Uncoverable Songs

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Are there any songs which you think are uncoverable? Not literally speaking but just that anyone else doing them would make you feel too uncomfortable (say) to even consider listening to them...

― Tom, Thursday, 29 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

anything by television.

― David, Thursday, 29 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

London Calling

― Tim Baier, Thursday, 29 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"Troy" by La Sinead. Or any song similarly too personal and definitive that would inevitably sound fake, redundant or distasteful in someone else's mouth but that of the author/original interpret. I could be delightfully wrong, of course, and be charmed by a particularly skillfull/soulful cover of such song. I have seen that Damon and Naomi seem to have covered "Eulogy to Lenny Bruce". I have not heard it yet, but already I am not well-disposed towards it. Nonetheless I want to hear it, because my curiosity overpowers my potential discomfort...

― Simon, Thursday, 29 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

At one point I would have thought anything off of _Loveless_ (boy, *what* a surprise) was uncoverable, not so much because of it being uncomfortable as because of the whole production focus of the album seemed to make the idea of covering it strange. But then Mira did a very nice version of "When You Smile" that took me quite by surprise, so who knows?

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 29 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Damon and Naomi covered Eulogy as well as Blue Moon by Big Star on their last LP. both are pointless shite.

― Simon, Thursday, 29 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"White Light/White Heat" and "Heroin" by the Velvet Underground. Both have been attempted, neither to much credible effect.

― Alex in NYC, Thursday, 29 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Not sure whether I could take anyone covering Momus's "The Charm of Innocence".

― Robin Carmody, Thursday, 29 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

his name is alive did a lovely version of 'blue moon', the only hnia song warren defever's mom likes.

― keith, Thursday, 29 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

About any song by the Doors or Nirvana. Stairway to Heaven as well.

― Luptune Pitman, Thursday, 29 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Dear homonymous, cheers for letting me know! "Pointless shite" is quite an expressive turn of phrase. I'll know what to expect, then...

― Simon, Friday, 30 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

But the Melvins did a fine cover of "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

― Josh, Friday, 30 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"An Evening of Sitar Music" by Spacemen 3. "Baby One More Time" by Britney (not that whozit didn't try). "Coney Island Baby" by Lou Reed. "Squeezebox" by The Who. Most songs by Modest Mouse. "The Everyday World of Bodies" by Rodan. Especially that.

― Sterling Clover, Friday, 30 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"How Do You Sleep?" by John Lennon. (I shoulda put this in the questions question too.)

― Duane Zarakov, Friday, 30 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

most kraftwerk tracks.of course we have senor coconut, but i find it hard to imagine unironic kraftwerk covers, with the electronic arrangements being the focus more than the melodies. on the other hand, the classicism of the melodies also separated them from the Rock Tradition..

― matthew james, Friday, 30 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Bollocks! There is no such thing as an uncoverable song. Yes, I've heard some truly excrable cover versions, but it's the fault of the artist doing the covering being crap, rather than songs actually being "holy" or something.

Rather, I think the question is... what do you *prefer* in a cover? Do you prefer cover versions that keep the "spirit" or sound of the original entact, or do you prefer covers where the band makes the song their own?

― kate the saint, Saturday, 31 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Summer Babe is too sloppy to be covered by anyone. Same with Undone: The Sweater Song.

Revolution 9, actually comes to mind, just because I wonder who would want to emulate Yoko. So that's more of an 'uncoverable by design' more than anything else.

― JM, Saturday, 31 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Troublefunk 's "Troublefunk Express" is a fantastic cover of TransEurope Express - it says everything that needs to be said about Krafwork's influence on US hip-hop , house and go-go and it's an inspired dance record.

So that's a thesis blown!

― Guy, Saturday, 31 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

two years pass...

"Moving To Florida" by the Butthole Surfers.

Actually, I think Frank Zappa did a great job with "Stairway To Heaven"...

― John Bullabaugh (John Bullabaugh), Saturday, 17 May 2003 06:24 (twenty-two years ago)

SAWII Disc 1 Track 12

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Saturday, 17 May 2003 14:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Try covering Trout Mask Replica or something off Wormed by Leonard.
BeefHeart and the Thinking Fellers would not be impossible to cover musically but getting the feeling of their, for lack of better words, unsettling uniqueness would be the tough one.
I'd be interested in hearing any attempts to do such. The interpretations could be great.

― Brandon Welch (Brandon Welch), Saturday, 17 May 2003 15:51 (twenty-two years ago)

any Orthrelm song

― A Nairn (moretap), Saturday, 17 May 2003 15:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Anything off of "Astral Weeks"

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Saturday, 17 May 2003 16:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Anything off of PIL's METAL BOX.

― Jr_Vision (visionjr), Saturday, 17 May 2003 16:03 (twenty-two years ago)

2Pac - "Hit 'Em Up" (unless it was done in a wiseass whiteboy style like what Dynamite Hack did with "Boyz 'N Tha Hood.")

― Evan (Evan), Sunday, 18 May 2003 02:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Summer Babe is too sloppy to be covered by anyone.

Bullshit!

― Paul Cox (paul cox), Sunday, 18 May 2003 02:31 (twenty-two years ago)

i agree with paul. case in point, holly golightly did a lovely cover of "box elder" on a single.

― jack cole (jackcole), Sunday, 18 May 2003 02:39 (twenty-two years ago)

I was actually thinking of a particular Summer Babe cover, done by my own band. The Holly Golightly cover sounds intriguing, though.

― Paul Cox (paul cox), Sunday, 18 May 2003 02:51 (twenty-two years ago)

'My Pal Foot Foot' by The Shaggs.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Sunday, 18 May 2003 04:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Deerhoof did it.

― Paul Cox (paul cox), Sunday, 18 May 2003 04:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Really? Outrageous.

Let me try again, er, er,... anything by Diamanda Galas.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Sunday, 18 May 2003 04:26 (twenty-two years ago)

2112/Rush
My Pop the Cop+If Stuart Could Talk/The Dickies
Napoleon Bona Part I+II/Budgie
Shot Down in the Night/Hawkwind

White Light/White Heat" and "Heroin" by the Velvet Underground. Though this may be true, every good song by Yo La Tengo, Belle and Sebastian and Stereolab sounds like Velvet Underground out takes.

― Roman (Roman), Sunday, 18 May 2003 18:15 (twenty-two years ago)

ten months pass...

Momus-Coming In A Girl's Mouth

Unless it were a parody, maybe.

― Luke Broster, Thursday, 25 March 2004 06:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Any song that I consider "uncoverable" (as you define it) would have to be a kind of idiosyncratic, intricate, convoluted song that's practically synonymous with the original band (or individual) itself.
Something like "Stairway To Heaven" or "Bohemian Rhapsody" would qualify.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Thursday, 25 March 2004 07:57 (twenty-one years ago)

thirteen years pass...

Cissy Strut, and really anything by the Meters. Every Cissy Strut cover I've ever heard is deeply embarrassing. It's a song that's 95% feel, and no one else has that feel. Even later/reunited Meters version of it kind of suck.

― the last famous person you were surprised to discover was actually (man alive), Monday, 2 October 2017 22:53 (seven years ago)

Also
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEqZbDRj64U

― the last famous person you were surprised to discover was actually (man alive), Monday, 2 October 2017 22:55 (seven years ago)

catherine ribiero + alpes - Paix

couldn't imagine

― Week of Wonders (Ross), Monday, 2 October 2017 23:33 (seven years ago)

can we expand this thread topic to include songs that should never be covered again?

― El Tomboto, Monday, 2 October 2017 23:54 (seven years ago)

"Tonight's The Night" by Neil Young would be pretty hard to pull off. Unless Bruce Berry was actually a friend of yours.

― henry s, Monday, 2 October 2017 23:55 (seven years ago)

surely it's been done a lot though? seems like a "fun" song to play

― niels, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 09:41 (seven years ago)

Anything from Lou Reed's Metal Music Machine :)

― AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 10:13 (seven years ago)

Every cover of Breaking Glass by Bowie that I've heard has been a terrible mistake.

― MaresNest, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 10:44 (seven years ago)

can we expand this thread topic to include songs that should never be covered again?

― El Tomboto, Monday, 2 October 2017 23:54 (yesterday) Permalink

Hallelujah, Knockin' on Heaven's Door

Basically songs that are easy to cover, where the song itself kind of "does most of the work"

― the last famous person you were surprised to discover was actually (man alive), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 14:14 (seven years ago)

It's sort of the inverse of this thread topic

― the last famous person you were surprised to discover was actually (man alive), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 14:14 (seven years ago)

BTW Silver Jews songs = totally uncoverable. Never heard someone else sing one and not sound totally idiotic. Maybe if they were twisted beyond recognition.

― the last famous person you were surprised to discover was actually (man alive), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 14:15 (seven years ago)

'A Design for Life' by Manic Street Preachers. Not that it's a difficult song to play, but I've heard numerous amateur bands try this and it just sounds daft and/or utterly wrong when anyone else tries it.

― more Allegro-like (Turrican), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 16:49 (seven years ago)

You people go to some strange gigs.

― Tom's Tits Experiment (Tom D.), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 16:54 (seven years ago)

I've never seen a band do a Silver Jews cover, but I've tried to play/sing them myself at home and felt like such an imposter in a way that I have never felt when singing other bands songs.

― how's life, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 17:17 (seven years ago)

I've only seen local/unknown people covering them, but it was bad, and I also feel idiotic when I try to sing them. They seem especially personal to Berman and his voice.

― the last famous person you were surprised to discover was actually (man alive), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 17:27 (seven years ago)

somebody could probably do a good smith & jones forever

― bodak horseman (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 17:41 (seven years ago)

Anything by Bob Drake

Perhaps some of the really weird early GBV 7" filler tracks

― Evan, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 18:05 (seven years ago)

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