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10 Covers Better Than the Original Written by The Guitar Squid
November 17, 2011 3:46 PM


Sometimes a song just needs a breath of fresh air, but more often it takes a complete overhaul.



Musicians have been covering popular songs, or even obscure songs for that matter, since the beginning of popular music. Sometimes those covers are complete reinventions of the song, taking a good song in a new, exciting direction. Sometimes guitarists can take an electronic song and make it a beautiful troubador ballad. Or, sometimes pop drivel can become a grunge rock masterpiece. Sometimes the covers are just awful. For whatever reason, these 10 covers, some well-known, some not so known, are better than the original tune. Obvious choices like "All Along the Watchtower" were not included because, well, everyone knows about those.

Do you know of any not so well-known covers that are better than the original? Let The Squid know!


The White Stripes - "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself"

Originally written by Burt Bacharach and made popular in the '60s by Dusty Springfield, The White Stripes version really summons the heartbreak and anger this song needed to put it over the top. The crunchy guitars and Whammy lines don't hurt, either.


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Jose Gonzalez - "Heartbeats"


Originally written and recorded by Swedish electro-pop duo The Knife in 2002, Jose Gonzalez put the song to his guitar and made this lovely cover, helping to propel both versions of the song into the spotlight.

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Jeff Buckley - "Hallelujah"


If you haven't heard this cover of the Leonard Cohen's now well known tune, you might have been living under a rock the past few decades. Originally made popular by The Velvet Underground's John Cale, guitarist Jeff Buckley performed a chilling rendition of the song on his debut album Grace.


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The Gourds - "Gin and Juice"



What could be better than taking a well-known '90s Snoop Dogg song and completely reinventing it as a killer bluegrass tune? Not much if you're a fan of some good ol' twang.

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Pantera - "Cat Scratch Fever"



While the Pantera boys didn't do a whole lot different with this classic Ted Nugent track, they brought a certain heaviness to the song that was much needed.

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Ryan Adams - "Wonderwall"



When Noel Gallagher says this about Ryan Adams' cover of the Oasis hit, you know that the cover is better than the original: "I never got my head round this song until I went to see heard Ryan Adams play and he did an amazing cover of it. So now I'm going to cover one of my own songs in the style of Ryan Adams."

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Local H - "Toxic"


Taking on a pop diva like Britney Spears is no small task. "Toxic," the shiny, over-produced 2004 Spears' single was already an earworm that the masses had eaten up before Chicago duo Local H released their stripped-down, dirty, distorted version in 2005, providing a much needed breath of fresh air to the catchy tune. Oh, and more Whammy usage never hurts.


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Rage Against the Machine - "Maggie's Farm"



Say what you will about this polarizing band, but this downright heavy cover of the classic Bob Dylan tune just seems like the natural evolution of what Dylan was trying to accomplish when he went electric. Plus, Zach de la Rocha brings a necessary anger to the song that was missing in the original.

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Andy McKee - "Africa"



When a great soaring melody like the one found in this Toto hit sounds dated thanks to heavy use of synthesizers and '80s production techniques, it's high time for a great guitarist to make a timeless cover of a good song.

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Johnny Cash - "Hurt"



Again, if you haven't heard The Man in Black's cover of this Nine Inch Nails tune yet, you've been living under a rock. One of Cash's last recordings, the song and the video won countless awards in 2003 and 2004.


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    Siouxie and the Banshees did the cover album 'Through the Looking Glass', which is a case in point.
      Seether showed that "Careless Whisper" is not as bad as George Michael made it to be, imho.

      Sometimes ridicule is also more fun - Mike Flowers Pops redid "Wonderwall" in an awfully slick lounge version and had a bigger hit than Oasis or Ryan Adam ever did. Most of Weird Al Yankovitch's stuff makes me happier than whomever he takes the mickey out of.

      Phil Collins' "You Can't Hurry Love" beats the doo out of the Supremes one.

      Clapton brought two JJ Cale songs to the big stage, arguably both better than JJs: "Cocaine" and "After Midnight", but he duffed up Bob Marley's "I Shot The Sheriff".

      There might be some debate on this one, but the one Robert Johnson cover that outdoes the original in my book is the Blues Brothers on "Sweet Home Chicago", admittedly with a nine times bigger setup.

      I don't think they need have mentioned "All Along The Watchtower" as obvious - there is hardly a Dylan cover that is not better than the original.
        +1000000 etc. on Hurt. Brilliant rendition.
          Ed Kowalczyk - I Walk The Line

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            Alien Sex Fiend's I walk the line.
              Nightwish have done some excellent covers ... which i thought were better then the orginal

              Gary Moores - over the hills

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              Phantom of the Opera

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              Pink floyds - High Hopes

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              i have always found them a very passionate band to listen to .....
                Nightwish -- Man I like them lots
                  there are NO covers better than the original....... cos that song whatever it was if it's a classic hit (like most covers are) are historic for their time ...... so yes the cover may be different and may appeal to some individuals more than the original or even sound more modern cos of course many "classics" were recorded in the early days of recording technology ...but that early recording captured the essence of what that song was destined to be ...... but to say a cover can be better than the original is pretty skewwed in my opinion
                    Keira WitherKay wrote:But that early recording captured the essence of what that song was destined to be ...... but to say a cover can be better than the original is pretty skewwed in my opinion
                    I disagree. I am pretty sure the ideal behind being a musician is being able to express yourself. It's an almost unattainable goal as we always strive higher. Point is, some older recordings may have been crap. I know how recording works, it doesn't always turn out how you want it to.
                      Keira WitherKay wrote: there are NO covers better than the original....... cos that song whatever it was if it's a classic hit (like most covers are) are historic for their time ...... so yes the cover may be different and may appeal to some individuals more than the original or even sound more modern cos of course many "classics" were recorded in the early days of recording technology ...but that early recording captured the essence of what that song was destined to be ...... but to say a cover can be better than the original is pretty skewwed in my opinion
                      I disagree. People get things wrong. I've read Keith Richards talking about this: How the Stones start rehearsing and they play something faster or slower or in a different key than the recording and then argue about it because it's faster or slower or whatever but, he says, often they say "well we got it wrong on the record" and then they stick with the updated version.

                      People make unfortunate production choices, or they have no control. The Beatles were unhappy with some of their late recordings because Phil Spector made a lot of decisions without consulting them - things like adding choirs and string sections.

                      Besides... what IS the original? I think a lot of Whitney Houston fans might be surprised one day to hear Dolly Parton covering "I Will Always Love You".
                        X-rated Bob wrote:
                        Keira WitherKay wrote: there are NO covers better than the original....... cos that song whatever it was if it's a classic hit (like most covers are) are historic for their time ...... so yes the cover may be different and may appeal to some individuals more than the original or even sound more modern cos of course many "classics" were recorded in the early days of recording technology ...but that early recording captured the essence of what that song was destined to be ...... but to say a cover can be better than the original is pretty skewwed in my opinion
                        I disagree. People get things wrong. I've read Keith Richards talking about this: How the Stones start rehearsing and they play something faster or slower or in a different key than the recording and then argue about it because it's faster or slower or whatever but, he says, often they say "well we got it wrong on the record" and then they stick with the updated version.

                        People make unfortunate production choices, or they have no control. The Beatles were unhappy with some of their late recordings because Phil Spector made a lot of decisions without consulting them - things like adding choirs and string sections.

                        Besides... what IS the original? I think a lot of Whitney Houston fans might be surprised one day to hear Dolly Parton covering "I Will Always Love You".
                        Oh the irony!!
                          Johnny Cash doing Hurt, written by Trent Reznor, not 'better' than the original, but the Cash version hits me square every time. If I where Reznor I'd feel mighty honored.
                            Here is a DADGAD cover of Toto's Hold the Line. Doesn't beat the live version of Toto, but an awesome arrangement none the less

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                              • Post #15
                              I disagree too.

                              Any one who covers a Bob Dylan song does it better........ :yup: (Even though I think he is pure class)

                              And I think that just about every song Boyce Avenue does... is better than the original
                              Alejandro Manzano is pure talent!!! 8)

                              and Tyler Ward isn't to bad himself.....
                                SRV's instrumental arrangement of Little Wing is far superior to the Hendrix original, from a guitar technique & recording standpoint, making it more than just a worthy tribute to one of SRV's idols, but rather a much more pleasing stand alone version. Listening to the Hendrix version after the SRV version makes the Hendrix version sound like it was played on a muffled ukelele (exaggeration, of course). Granted, recording techniques, amps etc had improved between the two versions and this gave the SRV version the advantage, as such technological leaps do for most covers.

                                All the credit still goes to Jimi for the original though.
                                  I'm interested in artists doing covers of their own material. Dylan has substantially rearranged many numbers and has also changed lyrics to some songs - as live recordings reveal. He's an endless re-interpreter of his own material.

                                  Loudon Wainwright III took this a step further with his album Recovery. He re-recorded an album's worth of songs that he'd recorded in the 70s. Different production (Joe Henry), different arrangements, different backing players and some songs given an interesting twist just because they're sung by a a man in his 60s rather than the late 20s.

                                  In the 80s Bruce Springsteen took some of his big stadium rock hits and stripped them down to just vocals and a single acoustic guitar. That allowed some of them to be seen in a different way. "No Surrender" was a much wearier, more resigned song when given this treatment.
                                    Gearhead wrote: Mike Flowers Pops redid "Wonderwall" in an awfully slick lounge version and had a bigger hit than Oasis or Ryan Adam ever did.
                                    Seriously doubt that it was a bigger hit than the original
                                      Keira WitherKay wrote: there are NO covers better than the original....... cos that song whatever it was if it's a classic hit (like most covers are) are historic for their time ...... so yes the cover may be different and may appeal to some individuals more than the original or even sound more modern cos of course many "classics" were recorded in the early days of recording technology ...but that early recording captured the essence of what that song was destined to be ...... but to say a cover can be better than the original is pretty skewwed in my opinion
                                      Nope ?

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                                      All covers of contemporary pop artists who had access to better recording facilities than these guys, and all of them are better than the originals ?

                                      Someone actually posted the Britney Spears one onto the wall of the guy who wrote that track for her, he commented saying it was the best version he'd heard so far 8)

                                      More covers that are better than the original IMO:

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                                        It all comes down to opinion though, doesn't it. While 99% of the people on here will agree that any cover of a Britney Spears/Katy Perry/Celine Dion/whatever song is better than the original, millions of tweenagers and radio listeners will disagree