- 4 months ago
Sometimes musical magic happens when artists dare to reimagine another's work! Join us as we count down our picks for the most surprising cover songs that completely transformed the originals. From Johnny Cash tackling Nine Inch Nails to Disturbed's haunting rendition of a Simon & Garfunkel classic, these covers shocked us with their brilliance!
Category
🎵
MusicTranscript
00:00You are someone else, I am still right here.
00:09Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 awesome cover songs that we simply did not see coming.
00:19Number 20, with a little help from my friends by Joe Cocker, originally by The Beatles.
00:25Ringo Starr had many memorable vocal performances with The Beatles, but some would argue that his finest hour came on with a little help from my friends.
00:34Let me your ears and I'll sing you a song, and I'll try not to sing out of key.
00:42Oh, I'll get by with a little help from my friends.
00:46The song, which is a good old-fashioned tribute to the power of friendship, opened the legendary Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club band album in quite a fun and jovial way.
00:56But when Joe Cocker got hold of it, he turned it into a soul-filled rock anthem, making changes to the rhythm and melody.
01:03Paul McCartney himself even admitted that he was incredibly grateful for the cover's existence, and how far it deviated from the source material.
01:26Number 19, A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall by Brian Ferry, originally by Bob Dylan.
01:32Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?
01:39And where have you been, my darling young one?
01:43Out of all of the many, many Bob Dylan covers that have graced our ears over the years,
01:49it's hard not to have a soft spot for Brian Ferry's take on A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall.
01:54The Roxy Music frontman takes the tune's folk roots and gives it an update for the times,
01:59adding his own inimitable style into the mix.
02:02It's punchy and immediate, but still retains every key element of the original.
02:07Ferry was a huge fan of Dylan and eventually went on to create an entire album in tribute to him, entitled Dylan-esque.
02:30But for our money, his best take on old Bob's work is definitely Hard Rain.
02:35Number 18, Louie Louie by The Kingsman, originally by Richard Berry and The Pharaohs.
02:42Louie Louie is a song that is so famous and so recognizable, and yet it remains pretty mysterious.
02:48Most people probably don't know that The Kingsman's version is actually a cover of a Richard Berry track.
02:53Fine little girl, she wait for me, me catch the ship across the sea, I sail the ship all alone.
03:05You also might not realize that it's the most widely recorded song in rock music,
03:09and yet its most famous iteration is damn near impossible to decipher.
03:14To this day, people still debate about what The Kingsman singer Jack Eli is actually saying.
03:20The song was an instant hit, but a 31-month FBI investigation into the lyrics was launched
03:37due to concerns that some inappropriate language and imagery were hidden within the slurred vocals.
03:43One of rock and roll's most essential hits.
03:46Number 17, Across the Universe by Fiona Apple.
03:49Originally by The Beatles.
03:51Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes.
03:59They call me on and on across the universe.
04:05Fiona Apple was not afraid to aim high when tasked with providing a cover for the soundtrack
04:10to the 1998 movie Pleasantville.
04:13Taking on a John Lennon signature track like Across the Universe
04:16is the type of task that can fall apart pretty easily.
04:20Nothing's gonna change my world.
04:26Nothing's gonna change my world.
04:30But Apple handles the song with some real character and restraint,
04:34paying homage to the spaciness of Lennon's original while adding her own flair.
04:38Early attempts to pigeonhole Fiona Apple would be proven wrong time and time again
04:43with each album after her debut release.
04:46Her cover of Across the Universe gave us just a glimpse of the eccentricity that would follow.
04:51Number 16, Havana Affair by Red Hot Chili Peppers.
04:55Originally by The Ramones.
05:08On the long list of covers that utterly changed the roots of the original,
05:12Red Hot Chili Peppers' take on The Ramones' Havana Affair is worthy of a mention.
05:16The original comes packed with 70s punk fury,
05:19but in the hands of Anthony Kiedis and company,
05:22it turns into something entirely new.
05:24Sent you spy on a Cuban talent show
05:27Bug stop, a battle's go-go
05:30I used to make a living man picking a banana
05:33Hooray for Havana Affair
05:37The pace is slower, and sonically,
05:40it could have easily fit snugly onto the Chili Peppers' 2002 release, by the way.
05:45Given the band's history with blisteringly fast funk rock,
05:48you'd expect them to tackle a Ramones song with a similar level of speed.
05:52But when push came to shove, they decided to reinvent the song entirely.
05:57Number 15, Take Me to the River by Talking Heads.
06:00Originally by Al Green.
06:02Al Green is without a doubt one of the most prolific soul artists of his day,
06:06penning classic after classic during his prime years.
06:09Won't you tell me
06:11I love this day, baby
06:16Take me to the river
06:20While tracks like Let's Stay Together and Love and Happiness have been covered by other artists,
06:25the award for the most transformative rendition of one of his songs was definitely won by Talking Heads.
06:31David Byrne and the band took Green's 1974 classic Take Me to the River and turned it into a new wave masterpiece in 1978.
06:40Then, six years later, they released another version of the song on their iconic live album,
07:00Stop Making Sense,
07:01This time taking the song back to its R&B and gospel roots while still making it sound very different to the original.
07:08Number 14, Black Magic Woman by Santana.
07:12Originally by Fleetwood Mac.
07:14Santana's version of Fleetwood Mac's Black Magic Woman is so famous that some people don't even realize that it's a cover.
07:34But then again, a lot of people who listen to Fleetwood Mac don't really know about the Peter Green-led era for the group.
07:52Black Magic Woman was released as a single in 1968,
07:55but it really didn't become the staple that it is now until Carlos Santana covered it on his band's debut album, Abraxas.
08:03The song was a huge seller in the U.S.,
08:05and hearing Santana magnify the original's Latin elements never gets old.
08:10Number 13, I Shot the Sheriff by Eric Clapton.
08:14Originally by Bob Marley and the Wailers.
08:17I shot the sheriff
08:19But I swear it was in selfie face
08:23Out of all of the directions that Eric Clapton could have gone in the mid-70s,
08:34few would have suspected that he could carve out a number one hit single with a reggae song.
08:39But just one year after Bob Marley put out the original I Shot the Sheriff,
08:43Slow Hand himself gave it an injection of blues rock
08:56and managed to score the biggest hit of his career in the process.
08:59In fact, Clapton's version was so beloved
09:02that his take on the song earned him another spot in the Grammy Hall of Fame.
09:06It sounds weird on paper, but somehow it works.
09:08Number 12, Nothing Compares to You by Sinead O'Connor.
09:12Originally by The Family.
09:14When Prince wrote the song Nothing Compares to You
09:17for the soul released by his short-lived band The Family,
09:20it was another clear example of his mastery of the songwriting craft.
09:23Since you've been gone, I can do whatever I want
09:29I can see whomever I choose
09:34But for as much as Prince originally gave the song life,
09:40it was Sinead O'Connor who turned it into a truly generational ballad.
09:44The song just hits so much harder when the legendary Irish vocalist is singing it.
09:49And in A Stroke of Genius, she added a heart-wrenching high note in the chorus
09:53that takes the whole thing to another level.
09:55I know that living with you, baby,
09:59was sometimes hard
10:01You're a medium of a tribe
10:08Nothing compares
10:14Nothing compares
10:18to
10:18O'Connor was an excellent songwriter in her own right,
10:22but her finest hour most certainly came as an interpreter of someone else's work.
10:27Number 11.
10:28When the Levee Breaks by Led Zeppelin
10:30Originally by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie.
10:47Here's another track that a lot of you probably thought was an original.
10:50Led Zeppelin certainly had a habit of, let's just call it, borrowing from other musicians.
10:56But to their credit, they never failed to imbue their own versions of songs with that iconic Zeppelin flavor.
11:01When the Levee Breaks was originally released all the way back in 1929 by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie.
11:08It does sound different to the version that Robert Plant would sing on Led Zeppelin 4,
11:21but it's very clearly the same track.
11:23Given their history of leaving original writers uncredited,
11:26it'll warm your heart to learn that Led Zeppelin did actually cite McCoy and Minnie as the composers
11:32when the track was released in 1971.
11:35Number 10.
11:36Wichita Lineman by R.E.M.
11:38Originally by Glenn Campbell.
11:41I am a lineman for the county.
11:46R.E.M. became huge stars in the college rock circuit
11:49with their lyrically powerful take on alternative rock.
11:58Wichita Lineman, however, is a country hit written by Jimmy Webb about the working man,
12:03which was quite a departure for the band.
12:06Since much of R.E.M.'s music on Monster has allowed rock energy,
12:10their quiet approach to Webb's song is the most surprising part.
12:13This said, the track's exploration of a man's desires and struggles
12:23is a great match to the stories they were telling at the time.
12:26With Michael Stipe's intimate vocals,
12:28R.E.M. gave Wichita Lineman an update even Glenn Campbell could enjoy.
12:38Number 9.
12:40Susudio by Old Dirty Bastard.
12:42Originally by Phil Collins.
12:49In 2001, there was enough demand from the hip-hop community
12:52to make an entire album of Phil Collins covers.
13:00Despite his major stylistic differences from Collins,
13:03Old Dirty Bastard tackles Susudio with a surprisingly smooth tone.
13:12Rather than a straightforward cover,
13:15O.D.B. creates an entirely new rap,
13:17while another vocalist reinterprets the chorus to fit the times.
13:21Even the primitive vocoder sounds of the era
13:23help transition the upbeat dance track
13:25into the world of hip-hop.
13:32Though O.D.B. is certainly going wild with his boasting lyrics,
13:35he pulls back just enough to avoid feeling out of place on Susudio.
13:44Number 8.
13:45Faith by Limp Bizkit.
13:46Originally by George Michael.
13:48For their debut album, Limp Bizkit decided to expand the possibilities of new metal
13:58by covering George Michael's Faith.
13:59The band stripped their sound down to rhythmic guitars,
14:09while Fred Durst offered surprisingly soft vocals.
14:13This changed in the chorus, however,
14:14where Durst howled out every repetition of Faith painfully,
14:18while the guitars got equally grimy.
14:20The ending was particularly harsh,
14:27as Fred groaned so hard it sounded like he coughed from it.
14:31Their version, however, has amassed over 22 million views on YouTube.
14:34Pretty good for a counterfeit.
14:36Though it couldn't sound farther from the original track,
14:39Faith was the only single on Limp Bizkit's debut to chart.
14:42Number 7.
14:50Always On My Mind by Pet Shop Boys.
14:52Pop standard.
14:57To honor Elvis' legacy on a live tribute show,
15:00Pet Shop Boys brought their synth styling to a dance version of Always On My Mind.
15:05Their take was so well received that the duo recorded it and quickly had a hit.
15:16Though the song had been covered endlessly since its release,
15:19it had rarely ventured outside of conventional pop and country.
15:22Always On My Mind.
15:25You're always on my mind.
15:29Pet Shop Boys' additional harmonies and electronic undercurrents
15:32also helped the song feel less cookie-cutter than other renditions.
15:36As strange as it was for Pet Shop Boys to approach Always On My Mind,
15:40they completely reinvented it.
15:47Number 6.
15:49Pride in the Name of Love by Clavilles and Cole.
15:52Originally by U2.
15:54After gaining fame through party hits like Gonna Make You Sweat,
15:57covering U2 was an unexpected move for the brains behind C&C Music Factory.
16:02Credited to Clavilles and Cole,
16:08the duo had the added challenge of remixing Pride as a techno track
16:12rather than just adding a dance beat.
16:14Give a name for love.
16:18One more in the name of love.
16:20The song's tempo and industrial drums gave the original a futuristic edge,
16:25but their use of original vocal melodies and guitar tracks
16:28worked surprisingly well considering the change of pace.
16:31The cover even managed to move over halfway up
16:39the Billboard Hot 100 chart at the time,
16:41despite its heavy subject matter.
16:50Number 5.
16:51My Way by Sid Vicious.
16:53Popularized by Frank Sinatra.
16:55Sid Vicious usually critiques culture through actions,
17:04but his version of My Way focuses on the music itself.
17:07And did it my way.
17:12Vicious spends an entire verse putting on a voice
17:15to mock the nature of Frank Sinatra's original.
17:17Sid also makes tons of silly faces and poses during the live version
17:21in the great rock and roll swindle.
17:28But when the drums and guitars kick in,
17:30the song turns into a gritty punk rock cover
17:33that could start a mosh pit.
17:35Vicious even adds a line about killing a cat.
17:37Both parodying and updating My Way,
17:40Sid's cover has a lot to take in.
17:41It took a lot of tweeting,
17:57but a 14-year-old Weezer fan convinced the band
17:59to cover Toto's hit song,
18:01While Rivers, Cuomo, and company
18:08stayed pretty faithful to the original track,
18:10they gave the synthesizers and drums a loud update.
18:13Weezer gave their own spin to the keyboard solo,
18:16and then brought Weird Al and his accordion out for good measure.
18:23This wasn't just a live one-off either.
18:26They even released the cover as a single.
18:28Instead of using a band photo, however,
18:30Weezer framed the incendiary tweet as their artwork.
18:39Number 3.
18:40The Sound of Silence by Disturbed
18:42Originally by Simon & Garfunkel.
18:50With decades of screaming and thrashing behind them,
18:53Disturbed took a soft turn
18:54when they remade a Simon & Garfunkel classic.
18:56Hello, darkness, my old friend.
19:01Though their cover of The Sound of Silence was undoubtedly louder,
19:05Disturbed never went into all-out rock.
19:07Singer David Draymond instead used his commanding shouts
19:10to make the song's climax more intense.
19:12To the neon god, they may...
19:19With pounding drums and an orchestra,
19:21the band also gave the track an epic feeling
19:23without dishonoring what it stands for.
19:25Along with praise from Paul Simon,
19:27the cover has remained the band's highest performing single
19:30on the Billboard Hot 100.
19:31While unexpected, Disturbed showed their tender side
19:34on The Sound of Silence.
19:42Number 2.
19:44I Can't Get No Satisfaction by Devo
19:46Originally by The Rolling Stones.
19:48The rift to The Rolling Stones' Satisfaction was so iconic
19:58that Devo cut it out when they remade the song
20:01and replaced the main hooks with angular melodies
20:03and off-kilter takes of the old vocals.
20:11If that wasn't robotic enough,
20:13the percussion popped with funky cymbals
20:15and a mechanical repetition.
20:22Mark Mothersbaugh's quirky delivery
20:24was all part of Devo's method
20:25of using a universally known song
20:27and deconstructing it.
20:29Though it was weird enough that Devo's label
20:31worried Mick Jagger wouldn't approve,
20:33Mick was reportedly dancing
20:34by the end of his first listen.
20:36Turning Satisfaction upside down
20:38was a risk that paid off amazingly for Devo.
20:45Before we continue,
20:48be sure to subscribe to our channel
20:50and ring the bell
20:51to get notified about our latest videos.
20:53You have the option to be notified
20:55for occasional videos or all of them.
20:58If you're on your phone,
20:59make sure you go into your settings
21:00and switch on notifications.
21:02Number 1.
21:04Hurt by Johnny Cash
21:05When Trent Reznor heard
21:13Johnny Cash wanted to cover Hurt,
21:15he thought the idea was a cheap gimmick.
21:23Cash, however, stripped the song down
21:25to guitar, piano, and vocals
21:27to focus on the lyrics.
21:29I focus on the pain.
21:32Johnny's vocals are rugged
21:36and almost seem to fall apart at times,
21:38as he fleshes out how sad the story is.
21:41Each chorus is heartbreaking
21:42as Cash ramps up the intensity
21:44of his arrangements.
21:46I will make you hurt.
21:51Mark Romaneck's video for the track
21:53not only reflects on Johnny's entire career,
21:55but also just how fitting the words
21:57have become to him personally.
21:59Cash's reimagining of Hurt was so moving
22:01that Reznor believed it wasn't his song anymore.
22:11What cover song left you totally surprised
22:14when you first heard it?
22:15Let us know in the comments.
Comments