Covers that are better than the original? - Off-Topic

#1 Posted by the_OFFICIAL_jAPanese_teaBAG (4276 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

So I was watching Lil Wayne's performance for his shitty song "How to Love" on the MTV VMA's and in my head I knew I already knew that the covers of that song on YouTube were better than Weezy's autotuned voice. There was also a topic about song covers that I saw yesterday and it made me think about song covers that have trumped the original song. In the case of most songs, its usually because the artist(s) performing the original sounds like shit anyways.

So those are my three videos, let's see what Giant Bomb can come up with! Oh and I have a thing for brunettes :)

#2 Posted by TerraMantis (277 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

This was the first thing that popped into my head.

I like both, but i love piano and the Gary Jules version just impacts me much better.

#3 Posted by Soapy86 (2468 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

#4 Posted by solidejake (481 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

I can understand why someone would think the other way, but I personally like Alien Ant Farm's version of Smooth Criminal over Michael Jackson's. And I love Johnny Cash's Hurt over Nine Inch Nails'.

#5 Posted by the_OFFICIAL_jAPanese_teaBAG (4276 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

@TerraMantis: something about the Gary Jules version that makes you want to listen to this song as you stare into the ceiling

#6 Edited by EuanDewar (4094 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

Got to be The White Stripes version of Dolly Parton's Jolene for me. The original is a fun, toe tappin' country song with some deceptively brilliant lyrics. The Stripes take it to a whole other fucking level, nothing else in the music world has this much emotion.

#7 Edited by Soapy86 (2468 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

@solidejake: Agree on both. I still like MJ's original quite a bit as well though.

#8 Edited by Vonocourt (2009 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

http://www.giantbomb.com/forums/off-topic/31/any-amazing-song-covers/512015/#61

First page bro.

Always thought this was a pretty cool cover, better though, I don't know.

#9 Posted by AndrewBeardsley (362 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

all along the watch tower. jimi hendrix

better the bob dylans...

immmaaa hipsterr

#10 Posted by Irvandus (2304 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

@Soapy86 said:

This is, whoa, I think I like it?

#11 Posted by DrHawking (214 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

I don't really like Metallica but Periphery makes this song awesome

#12 Posted by solidejake (481 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

@Soapy86: Of course! I think MJ's is very cool, but maybe because I am younger, more into rock than pop, and it brings a little nostalgia, I prefer Alien Ant Farm's. What a ballsy move on their part, and they handled it so well.

#13 Posted by Omega (761 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

I'm going to preface this by saying I fucking love Jimi Hendrix but I really liked Bear McReary's All Along the Watchtower from Battlestar Galactica even more than Hendrix or Dylan.

Another good one is Jonathan Coulton's version of Baby Got Back. I always hated that song, but JC made it listen able and in fact enjoyable.

#14 Posted by TerraMantis (277 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

This is a song that i think is the opposite of the thread.

The original is better than its more famous cover...which most people don't even know it is a cover.

#15 Posted by RandomInternetUser (6779 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

@TerraMantis said:

This was the first thing that popped into my head.

I like both, but i love piano and the Gary Jules version just impacts me much better.

Wow, yeah, didn't even know Gary Jules' was a cover, but it is WAY better.

Only thing I can think of right this second is Glitch Mob's remix of Steve Nalepa's Monday.

I fucking LOOOOOVE Glitch Mob's version.

#16 Posted by the_OFFICIAL_jAPanese_teaBAG (4276 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

@Vonocourt: oh yeah i know... i was going to add something to this thread to make it a little more different than the other one but i forgot... no wait i remember now, i was going to include songs that were better live. and i love Cap'n Kirk. even though hes a new addition to the band i think hes a talented induvidual that fits in with the band. im not sure about Owen Biddle the bass player to be honest... hes very awkward and theres this picture where the whole band is around a table having a discussion with John Legend and hes sitting at least a metre away on a stool. but i love some of the bass lines that he adds to songs.
@EuanDewar: ive never really listened to the White Stripes and wow, they are a really great band

#17 Posted by Soapy86 (2468 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

@Omega said:

I'm going to preface this by saying I fucking love Jimi Hendrix but I really liked Bear McReary's All Along the Watchtower from Battlestar Galactica even more than Hendrix or Dylan.


Another good one is Jonathan Coulton's version of Baby Got Back. I always hated that song, but JC made it listen able and in fact enjoyable.

brb, need to watch BSG again.

#18 Posted by anthama (17 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

Johnny Cash's Cover of Hurt by NIN might as well be the original, even Trent admitted it sounds better.

#19 Posted by Loyal_Dragoon (118 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

#20 Posted by KarmaPoliceman (138 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

@anthama: Where does Trent admit it was better? I know it was a very personal song for him, so I would be surprised if that were the case. Anyway, I've always liked the NIN version better...

For content.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1A_uSEjTIQ

#21 Posted by bartok (2371 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

The Drive-By Truckers have a fun cover of Bob Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone.
My ringtone has been this cover for going on close to 4 years -

#22 Posted by Chop (1739 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

Hee hee!

#23 Posted by Master_Funk (653 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

Love the original version , but this is just too soulfully awesome.

#24 Posted by DizzyMedal (363 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

I've always thought that Joe Cocker's version of With A Little Help From My Friends was vastly superior to the Beatles. (And apparently hard to find on youtube without some 'misheard lyrics' overlay...)

#25 Posted by Goly (843 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

@DrHawking: That is not a better version (IMO), and I'm not even a Metallica fan.

Anyway, for me I guess the best example of this is the Animals with House of the Rising sun, which had been interpreted by countless artists until the Animals made it popular.

#26 Posted by TheGreatGuero (9086 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

@DizzyMedal said:

I've always thought that Joe Cocker's version of With A Little Help From My Friends was vastly superior to the Beatles. (And apparently hard to find on youtube without some 'misheard lyrics' overlay...)

Absolutely. I'm generally not a fan of most covers, but Joe Cocker turned that song into a whole new level of greatness entirely. Here it is. Also, The Wonder Years theme.

#27 Posted by xaLieNxGrEyx (2034 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

Gary Jules' version of Mad World is not better than the Fears original.

#28 Posted by Ghostiet (4822 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

#29 Posted by SamFo (1498 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

If someone says behind blue eyes - limp bizkit, i will personally kill them.

#30 Posted by BombKareshi (995 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

I think we could all agree that Suara's cover of "Towa Ni" (originally sung by Emi Motoda) is the superior version.

Man, words cannot express the feelings this song evokes in me.

#31 Posted by Ramone (2511 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

Hmm...Jimi Hendrix did a lot of great covers however I think these two songs are pretty great

Cover of a Bob Seger song

Cover of a ZZ Top song

#32 Posted by Toms115 (2313 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

red house painters, "i am a rock." better than the simon & garfunkel original. look it up, chumps.

#33 Posted by anthama (17 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

@KarmaPoliceman: To be honest, he doesn't explicitly say it was better, I must have misremembered it. He does talk about here (around 1:35) about getting goosebumps from watching the video and feeling like the song wasn't his anymore. Also, it seems like the video can't be embedded, so here.

#34 Posted by Vexxan (4578 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

@TerraMantis: You said it. The original is crap while the Gary Jules cover is one of my absolute favorite songs.

#35 Posted by PenguinDust (12174 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

Hmm, this is a tough one since I'm old and I tend to prefer the originals in most cases, but I'll list a few that I like:

"I'm a Man" ~ Chicago (Chicago Transit Authority) originally by The Spencer Davis Group
"Because the Night" ~ 10,000 Maniacs (Unplugged) originally by Patti Smith Group
"House Of The Rising Sun" ~ Frijid Pink (self-titled) "originally" by The Animals
"The Mighty Quinn" ~ Manfred Mann (Mighty Garvey!) originally by Bob Dylan
"Beautiful" ~ All-American Rejects (live) originally by Christina Aguilera
"Mmm Bop" ~ The Fabulous Pink Flamingos (Live from the Lu'au Lounge) originally by Hanson
"Hot in Herre" ~ Jenny Owen Youngs (The Take Off All Your Clothes EP) originally by Nelly
"Rich Girl" ~ The Bird and the Bee (Interpreting the Masters vol. 1) originally by Hall & Oates
"Tighten Up" ~ Jamiroquai (Live At The Club Citta '93) originally by Archie Bell and the Drells

But the cover I like more than the original most (and that's saying a lot because I love the original) is "I Won't Last a Day Without You" Shiina Ringo feat. Utada Hikaru originally by The Carpenters

#36 Posted by vdortizo (117 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

@TerraMantis said:

This is a song that i think is the opposite of the thread.

The original is better than its more famous cover...which most people don't even know it is a cover.

You sir, just read my mind...

#37 Edited by DeeGee (1971 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

I really liked the remix of Night of the Hunter from 30 Seconds to Mars latest album, far more so then the original song (which is also great).

#38 Edited by Jams (2751 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

@EuanDewar said:

Got to be The White Stripes version of Dolly Parton's Jolene for me. The original is a fun, toe tappin' country song with some deceptively brilliant lyrics. The Stripes take it to a whole other fucking level, nothing else in the music world has this much emotion.

I was gonna post that! I guess I'll have to settle for another cover. You could say the original is better than this cover, but Jack White knows how to make it his own. I almost collapse in spasms every time he hits that distortion.

"Death Letter" - Sun House

"Grinnin in your foace" _ Sun House

Oh yeah, I have to say this is my favorite cover of all time.

#39 Posted by TheUnsavedHero (1182 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

Never liked the original, but Five Finger Death Punch did pretty good.

#40 Posted by mordukai (7021 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

Several covers come to mind. I don't necessarily think they are better then the original but they were different enough to give the song a different spin.

#41 Posted by MattyFTM (13867 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

The first thing that comes to mind is Only You, originally by Yazoo, covered by the Flying Pickets.

Original:

Cover:

I like the Yazoo version. It's a good song. But the Flying Pickets version is amazing. It's a fantastic song.

Moderator

#42 Posted by Scarlet_Rogue (488 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

Suprised the hell out of me the first time I saw it. John Belushi - "a little help from my friends"

#43 Posted by apoptosis61 (600 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

#44 Posted by Valkyr (657 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

#45 Posted by ProfessorEss (6462 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

@anthama: Anything Johnny covers turns out better than the original.

But yeah, his rendition of Hurt is brilliant.

#46 Posted by tooPrime (305 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

@vdortizo said:

@TerraMantis said:

This is a song that i think is the opposite of the thread.

The original is better than its more famous cover...which most people don't even know it is a cover.

You sir, just read my mind...

I would just like to join this agreement train.

#47 Posted by BulletproofMonk (2664 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

Dream Theater covering Funeral for a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding by Elton John blew my mind the first time I heard it.

#48 Posted by bushpusherr (570 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

It has to be this...

#49 Posted by BaneFireLord (2366 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

Mad World and Cum On Feel the Noize.

#50 Posted by Everyones_A_Critic (6090 posts) - 1 year, 9 months ago

Matisyahu's cover of Message in a Bottle is what the original should have been in my book. The guitars sound much more full, and Matis' vocals are close enough to Sting's style without sounding like an imitation.