What covers of music do you prefer to the original, and which original do you prefer over the cover?

[Soubriquet]

I’m a gleek. I enjoy watching glee a lot and I do like a lot of their covers.

I can’t remember all of them but start with

Last Friday Night by Katy Perry. Covered by Darren Kriss aka Blaine Anderson. I much prefer the cover to this. The original seems to lack depth.

On the other hand Here’s to us by Halestorm covered by Lea Michele aka Rachel Berry is no where near as good. Lzzy Hale just rules every song of hers and no one can compare to that.

Prefer Siouxsie Sioux’s cover of Dear Prudence to the Beatles.

Very hard to choose between Barry Ryan and The Damned for Eloise. Or Sam Cooke and The Animals for Bring it on Home. Or Howlin Wolf and the Rolling Stones for Little Red Rooster! All awesome in different ways.

So very easy to choose between the Bob Seger original (yes please) and the Lulu+that one from Take That cover (no thank you) for We’ve Got Tonight.

Thanks @Soubriquet , for a reason to listen to great songs for a while. Obvs could not post without putting the work in.

Nothing compares 2 U by Sinead
O Connor

Knocking on heavena door - guns and roses

Hallelujah Jeff Buckley

valerie (live version) Amy Winehouse

Man who sold the world - Nirvana

Always on My Mind by the Pet Shop Boys is imo the best cover ever.

Prefer Fine Young Cannibals cover of Suspicious Minds to Elvis’s.

Prefer Dolly Parton’s original of I Will Always Love You to Whitney Houston’s cover.

Rick Astley’s “cover” of his own Never Gonna Give You Up to a grunge sound with the Foo Fighters is absolute legend (look it up on YouTube).

Patti Smith’s version of Bruce Springsteen’s Because the Night is pretty damn good.

I’ve long thought it would be great to hear Aerosmith’s Don’t Want to Miss a Thing as a lullaby. At the same time I’d love to hear Dolly’s Here You Come Again covered by a man. Dolly and Aerosmith could swap songs and it would be amazing.

They were on an old TOTP last Friday.

This was my choice too!

The Dead South's versions of The Misfits Saturday Night and You are my Sunshine. The least cheerful version of Sunshine you'll ever hear!

Nothing Compares 2U by Sinead O'Connor far far outstrips the Prince version.

Nobody can improve on any Bee Gees version of one of their own songs.

Fleet Foxes do a version of "Morning of my life" which is fantastic but I have to admit that I don't know the original very well. It's in the live recording of their show in Boston (on YT).

I prefer the mark ronson ‘just’ by Radiohead

Oh god yeah. He rocked that

See I like Amy Winehouse’s version, but I also think Naya Rivera (rip) rocks it too. (Sorry glee thing)

Prince or Alicia Keys for How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore? Both send shivers down my spine.

Thunder's cover of Gimme Shelter
A Day To Remember's cover of Since You've Been Gone (Kelly Clarkson)

And not really a cover but Ed Sheeran singing Bad Habits with Bring Me The Horizon

Absolutely agree. CCR's version is phenomenal.

Skunk Anansie's version of 'You Do Something to Me".

Love Muse and Nina Simone's versions of 'Feeling Good' equally.

Dolly's original version of 'I Will Always Love You.'

I love Placebo’s cover of Running Up That Hill. The start of it gives me goosebumps!

George Michael they won’t go where I go - original Stevie Wonder. George’s version is just sublime, his voice so rich.

worst (recently) fast car original by Tracy Chapman, no idea who covered it but I was poo 💩

I love listening to different versions of songs, I'm going to have fun going through the ones on this thread! Some I haven't thought of in a long time.

For covers I love the Sons of Pitches. They're an acapella group who won The Naked Choir with Gareth Malone in 2015. Some of it is on YouTube and their version of Wuthering Heights is one of the best things I've ever heard.
Also we can't possibly talk about cover versions in summer 2023 without talking about Rick Astley and Blossoms doing the Smiths at Glastonbury. Unbelievable stuff.

I think Phil Collins version of can't hurry love is better than the supremes by a long way.

I like both of those versions too.

Always annoys me that Radio 2 play The Corrs awful version of Old Town, for the life of me can't understand why.

Always on My Mind by the Pet Shop Boys is imo the best cover ever.

Yep, it was voted best cover of all time in a poll too I was coincidentally reading yesterday.

I prefer KD Lang's version of Hallelujah to any other.

Love Robyn's original of Dancing On My Own better than Callum Scott although I do also like his version.

Can't decide between Gene Pitney and Cyndi Lauper versions of I'm Gonna Be Strong, they are both amazing in different ways. See also I Drove All Night, love Cyndi Lauper and Roy Orbison versions equally, can't stand Celine Dion one.

The original Sound of Silence cannot be beaten, Disturbed doesn't compare IMO.

Also how could I forget Don't Leave Me This Way by the Communards. Best version by a mile.

Both are v v good but agree with this.

John Mayers cover of free falling by Tom Petty, probabaly my your most listened to song