Ask Lemmy

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

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

Nobody's said Me and Bobby McGee yet?

John Mayer's cover of Free Fallin by Tom Petty. The vocal, the sweet guitar. I love it.

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

Metallica - Turn the Page (original Bob Seger)

Another New World by Punch Brothers

Karmastition by Alicia Keys.

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

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

I genuinely prefer Ronan Keating's version of Words

I have the Bee Gees original on vinyl, yet I always go back to Keating.

Spanish Love Songs - Smile Like You Mean It

"Am I Evil" by Diamond head, covered by Metallica, and done so much cleaner and better that I got into a full-on argument with somebody (pre-google) about it it not being an original Metallica song.

Also, I have nothing but respect for Roberta Flack and think "Killing Me Softly" was a fantastic song when she performed it, the Fugees absolutely crushed that song. Listening to the original shortly after makes it fall a little flat.

In the reverse of this, when I mention "Wagon Wheel" and somebody mentions Darius Rucker I get upset. Oh, you took a solid song with great harmonies and instrumentation, and you swapped it out to be a generic country song? Way to make it "your own" bud.

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.

Zebrahead did a cover of Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne.

It's an amazing music clip too.

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