21 Best Ever Cover Songs!
Published on 02 December 2024
A wise friend once told me ‘you can’t argue with greatness’. It’s a phrase that has stuck with me ever since, and it came to mind when I was thinking of the whole subject of cover songs.
Some songs are just eternally excellent, and no matter who takes a shot at it, it preserves its own inner core of quality.
These are the songs I want to share with you today. Some might surprise you, if you thought the version you’re familiar with was the original, when it isn’t; some are obvious and just need to be reshared and enjoyed; and there are others that were actually improved when somebody new took a fresh swing at them.
I’ll let you determine which is which, but the only thing I’ll promise you is that every song here is inarguably great. Have fun reacquainting with the best cover songs ever.
Nirvana - The Man Who Sold the World
To this day, there are scores of people who don’t realise that this is David Bowie’s song. It just fit into the MTV Unplugged vibe so well that Gen-Xers never even questioned the provenance of the tune.
A few years after this, people would congratulate Bowie at his own gigs for doing an interesting cover of ‘that Nirvana tune’. D’oh!
Sinead O’Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U
It’s rare that a cover and the original are neck and neck in terms of quality: one is always better than the other, right? Not here! Prince released his original version in 1985 with his then-backing band The Family, but it was only released as an album deep cut - not a single - and so it passed by largely unnoticed.
That is, until Sinead C’Connor released her cover version and earned herself a worldwide smash hit. In the UK, only the Righteous Brothers’ re-release of Unchained Melody kept Sinead from reaching number one.
Ike & Tina Turner - Proud Mary
The first of many songs today where you’ll bark incredulously at your phone/screen and yell ‘THIS ISN’T A COVER SONG!’
Well it is, so settle down and appreciate the fact that Proud Mary - that most definitive of Ike & Tina tunes - was originally written and released by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Give it a listen and you’ll realise that both versions are class. Surely that’s better than only one good version?
Now, here’s the next one that’ll make you spit your coffee out in utter disbelief…
Willie Nelson - Always on My Mind
Yep, maverick songwriting genius Willie Nelson did NOT write his most famous track! I know! There were actually numerous versions of this song written before Nelson tackled it in 1982, including one by Elvis! It’s just a surprise when you don’t check out the timeline, because this tune is so associated with Willie.
Always on my Mind was actually written by Wayne Carson, Johnny Christopher and Mark James a full decade before Nelson’s defining version.
The Pet Shop Boys hardly embarrassed themselves with their electronic effort too, proving that a great song can be dressed up in all manner of outfits.
Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
Big 90s movies required enormous tunes to help sell seats at the cinema: Robin Hood: Prince of Theives had Bryan Adams, Four Weddings and a Funeral had Wet Wet Wet, and The Bodyguard had a Whitney Houston song that hit so hard, it left a hole in the planet.
Not that it matters, but this tune is actually a Dolly Parton cover. She wrote it in 1973 about her business partner, and released it a year later. Both versions are great: Dolly’s is tender and Whitney’s is showstopping.
Charles Bradley - Changes
You can be entirely forgiven for not knowing that this ballad is a Black Sabbath tune. It doesn’t mention Satan and has nary a whiff of a detuned, fuzzy guitar riff about it, but it’s a Sabbath original none the less, appearing on their 1972 album No.4.
Charles Bradley’s version - used on TV show Big Mouth - has a very different, much more RnB feel, providing further evidence about how genreproof a great melody and chord progression can be.
Joe Cocker - With a Little Help from My Friends
Ringo Starr has a perfectly serviceable voice but he’s no match for Joe Cocker. This is so much the case that it’s easy to forget that Cocker’s hit is in fact a Beatles cover, first appearing on 1967’s masterpiece record Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Cocker covered the track on his debut solo album just two years later.
Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower
Bob Dylan’s great blah blah blah but his original recording of All Along with Watchtower is a clumsy fumble next to Jimi Hendrix’s multi-layered masterpiece. It’s almost like Dylan couldn’t quite see the full vision of the song but Hendrix could: he brought such colour and drama to what was otherwise a relatively ho-hum three chord ditty. In the hands of Hendrix, it became a swirling thing of wonder.
I bet Bob agrees.
Elvis Presley - Bridge Over Troubled Water
It’s not immediately clear to me if The King’s version of this immortal tune is better than the original or not. This blog isn’t specifically about that, but I’m still asking myself how I feel when I compare his to the gobsmacking Simon & Garfunkel original.
Both are powerful in their own way: the original in its restraint and quiet power; the Presley cover version for its showy bombast. Which is the best? Well, that’s very much up to you, but for me, there isn’t too much in it at all.
Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
Hands up: does anybody prefer Lenoard Cohen’s original? It’s very good, make no mistake, but it’s the second best version of this song, written by Cohen and bettered by Jeff Buckley. His ethereal voice and ghostly guitar playing (I’m not being morbid: it sounded like that when Buckley was alive) adds a rich eternal quality to this song that was only hinted at in Cohen’s original.
Limp Bizkit - Faith
Florida Nu Metallers Limp Bizkit may not be the first people you’d imagine to be George Michael fans, but their cover of his song Faith is relatively earnest. This was back in the days when doing a ‘heavy version’ of a popular pop song was a relatively novel idea.
This was also back in the days when having a DJ in your band to perform scratch solos was also acceptable. That idea is long dead and buried, but it’s interesting to hear how fresh and vital DJ Lethal’s contribution to the song actually is.
Johnny Cash - Hurt
Like Nirvana’s take on The Man Who Sold the World, this song is so inextricably linked to Johnny Cash that lots of people either don’t know or don’t particularly care that it is a Nine Inch Nails cover.
From an initial song about the crippling isolation of addiction to a pean to the loss of loved ones, Cash changes the entire perspective of the song without doing anything more than being him and singing it.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Higher Ground
Back in the days when the Red Hot Chili Peppers were still a funk-rock band, this well-selected cover of Stevie Wonder’s Higher Ground sat so perfectly within the tracklisting of the Mother’s Milk record that loads of Chilis fans didn’t even realise it was a cover.
U2 - Can’t Help Falling in Love
Whilst never officially released (as far as I know), this Elvis cover was a highlight of U2’s massively ostentatious ZOOTV tour. It’s a great vocal showcase, and also a reminder that, amidst all of the spectacular production, some of the most effective moments are still the simplest.
Placebo - Running Up That Hill (also Burn)
Here’s an interesting one. Placebo are covering Kate Bush’s newly-rediscovered classic Running Up That Hill, but instead of creating their own backing music, vocalist Brian Molko is basically singing over the top of an entirely different song!
That song would be Burn by The Cure, a song written especially for the original Crow movie. A curiosity indeed, as well as a great cover and an excellent idea!
Muse - Feeling Good
Bands doing heavy rock versions of songs from other genres feels a bit stale these days, but this Muse cover of Nina Simone’s timeless hit Feeling Good is so deliriously overegged that you can’t fail to be won over by its exuberance.
Alien Ant Farm - Smooth Criminal
It must be rough when you’re a one-hit wonder, and that one hit is somebody else’s tune. Not only that, it’s a song that was already a worldwide smash for the original artist, who in this case is the fairly well-known Michael Jackson.
This is how it is for the members of Alien Ant Farm, whose take on Smooth Criminal sticks very close to the original blueprint. The song, about a woman getting violently attacked in her apartment (honestly, Google it) was a hit for Alien Ant Farm in 2001.
Trivia: those dolls that you practice resuscitation on during First Aid training are named ‘Resusci Annie’ directly because of MJ’s song! Participants are taught to ask ‘Annie, are you okay?’ repeatedly throughout their training. I am not making this up.
The Corrs - Dreams
Is it true to say that The Corrs are a late 90s version of Fleetwood Mac? It feels that way, with their sophisticated pop that's played on real instruments and resonates with the masses.
Anyway, their hit single Dreams, from the bajillion-selling Talk on Corners album, is actually a Fleetwood Mac cover.
You already know that though, don't you? Even though it fits in perfectly with The Corrs’ sound, you knew because the Fleetwood Mac version also sold a squidillion copies. Great version, regardless.
No Doubt - It’s My Life
No Doubt - the band latterly known as Gwen Stefani - had a far more eclectic sound than their mid 90s alt-rock scene buddies. There was ska, punk, rock and pop in there, along with some synths for good measure.
Maybe that’s why it wasn’t immediately clear that their hit song It’s My Life was a Talk Talk cover. It’s a faithful version and sits well in the band’s oeuvre.
Kula Shaker - Hush
Remember Kula Shaker? Before the misguided Nazi references and bizarre King Arthur cosplay, there was a band who were still super odd (posh English boys singing in Sanskrit and trying to sound like Santana) but who knew - sporadically at least - how to rock. Their cover of Deep Purple’s Hush stands up well on every front, a chunky slice of retro rock that suited the band well.
David Bowie - Nite Flights
Chameleonic megastar David ‘Bowie’ Jones actually recorded and performed quite a high amount of covers throughout his 50 year career. Given how creative he was, he also wasn’t above snatching another person’s song and making it his own.
This one, from 1993’s otherwise slightly dull album Black Tie White Noise, is an excellent example of how well certain songs fit Bowie. It’s originally a Scott Walker song (attributed to ‘The Walker Brothers’ but we all know it was a solo Scott piece) and though David’s version is considerably more polished (not necessarily to its benefit, given how artful the original sounds), he changes relatively little about this most captivating and unusual of tunes.
What’s Your Favourite Cover Song?
The whole notion of the cover song is something of an infinite line along the horizon. People have forever - and will forever - choose to perform the songs of others, and so it’s difficult to determine a definitive Best Of list. How did I do today?
You’ll know most of these, but hopefully there’s one of two songs here that you didn’t recognise and have decided to check out. These little rabbit holes can uncover real jewels of music, so if that’s happening here then my job is done. If there are obvious songs I’ve missed, I either forgot about them, didn’t have time or…well…didn’t like them!
It’s not you, it’s me! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the list today, and come back next time for more blog content like this one!
