Music

Twitter Is Arguing Over Which Cover Songs Are Better Than The Originals

We can all agree 'Valerie' is forever Amy Winehouse's song, but what about 'Landslide' or 'Nothing Compares 2 U'?

by Jared Richards  7 May 2019
Best Cover Songs Of All-Time

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An excellent cover song doesn’t just add a different voice, but a new experience to an old favourite — whether by re-inventing the wheel, mixing genres, or lending new context.

It’s rare that a cover, no matter how good, can definitely be said to be better than the original, which is why a single Tweet by music journalist Eric Alper has created arguments on- and off-line.

Yesterday, Alper tweeted a simple question: “What’s a great cover song that is better than the original?”, raking in near 9,000 replies in under 24 hours. Unlike most Twitter threads, this one’s a delight to read, essentially just a bunch of music nerds politely disagreeing with each other. We’ve pulled out a few highlights here, and added in a few of our own suggestions too.

First up, the obvious and most repeated in the thread, like Jeff Buckley’s ‘Hallelujah’ or Amy Winehouse’s ‘Valerie’ — arguably, versions so ubiquitous you’d be forgiven for not knowing they aren’t originals.

Other incredibly popular suggestions: Aretha Franklin’s ‘Respect’, which despite being one of her seminal songs, is actually an Otis Redding track. Same with Whitney Houston’s ‘I Will Always Love You’; it was first recorded by Dolly Parton.

And it’s hard to imagine hearing ‘Tainted Love’ without those slinky, searching ’80s synths from Soft Cell, but it was originally a ’60s soul-swing production by Gloria Jones. Some might prefer Marilyn Mansons’ gothic, chopped-up rendition, but it still can’t be divorced from Soft Cell. Even Trent Renzor agrees that ‘Hurt’ is no longer a Nine Inch Nails song — it belongs to Jonny Cash now.

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As for our own admissions: we’re going to nominate ‘Torn‘, a stunning late ’90s break-up song that did the rounds through three other artists before it found the perfect artist, Natalie Imbruglia.

Then there’s the more contestable: ‘Killing Me Softly With His Song’ was a hit for Roberta Flack back in 1973, but arguably, it’s the pain in Lauryn Hill’s voice in The Fugee’s neo-soul rendition that really sells it. Scrolling through the thread, there’s a defender of Bob Dylan’s ‘All Along The Watchtower’ for every Tweeter who prefers Jimi Hendrix’s psychedelic cover.

Equally contentious is the definitive version of ‘Landslide’ — for every fan of the Fleetwood Mac original, there’s someone citing Smashing Pumpkins’ or The Dixie Chicks’ take.

Meanwhile, fans of Donnie Darko prefer Gary Jules’ version of ‘Mad World’ to the Tears For Fears original, but they are simply being swayed by Jake Gyllenhaal’s eyes. Similarly, a lot of Tweeters prefer The Beatles’ vocal-strained rendition of ‘Twist And Shout’ to The Isley Brothers’, but they’re mostly thinking about Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

As for the most contentious song? ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’: does Prince or SinĂ©ad O’Connor’s version reign supreme? Or is it something else entirely?

This is all too stressful: Siri, play ‘T.G.I.F (Last Friday Night)’ by Kira Puru. Scroll through the complete debate here — and suggest your own covers.