Cover songs are a critically underappreciated art. They usually don’t get as much respect as original songs—since after all, they’re just copies, right? But in truth, a good cover can transcend all of the expectations for it—and even the original song itself.
In my time doing the all-covers radio show “Repeater” on Santa Cruz’s KUSP, I got a chance to indulge my lifelong fascination with the way a new interpretation can bring out the greatness of an established piece of songwriting, but also offer something entirely, well, original.
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of covers that I think deserve a legacy, or at least a listen. But here are the 10 I think best epitomize the potential for a cover song. While there was no strict rule for time-testedness, in compiling this list I did find it takes a while for a great version to really prove itself —I’m listening to Atlas Genius’ new cover of “Get Lucky” all the time right now, but in five years, who knows?
1. ‘ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER’– JIMI HENDRIX (ORIGINALLY BY BOB DYLAN)
The gold standard of cover songs that are better than the original. And the original is one of the most incredible rock songs of all time.
2. ‘GLORIA’ – PATTI SMITH (ORIGINALLY BY THEM)
I’d like to think that if Van Morrison had thought of the opening lines Patti Smith added to his song—“Jesus died for somebody’s sins, but not mine”—he’d have put them in himself. But probably not. Smith’s unparalleled skill at mixing gritty songwriting with pure poetry is what made her one of rock and roll’s greatest, and it made her covers great, too.
3. ‘HURT’ – JOHNNY CASH (ORIGINALLY BY NINE INCH NAILS)
What a trip it must have been for Trent Reznor to hear a 70-year-old country singer capture the pain, despair and soul-drained emptiness of his industrial anthem better than he ever could. Then again, it was Johnny Cash, so he might have seen it coming.
4. ‘GIN AND JUICE’ – THE GOURDS (ORIGINALLY BY SNOOP DOGG)
The defining cover of the 21st century so far, this is the one that set peer-to-peer networks on fire, and was possibly the first “viral hit.” Musically, this flawless collision of bluegrass and hip-hop signified that genre boundaries as we once knew them were now officially a thing of the past, for good.
5. ‘LOUIE LOUIE’ – BLACK FLAG (ORIGINALLY BY RICHARD BERRY)
Beginning with the 1963 hit version by the Kingsmen, this has become possibly the most ridiculous song to enter into rock’s sacred canon—and that’s saying a lot. There was an entire (surprisingly interesting) book written about it, and it’s been covered hundreds of times. This version faces up to the song’s goofiness, makes the lyrics even weirder and gives that familiar A-D-E-minor chord progression a punch unmatched before or since.
6. DEAD FLOWERS – TOWNES VAN ZANDT (ORIGINALLY BY THE ROLLING STONES)
A song this bleak probably needed Townes to do it justice. And yet, the vocal he delivers on this version is one of his most ambiguous—rather than defeated, he sounds wistful, maybe even a little hopeful, even as he sings “I’ll be in my basement room with a needle and a spoon.”
7. SWEET JANE – COWBOY JUNKIES (ORIGINALLY BY THE VELVET UNDERGROUND)
Even Lou Reed likes this version of “Sweet Jane” better than any of his own. (When I spoke to him about cover songs, he also had nice things to say about Cat Power’s take on “I Found a Reason.”) Ironically, most people didn’t even know there was a slow version of this song, with entirely different lyrics, before this cover was released (it had only been on the relatively obscure Velvet Underground live album 1969). Margo Timmins never sounded better, and it put Reed’s songwriting in a whole new light—mysterious and romantic.
8. ‘CALIFORNIA STARS’ – WILCO & BILLY BRAGG (ORIGINALLY BY WOODY GUTHRIE)
I always figured the whole point of Billy Bragg & Wilco’s Mermaid Avenue sessions (which were just released in their entirety last year), was to show that Woody Guthrie’s music is as relevant now as it was when he wrote those songs, between the ’30s and the ’60s. No song proved that more than “California Stars,” which comes through on this version like the ultimate anthem for modern alt-country.
9. ‘MAD WORLD’ – MICHAEL ANDREWS & GARY JULES (ORIGINALLY BY TEARS FOR FEARS)
Years of eye-rolling over the #firstworldproblems pop pretentiousness of Tears for Fears left us all unprepared for the stunning emotional power of this simple piano and cello version of one of their earliest songs. The brilliant way it was showcased in Donnie Darko didn’t hurt.
10. ‘I DON’T WANT TO GROW UP’ – RAMONES (ORIGINALLY BY TOM WAITS)
Waits’ original on Bone Machine is a masterpiece, but somehow the sentiment in this song meant even more coming from the original punks, on their final album.
