When cover songs go really, really bad
Posted: Thursday, August 14, 2008 6:00 AM by Anna Chan
Filed Under:
Music
I was cruisin’ in my ride and singing along to the Guns ‘n’ Roses “Greatest Hits” CD the other day when I thought, “Hmm … G’n’R rocks, but they sure did do a lot of covers.”
Fortunately, most of them are good, but I was suddenly reminded of one god-awful cover (in my opinion, anyway): Sheryl Crow’s 1999 take on the classic “Sweet Child o’ Mine.”
Crow managed to turn Axl Rose’s rockin’ love song to then-girlfriend (and later ex-wife) Erin Everly into a stripped-down tune overwhelmed by her emotionless vocals. And for what? The “Big Daddy” soundtrack. Granted, not all of her cover was bad. I enjoyed the music. The lighter take was quite nice, but the rest of it made me cringe. Then again, Crow’s version earned her a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in 2000, so what do I know?
I know what I don’t like, that’s for sure. And the following covers are among the ones where I feel the artists should’ve left the great tunes untouched:
Marilyn Manson’s “Sweet Dreams”: I’ll be the first to admit that I used to be a huge Manson fan, but this cover never worked for me. The Eurythmics’ edgy, gender-bending hit was turned into a super cheesy yet creepy single that was made laughable by Manson’s vocals. Luckily for the goth-glam-rock band, the original is so classic that the masses ignored the mess and a new generation embraced the scary new spin, propelling Marilyn Manson into stardom in 1996, just as the original did for the Eurythmics in 1983.
Here’s “Lay Lady Lay”: Oh, where do I even begin with this? First of all, the cover is on “Wish You Were Queer: A Tribute to Ministry.” Yes, you read that right – a tribute to Ministry. “Lay Lady Lay” can be found on Ministry’s 1996 album “Filth Pig,” but it's no original. It’s an amazing cover (more next week on awesome cover songs) of the Bob Dylan tune. So Here’s cover is actually a cover of a cover. The second issue I have with the song is, well, the other important bits: The singer sounds like one of the Chipmunks on downers, while the music is on speed. No no no no NO.
Rammstein’s “Stripped”: I can almost see the blood dripping from the butcher knife as lead singer Till Lindemann very creepily coaxes me to let him hear me cry and see me stripped as I huddle in a corner. No, this amped up, uber-aggressive version of the Depeche Mode song definitely doesn’t work for me. I much prefer DM’s original, which is a bit ambiguous in its sweet yet desperate plea to reveal the real you, over Rammstein’s much more hostile and sexualized twist that feels more appropriate for a snuff film.
Which originally great songs do you feel have been butchered by other bands' covers? (Save your favorites for next week!)
