This song's even better than the original!
Posted: Thursday, August 21, 2008 6:00 AM by Anna Chan
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Music
Last week, I listed Marilyn Manson’s cover of “Sweet Dreams” as one of the worst cover songs, but apparently, many disagreed with me. But that’s the beauty of music: What sounds awful to one person may resonate with another.
It’s certainly tough to put a new spin on a much beloved original such as the Eurythmics’ tune and have most people love it, but some musicians can take anything from a huge hit to songs that are just OK and turn them into masterpieces.
Here are just a few I’ve found to be fantastic:
“Superstar”: All right, so last week, I blasted Here for covering Ministry’s cover of Bob Dylan’s “Lay Lady Lay.” Yet this week, not only am I giving props to the Carpenters for their cover of the Delaney, Bonnie & Friends song (which Richard Carpenter reportedly first heard as performed by Bette Midler), I’m also giving huge kudos to Sonic Youth’s cover of the Carpenters’ version on the tribute album “If I Were a Carpenter.” The Carpenters version is probably by far the most popular version of the song, and though Karen Carpenter's vocals were lovely, Thurston Moore's vocals and the band's arrangement had her beat. Granted, a more up-to-date sound may appeal to younger ears, but Moore’s vocals really captured the painful longing, while the music reverberated with the hollowness of being alone. It gives me goose bumps every single time.
Revolting Cocks’ “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy”: Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing terrible about Rod Stewart’s original. It’s fun, it’s sassy, but it’s also a little bit cheesy. (The idea of a 63-year-old singing this to my young-ish ears is also a bit icky.) But RevCo’s 1993 cover (found on their album “Linger Ficken’ Good”) sexed up this hot song a bit more, the way I imagine it should’ve originally sounded in 1978 (though their video is definitely on the silly side). The band turned it from a disco-y type tune into a rocking dance-floor hit sung in a suggestive voice. (Remember the original line “He says I’m sorry but I’m out of milk and coffee”? The new line replaces the beverage with … KY Jelly!) As Austin Powers would say, “Yeah, baby!”
RUN DMC’s “Walk This Way”: This 1986 remake of the 1977 Aerosmith hit is a great example of not only a fantastic cover tune, but also proof of how mixing genres can work. The hip-hop pioneers took the band’s blues-y rock tune, added some funky turntables by Jam Master Jay and rapped Steven Tyler's girl-crazy lyrics, transforming it into a hip-hop/pop hit that helped revitalize Aerosmith’s sagging career and made rap more mainstream. Plus, the video, which also features Aerosmith, is pretty fun.
My other favorite cover songs include:
Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love”
Hate Dept.’s “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)”
Doll Factory’s “Baby One More Time”
Battery’s “Gangster’s Paradise”
80 percent of the “For the Masses” album, a tribute to Depeche Mode
Which cover songs do you think are the greatest of all time?
