Often a cover version will be better known or at least more highly regarded than the original, even if the original is by a notable artist, e.g. The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s cover of Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower.
Which originals do you think are unfairly less acclaimed or are less well known than one of their covers? For me, it’s Al Green’s Take Me to the River, a recording far, far better than David Byrne’s weirdness on the Talking Heads cover of it.
Also Tom’s “Ol 55” is better than the Eagles more popular cover
LC’s Hallelujah’s synths hit so hard. To some they sound cheesy/dated but they really have an emotional resonance for me.
Unpopular opinion: I Will Always Love You by Dolly Parton is a soft-spoken sweet minimal love song that is more powerful than Whitney Houston's version. While Whiteney may be the most talented pop singer of all time, Dolly's sweet little voice really conveys the quiet and personal pain that is needing to leave someone you love.
Good choice! Dolly sounds like she means it, or at least she's trying to behind the tears. Whitney sounds like it's all about her. You want to know who will always love you? ME, that's who! MemememememememememeMEEEEEE!!!!
GREAT question! It so often gets asked the other way. (It's a good question that way too, just overdone.) Disturbed's cover of "The Sound of Silence" got a lot of attention 7 or 8 years ago. Like a lot of people, I was blown away. It was powerful and raw. People said it had replaced the original. But for me it ended up being a one-play wonder. Once I'd heard it, I didn't need to hear it again. The unexpectedness was the hook. Once that was gone, the cover was much less interesting. I kept being drawn back to the Simon and Garfunkel original. It was quiet and gentle and yet somehow so powerful that it pushed the newer version aside and re-asserted itself as the ur-text.
I'll throw in a vote for The Kinks' original of "You Really Got Me". I like the Van Halen version but when I compare it to The Kinks, I think they're overdoing it a bit.
Bill Withers - Lean on Me, infinitely better then the Club Nouveau version that always gets radio play.
I am such a sucker for the arrangements/production on golden era Bill Withers… it’s just so tasteful.
Stevie Wonder's Higher Ground is so much better than RHCP's cover, but I do like both.
I love both for different reasons but agree that Stevie’s version is better.
Just here to say NIN hurt is the better version
Mountain Dew - Grateful Dead
Mountain Dew - Gregg and Duane Allman
Both are amazing covers
Morning*
Embarrassing. Been working all day and my brain doesn’t function properly anymore lol
It would be a great name for a song if it wasn’t so associated with a soft drink lol.
Sound of Silence. I can’t stand the Disturbed version.
Black Magic Woman - Original by Fleetwood Mac is my preferred version.
Ednaswap - Torn.
NIN Hurt > Johnny Cash Hurt
Mnemic’s cover of Duran Duran’s Wildboys
Duran Duran's cover of White Lines
What about Annie Lennox's cover of Take Me to the River?
I’m going to have to listen to it, I’ve been on a bit of a Eurythmics binge lately!
Literally any song that Nirvana covered. D7 by Wipers is 100x better than nirvana version
Kurt's version of Where's Did You Sleep Last Night is absolute shit compared to Leadbellys OG recording
Nirvana’s version of Man Who Sold the World was pretty good but Mick Ronson’s arrangements on Bowie’s original are 👌
I thought the way Kurt let his voice crack was a nice subtle thing to add compared to how just naturally weird Leadbelly’s voice was. Not saying either is better, but just thought I’d add something to the conversation.
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Al Green ruined How do you mend a broken heart what a pathetic version. That woman who died in the bath did an awful version of the Dolly Parton song. Brandy by Scott English was brilliant Mandy by that long nosed freak was not.
Bluesummers76 t1_j6nr5bz wrote
Tom Waits' Downtown Train and Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. I don't like the cover versions.