So, I was listening to a song the other day and it reminded me that I like the cover better. Then I started thinking about the songs I could name off the top of my head that I like the covers better. Some I didn’t even know were covers at first. I bet there are a lot more songs that I like the cover better and a lot of songs that I don’t even know are not the original artist’s version. Here is my short list with more info below.
Tainted Love
XO
Beggin’
Big Yellow Taxi
The Tide Is High
It was Tainted Love that sent me down this path. I was in an online class listening to the original artist, Gloria Jones. I don’t remember having heard that version before, but I imagine I have since it was recorded in 1964! But I am familiar with (and love) the Soft Cell cover from 1981. I have a vague recollection of hearing the Soft Cell version and thinking, “Hmmm sounds different. I like it.” So I bet I had heard the original version first, but forgot and went with the Soft Cell version. Love it!
XO, is one of the songs that makes me laugh because the first version I heard was John Mayer’s and when I heard Beyoncé’s I thought, “Eww, she ruined John’s song.” When I was exposed to a collection of Beyoncé’s songs and XO was in it I realized that it was HER song and John had done the cover. This is a case where I don’t like the original and I love the cover. I think that may happen with me more often than not, but I am not sure. At least with the songs on this list I am sure. Since Beyoncé released it in 2013 and John covered it in 2014, it is completely understandable that I had never heard Beyoncé’s version before I heard (and fell in love with) John Mayer’s version.
Now Big Yellow Taxi is another song that I cannot imagine not having heard the original version/artist before. I think that with some songs I hear them but I don’t like them and then when I hear a cover that I do like, then I like the song. Joni Mitchell wrote and released Big Yellow Taxi in 1970 and I am sure I had heard it back then. As I mentioned I bet I heard it and didn’t like it so I never thought about it, but then in 2003 when the Counting Crows covered it, I liked it.
Beggin’ I have been seeing videos of the cover by Måneskin all over and didn’t even know it was a song from 1967. The Four Seasons originally recorded it. And I can’t say I remember having heard it. Like many songs there has been several versions done. So, like many songs, I can’t say for sure if I have heard the original or a version after, but I can say I like Måneskin’s version.
Now, most might be familiar with Blondie’s version of The Tide Is High, not sure if many people have heard the original version by The Paragons from 1967. Sometimes I feel bad for original artists because sometimes it could just be the time at which the song is released was just not ideal, but not always.
Anyway, those are the songs right off the top of my head that I know I like the cover better than the original version.
What about you? Do you have opinions on these songs? Do you have songs that you like the covers of better than the original versions?
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