Cover this!

As I was lurking around on the internet, enjoying my bowl of frosted mini wheats, when I came across a post called 10 Cover Songs Better Than The Originals. I read thorough the article and the comments, and was shocked and appalled at what I read. There were only two songs I agreed with (Gary Jules version of Mad World, Beatles version of Twist And Shout) This got me thinking about covers and what covers I think are better than the original. Well that's what our post will be all about today. Of course everyone has their own opinions, so make a comment and give me your favorite cover.

Let me start out by saying I love Neil Young and his version of this song. I'm a huge fan and accept that some may disagree with me on my choice of this cover being better than the original. Why is it that I think this cover is superior to the original? I am a fan of anything with piano, and this song sounds great, if not better on the piano. It gives the song a much more melancholy feel than an acoustic guitar. I consider both acoustic guitar and piano intimate instruments and I am glad the artist decided to keep that feel for the cover. On top of that you add the bluesy cries, and raspy vocals of Betty Lavette and it adds 10 times more feeling than what Neils voice did. Again, don't get me wrong, I love Neils voice, but I think on Betty just adds that missing "feeling" to the songs great lyrics.
Bettye Lavette - Heart Of Gold (Neil Young Cover)
*Edit: I couldn't find the live cover I had originally, so here is the regular cover

I am going to be honest and admit that I have never been a fan of Nico's voice. There are a few songs she did with the Velvet Underground that I can tolerate but most of them I can't stand. The only song I really enjoy by her is These Days, and that wasn't with the VU. Her voice fits perfect on that song. I think it's because she has an awkward manly voice that really doesn't have much range. All the songs she sings on sound very similar no matter how good the backing music is. She just ruins it for me. I'll Be Your Mirror proves my point. Seriously go listen to the original and then listen to this one and tell me different. I like the backing music on it but her voice...*shudders*. This cover however, is beautiful. It's slowed down with only acoustic guitar and an added string section that I believe truly brings out the beauty in the song. It's neat how the instrumentation pulls out the lyrics more than the original.
Clem Snide - I'll Be Your Mirror (Velvet Underground Cover)

I just recently discovered the Buzzcocks, and I wish I had heard about them years ago. I did know of their name back in High School because a kid used to wear the bright colored yellow shirt with pink lettering that said Buzzcocks on it. However I never looked them up. It was before the internet days. The sole reason I checked them out was because of this amazing cover by Sportsday Megaphone. This cover is from a great mix called Buffetlibre Rewind 2. Buffetlibre has been talked about on RopBop before due to his great remix of the Patrick Wolf song "Who Will?". Let me assure you that all the remixes done by BL are killer. This cover is great because it takes the 1978 punk rock original and transforms into a blippy electro jam made for the 20th century. If you went back in time and played this song for the buzzcocks you could tell them this is what music sounds like in the future, of course they would probably hate it.
Sportsday Megaphone - Ever Fallen In Love (BL rewind 2)(Buzzcocks Cover)

There are a lot of great covers The Man In Black did before he passed on, but I think his version of Rusty Cage is one of the best. I originally was going to choose Cash covering I Won't Back Down, but after comparing the two, Tom Petty won. Cash has a certain knack of making most of his covers sound tough and gristly, this cover is no exception. Soundgarden made the original great for moshing and head banging with it's, true Seattle alternative vibe. Cash makes this song into a badass in the prison yard with his commanding voice and stripped down sound.
Johnny Cash - Rusty Cage (Soundgarden Cover)

I don't know how many people would be familiar with the band Polaris, but if I mentioned The Adventures Of Pete And Pete theme song you might be familiar with them. They were the creators of the opening song "Hey Sandy" and were featured as the band in the episode Hard Day's Pete. What is so unique is that the bands only album release was called Music from The Adventures of Pete & Pete which is where this song came from. It's definitely 90's alternative college radio music. Nothing really spectacular, but still unappreciated. Thankfully The National gives the band some love by doing an amazing cover of Ashamed Of The Story I Told. I wouldn't give it a second thought to say that this song was meant to be sung by The National. I couldn't think of a better band to cover it.
The National - Ashamed Of The Story I Told (Polaris Cover)