Hey guys, I was just thinking, are there any cover songs that in your opinion are better than the original version? I think a few examples include: Nothing Compares 2 U (though Prince wrote it, it wasn't his song, but his live cover with Rosie Gaines is FAR better than Sinead's). Some songs that come close to the original include: I'm Every Woman (Chaka Khan is the original, and WHitney Houston covered it) and Knockin On Heaven's Door ( Bob Dylan did the original, but Guns N' Roses covered it)

So, can you tell me some cover songs that were better than the original?

ALL of Whitney's covers.

Much better than they original, by the O'Jays....

UB40's version....

...is much better than

I like Aretha Franklin's Respect more than Otis Redding's.

I also prefer the 1974 Latin style version of James Brown's Please Please Please over the 1956 one. Probably because I heard that one first.

[Edited 6/17/12 19:50pm]

Aside from Whitneys.....

Amazing cover of such a boring song

Luther made this song his own

What started Lauryn's amazing career

Classic. Not many people even realise it's a cover

Anything Mr. Hendrix covered...WatchTower, Sgt Pepper's, Wild Thing, National Anthem, etc

Let me also add

[Edited 6/17/12 19:45pm]

brooksie said:

Anything Mr. Hendrix covered...WatchTower, Sgt Pepper's, Wild Thing, National Anthem, etc

I'm sometimes forget Wild Thing and Watch Towere were covers

Terrib3Towel said:

Let me also add

[Edited 6/17/12 19:45pm]

The original is a classic and not a force to be messed with

Can you post the original, I don't think I've heard it.

Terrib3Towel said:

aardvark15 said:

What started Lauryn's amazing career

This cover is the best:

And one could argue Sister Act 2 started Lauryn's career.

^^That's not the same song (Stairway To Heaven). They just have the same title.

[Edited 6/17/12 20:50pm]

aardvark15 said:

Terrib3Towel said:

Can you post the original, I don't think I've heard it.

how could you have never heard the original?

Those are different songs.

AlexdeParis said:

Those are different songs.

When did Gamble & Huff start writing for Led Zeppelin?

[Edited 6/17/12 20:56pm]

MickyDolenz said:

AlexdeParis said:

Those are different songs.

When did Gamble & Huff start writing for Led Zeppelin?

[Edited 6/17/12 20:56pm]

I'd buy that album!

Is better than...

AlexdeParis said:

Soft Cell's version of Tainted Love is so much better than Gloria Jones' version

The Staple Singers version of Slippery People destroys Talking Head's version

Terrib3Towel said:

ALL of Whitney's covers.

nah..

Her version of The Isley's "For The Love Of You" isn't better than the original

Kiss' cover of "2,000 Man" destroys the original by The Rolling Stones.

Marilyn Manson's cover of Sweet Dreams put the original to shame, taking the creepy atmosphere of the original, ditching the synths and adding in creepy guitar and chilling vocals.

ManlyMoose said:

Marilyn Manson's cover of Sweet Dreams put the original to shame, taking the creepy atmosphere of the original, ditching the synths and adding in creepy guitar and chilling vocals.

I think I like Manson's cover of Personal Jesus more than Depeche Mode's.

Paris9748430 said:

ManlyMoose said:

Marilyn Manson's cover of Sweet Dreams put the original to shame, taking the creepy atmosphere of the original, ditching the synths and adding in creepy guitar and chilling vocals.

I think I like Manson's cover of Personal Jesus more than Depeche Mode's.

If we are showering praise on Manson let me add that I love his cover of "The KKK Took My Baby Away." I don't know if it is better than the original but he turned it into a very different song.

Obviously...

Original

Cover

Maxwell's unplugged version of that Kate Bush tune is better

than the Bush original.

"More Love" which was written by Smokey Robinson and originally recorded with the Miracles takes a back seat to the cover done by Kim Carnes, in my opinion. And didn't Bruce Springsteen who wrote and originally recorded the song "Protection", thought that the cover done by the late Donna Summer was superior to his own?

I'm fond of these Dylan covers.....