Comments on: Is it depressing or just plain sad when a cover song can out shine an original?

By: Nele

Nele — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:38:29 +0000

well there are a lot covers which I think are better than the original…for example cat powers cover of “wonderwall” or regina spectors “real love” (Beatles), elliott smiths “blackbird” (Beatles), greg laswells “your ghost” (kristin hersch)….and so on ;)

By: thevandalstookmyhandle

thevandalstookmyhandle — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 01:49:45 +0000

I think Ryan Adams cover of Oasis’s Wonderwall is, simply stated, beautiful!

By: barker

barker — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:53:59 +0000

heartbeats (the knife) – jose gonzalez

fabulous song in either way!

By: e.

e. — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:52:52 +0000

walk away renée (the left banke) – billy bragg
rebel rebel (david bowie) – rickie lee jones
mrs. robinson (simon & garfunkel) – the lemonheads (:))

By: Miles

Miles — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 07:21:06 +0000

There are more than a few acoustic covers that stand out for me as being superior to the original recordings, though I have to admit in some cases I wasn’t always a big fan of the originals. Even with those I did like I don’t think it’s sad that another artist can turn a song into something ‘better’, sometimes it’s just a change of sound, electronic to acoustic, or pop to jazz, that really makes the difference.

Here are a few:
Umbrella (Rhianna) – Plain White T’s (duh)
Love Profusion (Madonna) – Regina Spektor
Dancing Queen (Abba) – Whitley (a fantastic slow warp)
Hyperballad (Bjork) – Whitley (superb)
Bitches Ain’t Shit – Ben Folds