Are Cover Versions Better Than the Originals?

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The discussion revolves around the appreciation of cover songs that some participants believe surpass the original versions. A part-time songwriter emphasizes the artistry involved in creating unique arrangements for covers, highlighting the challenge of making a song one's own. Various examples of covers are shared, including David Gray's rendition of Bob Dylan's "Meet Me in the Morning," Johnny Cash's cover of "Rusty Cage," and Primus's take on Pink Floyd's "Have A Cigar." Participants express differing opinions on whether certain covers are better than the originals, with notable mentions including Eric Clapton's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and Gary Jules's version of "Mad World." The conversation also touches on the cultural significance of covers in genres like jazz and the emotional impact of certain performances, illustrating the subjective nature of musical interpretation. Overall, the thread highlights a rich exchange of personal favorites and the varying perceptions of what makes a cover successful or superior.
  • #51
micromass said:
Speaking of awesome pink floyd covers:
The scissor sisters? Omg either I have a dirty mind or these girls just happened to come up with the most coincidental name ever for their group.
 
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  • #52
Remember that awful song "Friday" by Rebecca Black?? It turns out that it's a cover from a Bob Dylan song!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FISHEO3gsM
 
  • #53
WannabeNewton said:
The scissor sisters? Omg either I have a dirty mind or these girls just happened to come up with the most coincidental name ever for their group.

It's not coincidence.
 
  • #54
micromass said:
Here is an awesome cover of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj7pDNDuoJ0

Wait for the awesome solo!

Is that you on lead vocals, Micromass? You and the loop quantum gravity poetry slam crew from the local coffee house open mic night?
 
  • #55
micromass said:
It's not coincidence.
How the hell do you find this creepy stuff? Nvm I don't want to know.
 
  • #56
Smokin' rendition of an old Carpenters chestnut:

 
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  • #57
micromass said:
Speaking of awesome pink floyd covers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbVE-R1_Izo

Yes, I like it..I think it get it.. It sounds like Prince on bedrest...
 
  • #58
Think nobody can sing the beatles like the beatles?? Then check out this cover of [STRIKE]Letter B[/STRIKE] Let It Be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvPugOWeZiA
 
  • #59
Speaking of The Beatles,

 
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  • #60
jbunniii said:
Speaking of The Beatles,



Awesome! I will be playing this song on the next full moon, when we sacrifice a person to the Lord Satan.
 
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  • #61
An emotional yet corporate-positive rendering of U2:

 
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  • #62
micromass said:
Awesome! I will be playing this song on the next full moon, when we sacrifice a person to the Lord Satan.
Who will you sacrifice? A physicist?
 
  • #63
A geeky cover of "I will survive":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9dpTTpjymE

(A trained eye will of course see immediately that these people are not mathematicians since they're using Stewart)
 
  • #64
jbunniii said:
Who will you sacrifice? A physicist?

I said a person. So clearly physicists don't qualify...
 
  • #65
micromass said:
Think nobody can sing the beatles like the beatles?? Then check out this cover of [STRIKE]Letter B[/STRIKE] Let It Be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvPugOWeZiA

OMG, this is our first line of defense?! That's it, I'm moving to Sweden..
 
  • #66
micromass said:
I said a person. So clearly physicists don't qualify...
You're just jealous because you can't use Einstein summation in your daily work. It's ok, I'm here to help you through this.
 
  • #67
Pat Boone's electrifying take on "Smoke on the Water"

 
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  • #68
Of course Wing's fabulous cover of The Beatles has to be in here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0690V_-ypBw
 
  • #69
micromass said:
Awesome! I will be playing this song on the next full moon, when we sacrifice a person to the Lord Satan.

Upon hearing that "song", Lord Satan will be regurgitating your sacrifice. That goat's going to spit out one big bezoar. :smile:
 
  • #70
jbunniii said:
Pat Boone's electrifying take on "Smoke on the Water"



"It died with an awful sound."

'Nuff said. :rolleyes:
 
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  • #71
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o10W_63spDE

Cover of some Bob Marley song
 
  • #72
Micromass, I know you are on the supreme court of physics forums, but I am appealing to you to RECUSE yourself of this thread and start another one, perhaps entitled, "Even worse than the real thing."
 
  • #73
And then there is Avril Lavigne's touching performance of imagine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJrwTgFt3Ek
 
  • #74
micromass said:
Of course Wing's fabulous cover of The Beatles has to be in here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0690V_-ypBw

Micromass, I know you are on the supreme court of physics forums, but I am appealing to you to RECUSE yourself of this thread and start another one, perhaps entitled, "Even worse than the real thing."
 
  • #75
Some old guys doing a horrible, horrible cover of one of the best songs ever made by Justin Beiber
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXcNQTa3zgs
 
  • #76
The Rolling Stones are nothing compared to this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sutk4BDorXg
 
  • #77
What the hell? Is that actually real? I mean I knew Britney Spears was trash and the scum of the singing world but to have the audacity to cover a Stones song not to mention one of their best...god my ears are bleeding
 
  • #78
DiracPool said:
Micromass, I know you are on the supreme court of physics forums, but I am appealing to you to RECUSE yourself of this thread and start another one, perhaps entitled, "Even worse than the real thing."

*Gasp* You don't like wing?
 
  • #79
Already seen Beatles, Stones, Led Zeppelin, time for The Who:

 
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  • #80
Ok now for a serious one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyCFuP3rM2w
 
  • #81
I absolutely hate skrillex, but this is a decent cover

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrcFe0_pZEs
 
  • #82
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXHkG5G5qH8
 
  • #83
micromass said:
The Rolling Stones are nothing compared to this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sutk4BDorXg


I used to love to hate Britney Spears and her "kind" until I saw this video..Not the big one on the screen but THIS one...



Then I started ordering more peanuts on my flights and asking the stewardesses what "mile high club" meant.
 
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  • #84
I wouldn't call it better than the real thing, but it's cool

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a41bERTFBUI
 
  • #85
Best rendition of the US anthem ever:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcZKkZO7CTI
 
  • #86
Money (That's What I Want)

 
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  • #87
A cover of Metallica:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP6rkf3qB0c
 
  • #88
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc1eirTklMI
 
  • #89
I think I've fallen madly in love again >.<

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEe9sXO1M-I
 
  • #90
WannabeNewton said:
I think I've fallen madly in love again >.<


You said that would never happen again, you FRAUD!
 
  • #91
DiracPool said:
You said that would never happen again, you FRAUD!
The woes of being a teenager sire
 
  • #92
WannabeNewton said:
The woes of being a teenager sire

That's OK, just do something significant with your talents...specifically, make Lee Smolin look small because he has some explanation of the Alpha Magnetic spectrometer results, which are to be released in a few days. I don't know if I like these dinosaurs wandering around a psuedo-Microsoft-type campus thinking they are all that, and wearing T-shirts that say "Perimeter institute" on them. Where's Nathan Hale?
 
  • #93
I'd love to one day be able to sport an earned Perimeter Institute t - shirt lol.
 
  • #94
I spent hours composing a post and as always the forum trashed it, so you get this instead. A heavy metal version of the My Little Pony theme song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSVBcm_BZRs

Better post really.
 
  • #95
Not a cover exactly... better than the real thing(s) if you're ear is tired of hearing both of the originals...

 
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  • #96
1977ub said:
Not a cover exactly... better than the real thing(s) if you're ear is tired of hearing both of the originals...

That's good fun. I think that the following mashup is pretty hard to beat though. It's better than either original, which I wouldn't have believed could be done. Alex van Halen is perfect for ABBA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-POrLVkOuM If I ever have the money to waste I'll do a mashup of Paul McCartney singing Let It Be over Axis: Bold As Love. That would be f****** awesome.
 
  • #97
we don't need no stinkin' titles

Wow, this thread has really taken off!

I think I posted this in Best Songs (a long time ago), but it remains one of my all-time favs. A cover of Lou Reed's "Sweet Jane":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHRFZFmEq9o

 
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  • #98
lisab said:
Wow, this thread has really taken off!

I think I posted this in Best Songs (a long time ago), but it remains one of my all-time favs. A cover of Lou Reed's "Sweet Jane":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHRFZFmEq9o


Oh, I almost forgot about that one! Good pick, lisab. That's one of the best covers ever.
 
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  • #99
Bohemian Rhapsody on a ukelele.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB3RbO7updc

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida sung in Finnish by the most famous singer in Finland. The duck call solo is awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8pYnFV77Eo

A solo version of The Police's Message In a Bottle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-fpLmJHLvw

There are thousands of great covers from Japan, but if you aren't familiar with the the originals then some of the effect is lost. Here's one of a familiar number. Yamaha got its start as an electric organ company -- its company logo is three tuning forks -- and has kept up the tradition. They hold contests for children.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pS5xzOWbwo
 
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  • #100
Nevermore's reinterpretation of the Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel. It is a reinterpretation rather than a cover, but all the harmonies are in there, though sometimes well hidden. This version made me realize how dark the lyrics already have been in the original version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uG7sd-YPmE
 

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