Cover Songs Better Than the Original

Ten songs that were written by one person and won by another.

Entries
10
Category
Music
Updated
  1. A torn paper heart pinned to an empty apartment wall, morning light through half-drawn blinds.

    10. Torn

    Natalie Imbruglia · 1997

    Written by Scott Cutler, Anne Preven and Phil Thornalley, cut first in Danish, then by Cutler and Preven's band Ednaswap in 1995. A former Neighbours actress made it a global hit with 11 weeks atop US radio airplay. Ednaswap's version is fine. That's the problem.

  2. A lone upright piano on a suburban street at dusk, a jet engine lying in a front yard behind it.

    09. Mad World

    Michael Andrews featuring Gary Jules · 2001

    Tears for Fears made it a 1982 synth-pop single with Curt Smith singing. Andrews and Jules stripped it to piano for Donnie Darko, recorded it in about 90 minutes on a thin budget, and got the 2003 UK Christmas No. 1. A song about dying dreams. Festive.

  3. A jukebox glowing in a dark bar, a black leather jacket slung over it and a dime resting on its glass.

    08. I Love Rock 'n' Roll

    Joan Jett & the Blackhearts · 1981

    The Arrows released it in 1975 as a B-side. Joan Jett saw them play it on their weekly UK TV show while touring with the Runaways, held onto it, and in 1982 it spent seven weeks at No. 1. The Arrows had their own TV show and still lost this one.

  4. A thrift-store bedroom exploding with color: mismatched bangles, a telephone with a tangled cord, and a pile of bright tulle skirts.

    07. Girls Just Want to Have Fun

    Cyndi Lauper · 1983

    Robert Hazard wrote it in 1979 from a guy's point of view, which is a different and worse song. Lauper reworked the lyrics into an anthem about women wanting what men already had, and it went to No. 2. Hazard's version is the demo. Hers is the point.

  5. A small analog synthesizer on a sticky nightclub floor under a mirror ball, a single 45 rpm record spinning beside it.

    06. Tainted Love

    Soft Cell · 1981

    Gloria Jones cut it in 1964 as a B-side that became a Northern soul floor-filler. Soft Cell slowed it, added the bink-bink synth, hit UK No. 1, and stayed on the US Hot 100 for a then-record 43 weeks. Nobody has ever left a dance floor because of it.

  6. A row of white candles in a dim stone chapel, one guttering out beside a hollow-body electric guitar.

    05. Hallelujah

    Jeff Buckley · 1994

    Columbia passed on releasing Leonard Cohen's 1984 original album in the US. John Cale's 1991 cover found the song; Buckley's, on Grace, turned it into the hymn for every TV death scene since. Cohen reportedly drafted 80 verses. Buckley needed fewer.

  7. A single microphone on a stand in a spotlight, a rhinestone cowgirl boot and an evening glove resting at its base.

    04. I Will Always Love You

    Whitney Houston · 1992

    Dolly Parton's 1974 country No. 1 is a gentle goodbye. Whitney's Bodyguard version opens a cappella and sat atop the Hot 100 for 14 weeks. Dolly once refused to give Elvis's manager half the publishing; she later said Whitney's version let her buy Graceland.

  8. A gleaming grand piano lid propped open in a 1960s recording studio, a stack of gold records leaning against it.

    03. Respect

    Aretha Franklin · 1967

    Otis Redding wrote it in 1965 as a tired man asking for some credit at home. Aretha flipped it, added the spelling and the sock-it-to-me, played piano, and took it to No. 1 with two Grammys. Otis admitted she'd taken it from him. He did not ask for it back.

  9. A dusty dining table set for a banquet in an abandoned museum, an old black acoustic guitar laid beside spilled wine.

    02. Hurt

    Johnny Cash · 2002

    Nine Inch Nails, 1994: a young man's song about self-harm and regret. Cash cut it at 70 for American IV, and the video, shot in his shuttered museum, came out months before he died. Trent Reznor said the song isn't his anymore. He was right.

  10. A stone watchtower on a windswept hill at night, a white electric guitar leaning against its base while lightning cracks overhead.

    01. All Along the Watchtower

    The Jimi Hendrix Experience · 1968

    Dylan put it on John Wesley Harding in late 1967; Hendrix was recording it within weeks. Dylan later said it overwhelmed him, that he took license from it, and he has played it the Hendrix way ever since. When the writer covers your cover, you won.

Honorable mentions

  • A cardigan draped over a folding chair on a small stage strewn with lilies and candles, an acoustic guitar leaning on it.

    The Man Who Sold the World

    Nirvana · 1994

    Not better than Bowie's 1970 original, but it changed who owns it in the public mind. Recorded for MTV Unplugged in 1993. Bowie said kids would tell him it was cool he was doing a Nirvana song, and what he thought in reply cannot be printed here.

Dishonorable mentions

  • A cracked red Speak and Spell toy sitting on a guitar amp in an empty arena.

    Behind Blue Eyes

    Limp Bizkit · 2003

    The Who's 1971 song about a misunderstood villain, minus its furious bridge, plus a Speak & Spell. Rolling Stone readers voted it the second-worst cover of all time. One of its two videos stars Halle Berry. Somehow none of this helped.

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