Are there any songs which people think are completely impossible for a band to do cover versions of? I ask this after listening to several rather awful versions of Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart. The original is a million times better compared to the covers!
Any song can be given as an example!
2006-11-23 10:37:16 · 19 answers · asked by Anonymous in Entertainment & Music ➔ Music
I don't include New Order's live Joy Division sets because
! They ARE Joy Division practically
2 Bernard Sumner actually sounds good singing Joy Division tracks (even if it sounds really unusual)
3 These have never been properly recorded or released, apart from on YouTube
2006-11-23 10:39:47 · update #1
Dick-A-Dum-Dum by Des O' Connor.
How could anybody ever cover that song.
2006-11-23 10:56:58 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
The types of song that are impossible to cover are
1. the ones that defined a career -- I don't even have to tell you who sang songs like Respect, The Sound of Silence, Thunder Road, Paradise by the Dashboard Light, Bohemian Rhapsody or New York, New York -- don't even bother touching it. Even as a tribute, the best you can hope for is to make people think "well, not too far off the mark. I'm gonna go home and listen to the original now"
2. the songs that depend heavily on a singer or musician's charisma, style, or voice to sell it. That includes both artists whose voices are unique (like Janis Joplin) and artists whose voices are so amazingly good nobody can hold a candle (like Whitney Houston or Jeff Buckley). The only way you have a chance is to take a TOTALLY different direction.
The best example is "I Got You (I Feel Good)" by James Brown. Nobody else could deliver that song.
Other examples:
Purple Rain by Prince
Loser by Beck
Light My Fire, and most of the Doors Catalogue, by the Doors
Last Goodbye by Jeff Buckley
Hey Ya by Outkast
The best songs to cover are songwriter songs. That's why people like Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and Cat Stevens have been covered successfully: because they write good songs.
2006-11-24 02:30:26 · answer #2 · answered by roboseyo 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights
Scritti Pollitti - The Word Girl
ABC - The Look Of Love
Grace Jones - Slave To The Rhythm
FGTH - Relax
Alison Limerick - Where Love Lives (frankie knuckles classic mix)
Oasis - Wonderwall (though it was done, badly)
Michael Jackson - Thriller
New Order - Blue Monday
Paul Simon - You Can Call Me Al
U2 - With Or Without You
I can't imagine why anyone would think they could improve on the original versions of those.
2006-11-23 11:02:59 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can cover anything, but there are some cases where you have a 0% chance of making a point, as far as the substance is concerned.
Hendrix - you can never match the passion
Sex Pistols - ... the grit and the dirt
Jeff Buckley - ... the sensibility
Aphex Twin - ... well, you'll never quite understand him enough to cover any song : )
2006-11-23 11:35:12 · answer #4 · answered by Johnny Favourite 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well i think Jose Gonzales did a pretty good cover of Love will tear us apart.
I cant see anyone successfully covering Rabbit Dog Needs Food Right Away by Deerhoof.
2006-11-23 14:21:10 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Anyone so unique and in a league of their own like Prince & Pink Floyd. I would be willing to bet large sums of money that nobody will ever win X factor singing Dark Side of the Moon.
2006-11-28 01:17:09 · answer #6 · answered by MI5 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
depeche mode's enjoy the silence.
lacuna coil tried it, and failed in my opinion. It was going so well until she got to the chorus.
in the depeche mode version he sings
"all i ever wanted"
and in the lacuna coil version she spoils it by singing
"all i ever waaaaanted"
she extends the word wanted. i know im bieng picky but when you know that song like the back of your hand you get annoyed when someone makes a feeble attempt at covering it. plus i dont think that anyone can get the same haunting effect that the original had.
2006-11-23 10:50:03 · answer #7 · answered by ♫ ♥green heather butterfly♥ ♫ 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You probably mean Nouvelle Vague's version... ;\ Yeah.
There are a few songs no body should cover. Mostly Queen songs, where no one has Freddie's voice.
2006-11-23 10:42:27 · answer #8 · answered by xParadox 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Death On Legs by Queen
Who else could possibly put that much venom into that song, other than Freddie?
2006-11-23 11:22:30 · answer #9 · answered by alfie 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
any led zeppelin song. led zeppelin was in it's own league, there is no way any band could succesfully cover one of thier songs.
another band would be the rolling stones. they're like led zeppelin.
and a perfect circle.
2006-11-23 10:40:31 · answer #10 · answered by Frita_VanShnidelvanhouwserson 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
mr blobby
incy wincy teeny weeny etc
rene & renato save your love
brotherhood of man save all your kisses
any song by the wombles
or smurfs
2006-11-23 10:42:05 · answer #11 · answered by dooglepuff 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋