis Presley?

These might be my two favorite cover songs ever.

Other favorites:

Tiffany - "I Think We're Alone Now" (Tommy James)
Bananarama - "Venus" (Shocking Blue)

ILM - gateway to knowledge.

Patti Smith: Gloria
Elvis Costello: Girls Talk

and the ultimate example of cover beating original...
Neko Case & Carl Newman: Bowling Green

x-post

Kind of weird, however, I think he wrote "Queen Of Hearts", which is way more famous by Juicy Newton

Alot of their covers actually.

Alot of New Waver's covers as well, most of the take on Soft Cell's 'Numbers'

Drunk and sleazy.

Sober and squeaky clean

Is anyone going to slap me with a trout if I say Tricky's cover of Public Enemy's Black Steel?

Yes.

People who say this have a screw loose...

"Stop Breaking Down" - White Stripes (Robert Johnson)
"Book of Dreams" - Dion (Bruce Springsteen)
"Stolen Car" - Patty Griffin(th?) (Bruce Springsteen)

Not me!

I've never heard the Carpenters' original, and I love the SY version.

-- J-rock, August 24th, 2005.

I like that cover, but no, no, no.

I think Aretha's "Respect" is better than Otis' original.

So many unanswered challops on this thread...

Anyway, I was in a taqueria and they were playing some Black Sabbath compilation, and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath came on, and I realized that I like the Anthrax cover better. I also have always liked the 1000 Homo DJs version of Supernaut better.

I wish this thread was titled, "Cover versions you prefer over the original".

Also, I prefer Carnivore's version of "Manic Depression" to the original.

The one that immediately comes to mind, without thinking about it at all:

Donny Hathaway-Jealous Guy

Aretha Franklin - "The Thrill is Gone"
Pet Shop Boys - "It's Alright"
Sinead O'Connor - "Sacrifice"

Red House Painters- All Mixed Up
Beach Boys- Sloop John B
Beatles- Twist and Shout
Beatles- Money
Beatles- Please Mr. Postman
Big Star- Femme Fatale (seconded)
Cheap Trick- California Man
Nico- These Days

The Fall - There's A Ghost In My House (R. Dean Taylor)
The Fall - War (Henry Cow)
Harry Nilsson - Without You (Badfinger)
Harry Nilsson - Everybody's Talkin' (Fred Neil)

Proud Mary - Ike & Tina Turner (John Fogerty/CCR)
Me & Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin (Kris Kristofferson)
I Fought the Law - The Clash (Bobby Fuller Four)
All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix (Bob Dylan)

I disagree with all of these.

Talking Heads - Take Me To The River (Al Green)
Scritti Politti & Shabba Ranks - She's A Woman (The Beatles)

Lorna Bennett - Breakfast in Bed (Dusty Springfield)

Nina Simone - Here Comes the Sun (The Beatles)
Roberta Flack - Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye (Leonard Cohen)
Idris Muhammad - The Power of Soul (Jimi Hendrix)
Lasse Mårtenson - Miltä meno maistuu (This is a Finnish-language cover of Lou Reed's "Take a Walk on the Wild Side")
Mongo Santamaria - Watermelon Man (Herbie Hancock)
Wilson Pickett - Born to Be Wild (Steppenwolf)
Genaside II - Under the Bridge (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Beverly - The Power of Love (Jennifer Rush)

I've always preferred Jerry Lee Lewis's menacing version of "Little Queenie" over Chuck's.

Willie Nelson - every cover he's done.

Faith No More - I Started a Joke (The Bee Gees)

love hurts - gram parsons/emmylou harris

you ain't goin nowhere - byrds (dylan, tho i love the original)

xp to myself - who actually did the original love hurts?

ok wiki says everly brothers were original recording but song is written by the bryants

Primal Scream - Slip Inside this House

Patience and Prudence and Skeeter Davis's versions of "Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now" are both way better than Teresa Brewer's original — the addition of a high harmony part really transforms the song for the better. Viola Wills's version is just ok.

Glen Campbell - Both Sides Now (Joni Mitchell)

Primal Scream - Slip Inside this House

Surely not - it's fine, certainly, but doesn't have the undulating incantatory momentum of the original, or the delirious weaving vocals.

"Ball of Confusion" by Love & Rockets (bring it, haters!)

"Supernaut" 1000 Homo DJs
-- J-rock, August 24th, 2005

^one of the worsts posts I've ever seen.

o hai i own this thread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO8JWbG6bVw

Sinéad O'Connor, "Nothing Compares To U"

The Silos - Let's Take Some Drugs and Drive Around (Michael Hall, original)

The Flamingos - "I Only Have Eyes for You" (Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo3TUtRnZi4

Not really, but it still makes me laugh....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGpdtgeZbgk

That one Cat Stevens song that's in the diamond commercial. The woman singing it has edited it well and found a cadence that fits the melody better. Is that Cat Power?

Led Zeppelin - When the Levee Breaks
Led Zeppelin - Nobody's Fault but Mine
Led Zeppelin - Dazed and Confused

"That one Cat Stevens song that's in the diamond commercial. The woman singing it has edited it well and found a cadence that fits the melody better. Is that Cat Power?"

Cat Johnson

Elvis Costello: "A Good Year For The Roses" (George Jones)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oma-7xNn1aM

Dunno if I could say %100 that it's better, but Sun City Girls' version of "Journey To the Center of Your Mind" does the original justice without being polite.

^Love that one

Judas Priest - "Green Manalishi (with the Two-Pronged Crown)"

I genuinely prefer Flying Saucer Attack's cover of "Outdoor Miner" to the Wire original. What can I say? I'm a sucker for fuzz guitar.

I used to prefer Nilson's Everybody's Talkin' even though I was a bigger Fred Neil fan. Now I'm probably a bigger Nilson fan, but I prefer Neil's original. I just had to listen to it enough to appreciate it on it's own.

Judas Priest - "Green Manalishi (with the Two-Pronged Crown)"

man not even remotely

Judas Priest - Better By You, Better Than Me

Having recently heard Robert Palmer's terrible original "Some Guys Have All the Luck," the Rod Stewart version is a big improvement.

Cat Johnson

― Bill Magill, Wednesday, June 3, 2009 3:28 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark

Man I googled this and u lie

posting because it struck me the other day to learn that one of my favorite Man or AstroMan? songs is actually by a band (from Scotland apparently?) I hadn't heard of until then - the Rezillos.

so-
Destination Venus - Man or AstroMan? (Rezillos)

Camper Van Beethoven - "I Love Her All The Time" (Sonic Youth)

"Elvis Costello: "A Good Year For The Roses" (George Jones)
― Geir Hongro"

Geir, on account of this post you have to change your name to Geir RONGRO. Listen to Jones' vocal. It's like the difference between Arthur Alexander's "Anna" and the Beatles'; Costello's "Roses" is OK on its own terms but in comparison it's like a photostat of the Mona Lisa.

Propellerheads' "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"

superchunk -- 100,000 fireflies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj_F9yRpx_M

^ really really like this guy

Mark Wirtz & His Orchestra - comin' home baby!

Still no mention of maybe the best of all:
Sagittarius: "My World Fell Down". Absolutely glorious. Up there with Brian Wilson's best moments!

(Original by The Ivy League btw)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egAtCbpCYNE

Superchunk - Brand New Love (Sebadoh)

Time to stir up some controversy....

Of the over 200 songs the Beatles wrote and recorded, there is only one where the definitive version isn't their own:

Joe Cocker - "With a Little Help from My Friends" (The Beatles)

Destination Venus - Man or AstroMan? (Rezillos)

No wai

I'd nominate Television Man - Man... or Astro-Man? (Talking Heads) tho

Nah, there's many cover versions of The Beatles' tunes better than the originals (Nina Simone's "Here Comes the Sun", for example); they were pretty good songwriters but not particularly memorable singers, so hearing better singers sing their tunes is often a pleasure.

(x-post)

Really, you don't think John Lennon was a memorable singer?

There are certainly some covers of Beatles songs I prefer to the originals too, but I wasn't claiming there was only one Beatles song that somebody made a better cover of, rather that there's only one where the Beatles' original recording isn't the definitive version. If someone sings "Here Comes the Sun", they're probably basing it on George Harrison's reading of his own song. But most times when I hear "With a Little Help From My Friends" sung by others, they use the Joe Cocker arrangement.

John Lennon has one of the best voices in all of "rock" music....Paul was no slouch himself. WTF?

I really like Steve Harley's Here Comes the Sun, but better than the original?.. probably not.

John Lennon "had", obv.

Guess I'm Dumb by the Wondermints

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_Yj9oHikgY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxqfkSw2Yhs

Patience and Prudence and Skeeter Davis's versions of "Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now" are both way better than Teresa Brewer's original — the addition of a high harmony part really transforms the song for the better. Viola Wills's version is just ok.

― engaged to a suicidegirl (unregistered), Wednesday, June 3, 2009 10:36 AM (3 years ago)

4 years later and I'd break it down as...

The Caravelles >> Patience & Prudence >>>> Skeeter Davis >>>>> Teresa Brewer >>>>>>>> Viola Wills (sucks) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> She & Him (suuuuuuuuuuucks)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx_qAKI3lvk

so obvious!

A lot of the English-speaking people on this board won't know this. But Attaque 77 was an Argentinean punk band from the late 80s that peaked in the 90s. Anyway, they released a punk covers album of 'classics' (from Latin America and worldwide), which included MPB (Música Popular Brasileira), pop/rock and cumbia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN3Y3Z5-3sw

Only found out it was a cover the other day, but Colin Blunstone's Say You Don't Mind beats Denny Laine's hands down

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-wekAq-s34

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkm5WW3g4kA

Any cover version of a Tom Waits song is an improvement on the original, e.g. "Jersey Girl" by Springsteen, "Tom Traubert's Blues" and "Downtown Train" by Rod Stewart, "Hang Down Your Head" by Lucinda Williams.

I'm a big fan of Sandy Denny but I find her version of "I'm a Dreamer" virtually unlistenable (messy orchestration and mix, plus somewhat lacklustre vocal performance). The Richard and Linda Thompson version (recorded around 1980 but not released until the 1990s on a Linda Thompson album) is much better and shows it to be actually a really good song.

credit in the straight world

xp - even better is their live version that was released in 1981, or at least aired on TV then:

(actually, almost the entirety of Rendezvous is a messy overproduced mess that could have been a great album IMO)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXFLBGglWjE

(sry bout the reduncancy)

the Rendezvous demos are magnificent

Not sure these are necessarily *better* than the originals, but they're great reimaginings. Isn't that what covers are for?

M Ward's "Let's Dance"
Junior Boys "When No One Cares"

Renegade Soundwave - "Biting My Nails" (Tim Curry)

I almost revived this thread yesterday but couldn't think of a good contribution. I think most of ILM hates that M Ward cover iirc. I like it... Not better but acceptable.

Any cover version of a Tom Waits song is an improvement on the original, e.g. "Jersey Girl" by Springsteen, "Tom Traubert's Blues" and "Downtown Train" by Rod Stewart, "Hang Down Your Head" by Lucinda Williams.

― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram)

I dont agree (scarlett johanson?) but I would add Cibelle's cover of 'green grass' as a good alternate for the original.

Also as far as Beatles covers go I prefer Caetano Veloso's versions of "for noone" and "Lady Madonna" to the originals.

Rita Lee's cover album is also pretty good, in my life and all my loving fit really well in a bossa environment.

I actually kinda really like that Scarlett record! Her versions are obviously so drastically different from Tom's, yet the familiarity of his songs serves as an anchor. I think it's something to do with her narcotic delivery (same thing that makes her an awful actress) as aided and abetted by Sitek's production, who makes everything sound like Christmas.

A slew of songs Metallica covered back in the day were better to these ears than the originals, though I was probably biased since most of them I heard Metallica's version first.

I don't know how many people will agree, but Superchunk's "Train From Kansas City."

I think most of us here prefer Scott Walker & Co.'s cover to this Frankie Valli/Four Seasons original:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbwS2SqNbEM

Not much wrong with the Shangri-la's, of course. Neko Case's "Train From Kansas City" is just about perfect, too (and, yeah, very much co-sign on her version of "Bowling Green". The Everly's version is fine, but hers is _fine_.

New Bomb Turks version of the Rolling Stones "Summer Romance". I couldn't believe how dull the original is, after hearing the Turks' version.

<i>Also as far as Beatles covers go I prefer Caetano Veloso's versions of "for noone" and "Lady Madonna" to the originals.</i>

The only Beatles cover that really comes close to being definitive for me is Stevie Wonder's take on "We Can Work It Out".

I much prefer the Rolling Stones cover of 'Just My Imagination' over the Temptations original

it hurts to admit, but this:
http://youtu.be/_nVrwzptNVc

http://youtu.be/SzoebhQ7hjQ

Roberta Flack's First Take has several that at least vie with the originals.
Her Fist Time Ever I Saw Your Face still makes me swoon.

That slow motion cover of transmission by low which pillbox posted upthread is indeed better than most versions by joy division. One reason besides the originality is of course that it has not been overplayed. But the live version from les bains douches slays:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PgX6omwgBZY

Santana - Black Magic Woman (Fleetwood Mac)

Barbra Streisand - Life on Mars
Minnie Riperton & José Feliciano - Light My Fire

So many unanswered challops on this thread...

this 1,000 X

...and here's two more

this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQBEkpejtTI

over this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYDTaAZAQns

this!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w5xukOLegY

(maybe this is a step beyond good sense, but it does give me a genuine thrill mixed with some lolz! that screaming at the end!)

all covers are better than all originals 😔

would gladly go the rest of my life without having to hear another original song by another original artist

When Twitter gets up in ILM’s shit:

https://twitter.com/i/events/1125377492871606272

More like twitter shaming ILM, because how has this thread not mentioned that Amy Winehouse cover of 'Valerie' before?

I like how that twitter thread puts a unique spin on the "covers better than the originals" format without straying too far from the spirit of the original discussion. it's too early to say if it's better than the ILM classic, but it's definitely one of the more interesting interpretations I've read

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKYcGFexI6U

I love the Wedding Present's cover of "Getting Better"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npeYMJIbY8o

^no, that sucks and the lyric changes are super creepy. I saw it a few years ago and was like “wtf”

Anybody that says Live's version of "Walk the Line" gets shot

It Must Be Love - Madness (Labi Siffre)

<3 some siffre but his version is too twee

The Main Ingredient - Summer Breeeze
Stevie Wonder - We Can Work It Out
Al Green - How Can You Mend a Broken Heart
UB40 - Red Red Wine
The Clash - Police on My Back
The Fugees - Killing Me Softly
R.E.M. - Crazy
Nouvelle Vague - In A Manner of Speaking
All of the Meat Puppets covers on Nirvana Unplugged (and probably the Muddy Waters one too)
Blondie - Tide Is High

You Really Got Me - Van Halen (The Kinks)

Yes. Agree with Blondie covering "Tide is High."

Also David Bowie's cover of "Cactus."

David Bowie's cover of "Cactus."

TV on the Radio's version of Mr Grieves runs the original very close

Cake - I Will Survive
Cake - Sad Songs and Waltzes
Cake - Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps
Cake - The Guitar Man
Cake - War Pigs
Cake - Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town
Cake - Strangers in the Night
Cake - Never, Never Gonna Give You Up

those are fighting words >:(

Fun Lovin Criminals do whatever Cake does better.

TV on the Radio's version of Mr Grieves runs the original very close

The Temprees' version of Dedicated... is beautiful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WYKj6Rzv7c

Fun Lovin Criminals do whatever Cake does better.

― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Friday, April 29, 2022 2:12 AM (twelve hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

alright...aww no...hey! all right

Fat Tulips - Ask Johnny Dee (the Chesterfields)

Bauhaus - Ziggy Stardust

*ducks*

I have that 7" and as much as I like their versions, would still take the Bowie and Eno originals tbh

Their version of "Third Uncle" is also a banger.

it is great and how I first heard that song

Mmm let me see… not necessarily better but I prefer these over the originals:

Todd Terje - Johnny and Mary
Jorja Smith - Rose Rouge
Donald Byrd - Where are we going?
Kindness - swingin party
Robert Plant and Alison Kraus - stick with me baby
Hope Sandoval - Butterfly Mornings
Yumi Zouma - it feels good to be around you
Sylvan Esso - Funeral Singers
Evinha - Que Bandeira
Lightning Seeds - you showed me
Tame Impala - remember me
13th floor elevators - it’s all over now (baby blue)
Natalie Imbruglia - torn

Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah

Also OTM. His version even beats John Cale's (which it's really based on).

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, December 15, 2003 4:14 PM (twenty years ago)

were we ever so young? well, maybe kenan

cale's is the definitive version and fuck every contrary opinion

13th floor elevators - it’s all over now (baby blue)

*nods furiously*

Tame Impala - remember me

*shakes head disapprovingly*

As great as the original is, it feels rushed and it cuts corners to get to the next section, I feel like this arrangement maximizes all the great things about the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP-g8vo4zUg

13th floor elevators - it’s all over now (baby blue)

*nods furiously*

― Bulky Pee Pants (Tom D.), sábado 20 de enero de 2024 09:31 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Tame Impala - remember me

*shakes head disapprovingly*

― groovypanda, sábado 20 de enero de 2024 10:36 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Lol sorry, I do love the originals.

Heartily cosign baby blue

I know it’s a divisive cover. Personally I love how they stylize it and how bittersweet it sounds compared to Dylan’s who sounds more passive-agressive and bitter. The cover is more of an “end of an era” kind of song and Dylan is more of an “end of a relationship”, Dylan’s lyrics can be interpreted both ways and I guess I love both for what they are, I’m just usually more connected to the cover. It’s sort of the perfect road trip music to me.

13th floor elevators - it’s all over now (baby blue)

Love the rest of their album, always skip this. They play the same chords over and over throughout the verse, which ends up clashing with the melody over the fifth line of each verse (the "strike another match" part) and fumbles the dramatic peak of the verses every time.
I would, however, say that Them's version of this song is better than Dylan's .

Nah, the Elevators' mistakes and bum notes are what makes it great in a strange way.

^^^ yep the elevators version is magical... my all time favorite cover by anyone.

Elton John - 'Pinball Wizard', 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds' (The Who, The Beatles)

Haha the sloppiness in 13th Floor Elevators performance is what sells it for me. It adds another layer to the “broken but moving on” feel of it.

I would, however, say that Them's version of this song is better than Dylan's .

me too

There are tons of great covers of Dylan songs, many of which may be “better” than the original in some way, but probably none that I would truly say I “prefer” to the original. FWIW

marianne faithfull's "it's all over now baby blue" is good, big nico "i'll keep it with mine" vibes

There are tons of great covers of Dylan songs, many of which may be “better” than the original in some way, but probably none that I would truly say I “prefer” to the original. FWIW

― Wooly Bully (2005 Remaster) (morrisp)

lol i think dylan himself prefers hendrix's "watchtower" to dylan's own version

mostly i like different takes on it. i like old gravelly dylan's take on "things we said today"!

I'm not a Dylan fan so I prefer dozens of the covers to the originals!

Robert Wyatt's cover of "At Last I Am Free" is neck and neck with Chic's original, if not better. Some days I think it's better, some days not.

Good one.

Another one that hasn’t been mentioned

Howlin Wolf - Spoonful

I also like Willie Dixon’s original but Howlin Wolf’s the without argument the definitive version.

Also on the same vein

“i am the wolf”

I realise full well this won’t be an opinion for everyone but on certain days I feel like Ruth Copeland’s version of Gimme Shelter pips the OG track - Merry Clayton’s solo effort is pretty fkn strong too

Dylan covers better than the original?

Ben watt - You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go

Great cover for your first album

I also like Willie Dixon’s original but Howlin Wolf’s the without argument the definitive version.

― ✖✖✖ (Moka)

i mean it's pretty good but it definitely takes dixon's in a different direction

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqgj9Ba-DdU

Willie Dixon is sort of an odd name in this context; as a professional songwriter, he was writing and tailoring songs for more successful and colourful performers, and his own versions of songs were in fact the afterthoughts. Just like I wouldn't say that Aretha Franklin "covered" Carole King's version of "Natural Woman", it was written specifically for Aretha.

Nina Simone does this a lot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDK0YEQAZ_g

Al Green to thread.