AIBU to think that some recordings are so perfect and iconic that they should not ever be covered by anyone else?

[2stepsonthewater]

In this case, 'River' by Joni Mitchell.

@Hassled is a genius. I volunteer to help make up the judging panel.

Who was that awful breathy version of Feeling Good done by? Think it was on some advert. Some bloke did it but the breathing was all wrong.

I did think Fairytale of NY would be one on the list never to be replicated until I saw Gavin and Stacey on Christmas Day. Uncle Bryn and Ness can have special dispensation.

Sign Of The Times by Simple Minds and White Lines by Duran Duran, prove your point exactly OP.

YANBU

Anyone else remember Madonna's terrible cover of Peggy Lee's Fever?

Only ever been one good cover
Tragedy by steps

I feel like this about all of Leonard Cohen's work. I'm always shocked to hear Hallelujah being sung at weddings.

I quite like Lisa Hannigan’s version of ‘River’. And Tori Amos’s version of Tom Waits’ ‘Time.’

Ooo I just remembered Kiss covered by by Tom Jones and Art of Noise. That’s a fantastic original and a storming cover too.

Frankie goes to Hollywood’s cover of Born to Run was better than Bruce Springsteen’s.

Not sure what all the fuss is generally about BS anyway.

I would give a very few artistes Carte Blanche to cover anything they wanted: Nina Simone would have qualified, Elvis, Billie Holliday, James Taylor Quartet spring to mind.

I would normally agree but Whitney Houston's version on Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You " is better and I am a massive Dolly fan.

I like This Mortal Coil/Cocteau Twins version of Song to the Siren, but I hate that they changed the fantastic, nutty lyrics. It loses something.

I prefer I.d. Lang’s version of A Case of You to Joni Mitchell’s

One of my favourite singers Cat Power does a number of covers totally changes the song her Sea if Love is far better than the original and her New York is haunting

And I love Macy Gray version of Creep as much as the original

Most Sinatra’s songs were covers and Ella Fitzgerald

So YABU

YANBU. I feel this way about some films. Watched Little Women last night. It's perfect. Why why why did they make a remake?

It's not always about it whether the song can be improved on. I usually prefer modern covers. Sometimes it's more of a preference.

2StepsOnTheWater I had you down as a Kate Bush fan with that user name 😁 and I generally think Kate is untouchable but I love Maxwell's version of This Woman's Work.

Agree re This Mortal Coil's better version of Song to the Siren
Love Amy's version of Valerie as much as Zuton's
Love Patti Smith's Smells Like Teen Spirit as much as Nirvana's
Love Madness's version of The Sweetest Girl as much as Scritti Politti's

But these are artists who have written good material already, have gigged, produced, crafted and sweated for their art and fucking well know how to turn out a bloody decent cover...the X Factor is killing how to cover a song. Great post!

@Streamside normally I would agree, but have you heard Nina Simone’s rendition of ‘Suzanne’?

Agree about Aha’s Crying in the Rain.

Tbh I had no idea that some of these songs were covers, eg Marvin Gaye, Whitney Houston

It was a sad day when Mick Hucknell decided to cover the perfect Night Nurse by Jeremy Issacs

I hate the breathy powerless weak cover versions of classic songs, especially the ones they use in things like John Lewis adverts. Every time I hear EG I just to hand her an asthma inhaler. However, I love it when bands do cover versions at concerts, just for fun. The Killers doing Whole of the Moon or Blue Monday, for example, or Blossoms doing Last Christmas are just brilliant listen to or join in with at gigs, and I love Radio 1’s Live Lounge where a band plays a few of their own songs and a different spin on another song, like Bastille covering Miley Cyrus ‘We won’t stop’, but on the whole I’m not a fan of cover versions released as singles unless the band can do something really different and imaginative with the song such as The Communards doing Don’t Leave Me This Way, which is THE single best song to dance to in the history of music.

Some covers are great, not River though. If she was going to do it she should have brought something new to it rather than just try snd sing it exactly like JM

”I would normally agree but Whitney Houston's version on Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You " is better and I am a massive Dolly fan.“

Nope nope nope. Dolly rules it.

You've Lost That Loving Feeling, The Righteous Brothers. Nobody touch, please. There should be a red velvet rope around the master tapes .

Oh god yes, Fast Car, that made me rant at the radio and try to explain to my kids about the original.

Me too. Utterly awful.

I listen to a lot of folk music though, and my boyfriend rants about how many bands don't write their own tunes, they do "covers". I think I have managed to explain to him what traditional means.

Not really. The original will always exist, just listen to that. Simple really.

@NewInTown08 It has been remade three times before this current version. No one is forcing you to watch them.

I knew this thread would be about River! It's a dreadful, soulless cover of a wonderful song. I do think terrible covers create the opportunity to discover- or rediscover - great original versions though.