Ask Lemmy

Baby I’m yours
Original by Barbara Lewis
Cover by Arctic Monkeys

I'm not sure Last Kiss by Pearl Jam is actually better than the original but it definitely deserves honorable mention.

U2's With or Without You cover by April Meservy and Aaron Edson. It infuses the original with raw emotion - you can feel the pain and exhaustion.

Edited to add: And Marilyn Manson's version of Tainted Love. It sounds sickening and toxic, making the song about much more than a breakup.

Dave Stewart covering Zombie by The Cranberries https://youtu.be/1iDTYnxCNXM

• Louie Louie - Toots & The Maytals (originally recorded by Richard Berry, popularized by The Kingsmen) https://youtu.be/BlFGvTtGMBI

• Walk on By - The Stranglers (originally recorded by Dionne Warwick) https://youtu.be/WYkqLm9cM3Y

• Maybe I'm Amazed - Faces (originally recorded by Paul McCartney) https://youtu.be/SLhoLkTyNkM

• Black Steel - Tricky and Martina Topley-Bird (originally recorded by Public Enemy) https://youtu.be/9ZJTM03UByU

• Everything is Everything - Booker T. Jones (originally recorded by Lauren Hill) https://youtu.be/A61c4FgxZz8

• Ohio/Machine Gun - The Isley Brothers (originally recorded by Crosby, Still, Nash & Young) https://youtu.be/XC6qOvfgDJI

Within Temptation's cover of Radioactive by They Might Be Dragons. Much better. That said, nothing can beat the hilarious acid trip that is the original's music video.

Bruce Springsteen - Staying Alive

For as long as I've known it I've preferred the version of Ghost's Cerice done by Saint Raven, a much less known band out of Utah.

Another New World by Punch Brothers

Karmastition by Alicia Keys.

Stevie Wonder's original was awesome, but the mash up is just chefs kiss.

Bare Naked Ladies - Lovers in a Dangerous Time (original by Bruce Cockburn)

Metallica - Turn the Page (original Bob Seger)

The Protomen's cover of Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground) is a slower burn than the original, but I feel like the emotions intented by the song are so much clearer.

It's off their album The Cover Up, which is an entire album of well done covers. It also tells a strong story through the tracks and the transistions between them. I love this band, and the last third of this album from Hunted (a transistion piece) onward is fucking amazing.

Now if only they could count to three better than Valve. Been at least a decade waiting for the ending of the story/universe they created. Act III when?

"Every time we touch" by Electric Callboy

Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley

Covering Leonard Cohen. This song is one of two (the other being Grace) that got me obsessed with Jeff Buckley back in my early to mid 20's.

It's just beautiful.

Joshua Ray Walker "Cuz I love you", his whole cover album really. The way he makes that Cher song into a country 2 step dance song is amazing.

Bob Schneider's cover of Running on Empty is haunting.

It's not so different but God I love the 9 minute November Rain by Connor Christian and the Southern Gothic.

Kind of the opposite but "As the World Caves In". Most people know the cover by Sarah Cothran , but I think the original by Matt Maltese is way, way better.

It's a song about two people together at the end of the world, and while Sarah sings it mourning the loss of everything, Matt sings it as a love song. To me that's the much more powerful message, that when everything is burning down, the only thing that's left and all that really matters is being together with the person you love, and the only thing to mourn is that you won't have more time with them.

My absolute favorite is Hailstorm doing Daft Punks Get Lucky.

I also really like The Interrupters doing Bad Guy.

The Cleverlys have a lot of really good, over the top, bluegrass covers but I think my favorite might be Party Rock Anthem.

I could keep going on this subject for a while. I have a 12+ hour and growing playlist of nothing but covers that I really enjoy.

Do mashups count? Chris Cornell's One (Metallica and U2) https://youtu.be/uTJxAdrnkP4

Spanish Love Songs - Smile Like You Mean It