Cover Songs

You had to include Ben Folds Five's version of Dr.Dre's Bitches aint Shit!

The Piano playing, Lounge singer tone with the Dre lyrics makes me laugh still! even after listening to it a thousand times!

And the arrangement was actually cool!!

BEST COVER EVER!

Some of my favorites:

The Futureheads cover Kate Bush's "Hounds of Love" - A barbershop punk cover of a new wave goddess that arguably eclipses the original. The Futureheads' manic vocal hiccups and straight ahead post-punk power provide an energy that makes this song irresistible.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZH1h9l0w84

Jose Gonzalez covers The Knife's "Heartbeats" - Gonzalez's cover of “Heartbeats” adds an unexpected depth and striking beauty to a song that beforehand was just a fun dance tune. In Gonzalez’s version, the song is transformed into an aching love song hinting at infidelity and the release of forgiveness. While I am a huge fan of The Knife’s version, José Gonzalez has taken this song an infused so much emotion into it that he truly made it his own.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4_4abCWw-w

Lyle Lovett covers the Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil" - Using acoustic guitar and bass, lightly tapped bongos, and an understated cello, Lovett adds his incomparable singing voice to coax out the sweet melody and emotion of one of the Dead’s best and most endearing songs. The end result is an impeccably gorgeous cover, one that stands right up there with the original.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-LKkaJQkqo

Ok, I know most country music sucks but my husband has taken a liking to the Zac Brown Band ("Chicken Fried") and he made me listen to a cd that he burned of theirs. Oddly enough there was an interesting cover that definitely caught my attention. Even with it being country, I felt it was entertaining and definitely a good cover.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S71Pa9M-SOc

"Gin and Juice"

You'll laugh at this, but I loved HERE COMES MY BABY by Cat Stevens, from the RUSHMORE soundtrack. Music doesn't have to be complex to be entertaining.

Any local-level rock band doing a gig in a different city should do at least two covers, and they should be catchy. A good cover brings attention to a band that's performing in unfamiliar territory.

In 1987, Pet Shop Boys performed a thoughtful new-wave version of "Always on My Mind" on Love Me Tender, an ITV network television special commemorating the tenth anniversary of Presley's death, in which various popular contemporary acts performed cover versions of his hits. Their performance was so well-received that the group decided to record the song and release it as a single. This version became the U.K.'s Christmas number one single that year, beating "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, and topping the charts for four weeks in total. It also reached number one in Germany in 1988, and peaked at number four in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 the same year, becoming the duo's fifth and last Top 10 hit there.

In November 2004, The Daily Telegraph newspaper placed the version at number two in a list of the fifty greatest cover versions of all time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2pNF_IXfyI

Despite a sizable amount of original material, the Gourds are probably best known for a song they did not write, and for which they initially did not receive credit (many internet tracks of their brilliant cover are still falsely labelled "Phish"). A full twelve years after its live debut, fans can still be heard calling out for the band's cover version of Snoop Dogg's "Gin and Juice", often before they have even taken the stage. This has led some to consider it an albatross, but the band continues to play the crowd pleaser on occasion, adding various impromptu covers to its mid-section as a way of maintaining its appeal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCAM3C3dpIA

Can't believe I fogot to include this, as it's one of my favorite covers ever:

Dr. Dog covers Architecture In Helsinki's "Heart It Races" - The original is a fine example of AIH's manic, kindergartener-on-acid vibe, but my jaw dropped when I first heard the Dr. Dog version. For a little backstory, AIH recruited four other artists to remix/re-record their single "Heart It Races," and then they released them all together in a little EP. The absolute stand out of all of the versions (including the original!) was Dr. Dog's laid back, So-Cal groove. Replacing the steel drums of the original with a trippy slide guitar, distant background vocals, and some handclaps, Dr. Dog have produced the best cover I've heard in a long time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QvJ3dXqmvw

I like What Difference Does it Make by Bobby Bare Jr. (Original by the Smiths)

Great Call.

I'd also throw in Devo's cover of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction."

Cibo Matto's version of Nirvana's 'About A Girl' is a good one

No list of great cover songs would be complete without Cake's rendition of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvsI3jc4pPA