Let's get Under the Covers

They found me! Someone must’ve blown my cover…

So, we hear cover songs all the time, on the radio, the internet, or on some weird Jimmy Fallon TV special.

Depending on when you were born, or how much music you dig into, you may or may not know a cover when you hear one. 

Then again sometimes the covers are better than the original. Think Twist and Shout, or Nothing Compares 2 U, or The Soft Cell version of Tainted Love.  All great cover songs that blew the originals into obscurity.

Of course none of this is what I came to you for today.

No, today, I want to discuss cover songs, that we knew were cover songs, and they held their own and had their own recognition almost equal to the original. 

So, let’s do this.

Smooth Criminal – Alien Ant Farm

So the original video was one of the best parts of Moonwalker.  If you don’t know about Moonwalker, then….  

I don’t really know.

Seriously though, check it out.

So, with that in mind, I don’t need to tell you how big of a star Michael Jackson was.  And obviously his song about CPR classes was just as great as any of his other songs.

Now fast forward to 2001, a time when the diehards still loved Michael, but most of the world only cared about his bizarreness.

So Alien Ant Farm comes around and records their version of the song, and uses it as their major label debut single, and the world went nuts for it.  They made a video that encompassed many of Jackson’s videos into 1.

It’s probably the only AAF song that you know.  That’s ok. That’s the point really.  But they did have other songs and other cool videos.

But this is what they are most remembered for.

The Sound of Silence - Disturbed

So, Simon and Garfunkel did it first in 1964.  And it was huge for 4 years; it is in the National Recording Registry in the Library of Congress. 

Hell, 45 years later Simon and Garfunkel could still perform the heck out of it.

Then in late 2015, Disturbed released it and it slowly caught fire, becoming Disturbed’s highest charting Hot 100 song ever.  It was a worldwide hit and a platinum record. (Which are a bit harder to come by these days)

Paul Simon and David Draiman of Disturbed shared this exchange:

Simon sent lead vocalist David Draiman an email praising Disturbed's performance of the rendition on late-night talk show Conan. Simon wrote: “Really powerful performance on Conan the other day. First time I’d seen you do it live. Nice. Thanks.” Draiman responded, “Mr. Simon, I am honored beyond words. We only hoped to pay homage and honor to the brilliance of one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Your compliment means the world to me/ us and we are eternally grateful.”

So without further ado, here is that aforementioned Conan appearance.

Wild Thing – Sam Kinison

Ok, so I am bending the rules a bit on this one.

Many people have covered this; in fact, The Troggs version is not even the original one.

But it is the most famous version.  So it wins that round

Sam Kinison recorded the song in 1988 and made a video for it.  The video itself was an MTV hit.  That is why I am including it.

The video features Rodney Dangerfield and the writhing of Jessica Hahn, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Billy Idol, Tommy Lee, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi, Slash and several members of Ratt.

Also, he covered Elvis:

I Fought the Law – The Clash

Another story where the famous version by The Bobby Fuller Four was a cover of an earlier recorded version by Sonny Curtis.

The 1965 Bobby Fuller version is revered as one of the greatest songs of its era.

Six months later Bobby Fuller died. Some say suicide others say murder. Maybe that’s what happens when you fight the law.

Too Soon?

Thirteen years later (1978) The Clash put their own New Wave Punk spin on the song and had their own hit, and to my knowledge, that is the version most people know. However the song has been covered like a hundred more times.

Johnny Cash- Hurt

The original Nine Inch Nails song was nominated for a Grammy

But fuck that version

Johnny Cash’s version actually won a Grammy

What more do I need to say?

1989 – Ryan Adams

Ok, how do I pull this off?

Do you know how incredible this is?

Taylor Swift released her album 1989 in 2014, confusing, I know.

But then in late 2015 Ryan Adams released a full cover album of Taylor Swift’s 1989.

Further weirdness is that Ryan cites the Swift version as being his coping mechanism that got him through the end of his marriage with Mandy Moore. 

Wait, What?

Yes, it’s true.

Adams version debuted at number 7 while at the exact same time, Swift’s was at number 8 granted Swift’s was a year old but still…

So as much as I would love to give you the whole thing, there isn’t really time for that. The album is like an hour.

So here are 2 versions of Blank Space.

Live and Let Die – Guns N Roses

Originally the song was done by Paul McCartney’s group Wings.  It was the theme song for the James Bond film of the same name.

It was a worldwide success, I mean, there haven’t been too many Bond themes that weren’t hits

Plus this was only 3 years after The Beatles. So Macca was still fresh.

So in 1991 GNR decided to take a chance on the song and it did just as well, and some might say it is the more popular version, but those people also think The Stones were better than The Beatles, and those people are wrong. 

So that is where I will wrap it up. 

Did I miss anything? 

What are your favorites?

I’m so bad at goodbyes.