Songs That Shouldn't Be Covered

[tobbogonist]

There is quite a substansial chunk of pop/RnB/Rap/Dance songs today which are covers. We run a segment at radio where we play an song that has been covered and is currently in the charts, the listeners have to ring up and correctly answer which top 40 song it is.

My favourite cover of all time is a live recording of Matchbox Twenty doing time after time, the next would be John Butler Trio - Message in a bottle and to finish it off would be salmonella Dub with there version of Bob marleys get up stand up. getting carried away: Grindspoon - drugs dont work. the White Stripes - I just dont know what to do with myself. Love outside Andromenda - Andy Warhol. Gyroscope - Monument. 67 Special - Scar. Spoon - upwards at 45 degrees. The panda Band - that was my mistake and i could just go on listing forever.

In my view covers are great and make up a vital part of the evolution of music. It is always interesting to see how certain artists perform a song compared to the original and although some may be terrible (limp Bizkt - Bittersweet symphony) others are an improvement(Ramones (johnny Ramone) - What a Beautiful World). It is feedback for an artist when another band covers their song, If it is thought worthy to cover is that not a compliment?
and also why let all these wonderfull songs die with age? Why not have a new band bring it back into the limelight.

Although i do agree, girls should not cover Nirvana.
The same as boys should never cover Madonna.

(BCwheelridermanfacepersonguy, who was it that covered white room?)

[toddw9]

Originally Posted by bcwheelriderguyhehehehehe

Oh I know! I hate what lenny kravitz did to american woman or what rascal flats did to life is a highway, some bastard coverd white room and I was soooo mad cause that's like my favorite song.

What Rascal Flatts did to Life is a Highway actually is what made me like that song. I can't stand Tom Cochrane.

[toddw9]

Originally Posted by john_childs

If there were no covers then we would never have Johnny Cash's version of Hurt (originally by Nine Inch Nails).

yet another song where I wasn't a fan of the original, but really enjoyed the cover.

[BluntRM]

Originally Posted by tobbogonist

There is quite a substansial chunk of pop/RnB/Rap/Dance songs today which are covers.

Like that time when Puff Daddy looped the riff off of Led Zep's "Cashmere" for the soundtrack to the re-make of Godzilla. You can only stack shit so high...

[tobbogonist]

exactly, there are old riffs re-emerging all over the place. The worst would be that rouge traders one but if you listen closely most pop songs have at least one riff taken from another song.

Any of the Idol TV shows are murder on old songs.

[GILD]

I'm a maniacal Doors fan and still enjoy Will Young's version of Light My Fire.
A song is a living, breathing entity and deserves to have some fun as well and not just stay cling-wrapped 'the way we remember it'.

[Jerrick]

I have not heard one rap song that didnt sound like another one. Same mechanic beats, no vocal talent, rapping about the same stuff.

Its really sad.

I say all song can and should be covered. Ive done cover songs of Queensryche, Led zeppelin, metallica, theme songs from tv shows, and lots of other ones. If you can pull it off well, it sounds fantastic.

Here the link to the Queensryche one. The others never got recorded.

Silent Lucidity.

[tobbogonist]

Jerrick i must agree with about the rap songs, although some Australian Hip Hop artists eg: The Herd, Hilltop Hoods have a way in making it enjoyable for me and as a bonus their
songs means something.

Ironically, being a covers thread, The Herd cover an Australian war song/poem I was only nineteen which i must admit is great live, its unusual for a rap/hip hop song to actual move me.

[Zzagg]

I haven't read the whole thread ( ) but I'm with Jjuggle: there are songs that got covered and became "different":
-The beatles: "With a little help from my friend" covered by Joe cocker (at woodstock)
-Bob Marley: "I shot the sherif" covered by Eric Clapton
-Bob Dylan: "All along the watchtower" covered by Jimy Hendrix
... the original singers admitted that the covered version were "better" than the original version (I heard that Bob Marley first wasn't pleased to have one of his song covered but finally thought it wasn't bad at all)

...sorry if this has already been posted

[harper]

Originally Posted by Jerrick

I have not heard one rap song that didnt sound like another one. Same mechanic beats, no vocal talent, rapping about the same stuff.

But we were discussing music, not spoken word "art."

[leo]

Originally Posted by harper

But we were discussing music, not spoken word "art."

Wait a minute... your English is probably better than mine;
but I though music had no words, and songs have
(and the title of this thread was "Songs That Shouldn't Be Covered").

[Mikefule]

Originally Posted by BluntRM

Wasn't rock and roll a ripoff of American blues music? Can you "cover" a style?

No to the first question; yes to the second.

The blues is a complex mixture of forms including various versions of the famous 12 bar sequence, and other forms that are 8 or 16 bars long. There are influences of gospel music, and some crossover with Cajun and country styles, and a lot of corssover and feedback with jazz. Early blues was acoustic and free form. Later Chicago blues was more like what we would recognise as rock - or at least the faster stuff was.

Rock and roll in one form used the simple 12 bar blues format, simplified, and not using all the "blue notes". However, not all rock and roll was (is) based on the blues format. Very little of Buddy Holly's output, for example.

But the big difference is the content. As a friend once said, "I thought I'd been living the rock and roll lifestyle until one day I recognised myself in a blues song. When did that happen?"

Rock and roll is about boys meeting girls (and vice versa). Blues is about women leaving men (and vice versa).

[johnfoss]

Originally Posted by treepotato

any Beatles song because their musical genius cannot possibly be matched by anyone else ever

What about all the Beatles hits that were covers? Were they being unfair to the original artists? Should you even *like* the Beatles' versions of those songs (such as Twist and Shout, Good Golly Miss Molly, among very many others)?

Elton John covered Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds in the early 70s. I think both versions are good, and very different (though I prefer the original).

Other covers that are better than the originals:
Kiss by Tom Jones/Art of Noise (original by Prince)
I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston (original by Dolly Parton)
Workin' in a Coal Mine by Devo (original by ?)

Among other things, covers often represent "easy money" for artists, if done well. What bothers me is a seeming lack of new content out there, and what seems to be an increasing use of pre-existing material, all the way down to classic rock riffs as someone mentioned earlier. But any song can be covered. How does a cover hurt the original? It'll always be there. If the cover isn't good, don't listen to (or buy) it.

[BluntRM]

Originally Posted by Jerrick

I have not heard one rap song that didnt sound like another one. Same mechanic beats, no vocal talent, rapping about the same stuff.
[/URL].

GZA, Liquid Swords?!? The Beastie Boys and Q-tip?!

[Jerrick]

I was mainly refering to the newer stuff that I hear on the radios.

I love the beatie boys, specially there older albums.

Havent heard of the other 3 you posted. =p