Matt Soniak
The Late Movies: Cover Songs I Didn’t See Coming
by Matt Soniak - March 9, 2010 - 10:00 PM

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Sometimes you can see a cover coming a mile away. I know “Twist and Shout” was the first song Bruce Springsteen learned to play on the guitar, so when the E Street Band plays it live, I’m not exactly surprised. There are times when a musician or a band covers a song, though, and I’m absolutely flabbergasted. Sometimes it’s because the song is played in a style far removed from the original. Sometimes it’s because the two artists’ music, style and personalities seem at odds. Sometimes it’s simply because I didn’t know that artist loved that song so much. While the Boss’ rendition of “Twist and Shout” is pretty good, it’s covers like these –- the ones that come seemingly out of left field –- that can really put a smile on your face.

“The Wizard” – Ahmet Zappa, Dweezil Zappa and John Tesh

John Tesh is a pianist and a composer and performer of pop and contemporary Christian music. He toured with Yanni. He played a Klingon in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. He actually released an album called Sax on the Beach (and you thought that was just a Simpsons joke!). Making fun of him is sort of like unleashing the nuclear stockpiles of the United States and Russia on a single barrel of fish. He is, to say the least, a little uncool.

Every dork must have his day, though, and one night on Conan, Tesh got to sit at the cool kids’ table and jam on some Black Sabbath with Frank Zappa’s boys. The keytar finally makes sense to me.

“Romeo and Juliet” – The Killers

Brandon Flowers is correct on two points here: Dire Straits’ “Romeo and Juliet” is one of the most beautiful songs you will ever hear, and his band probably could not do it justice. I’ll tell you what, though. Never in the Killers’ jittery, 80’s-style alterna-rock did I get a whiff of the kind of deep, abiding love for the Dire Straits that they’re talking about here, and anyone who loves ‘em like that is alright with me. No one could do this song justice, but we can’t blame the kids for trying.

“Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” – The Cardigans

There are three kinds of bands that come out of Sweden: Phenomenal death metal bands, terrible death metal bands and bands that remind you of ABBA if only because they’re from Sweden and don’t play death metal. The Cardigans are in the third category and are best remembered for their first international hit, “Lovefool.” If you’re in the vast majority of people that remember them only for this, then it might shock you that not only did the Cardigans make music before and after “Lovefool” and are actually still around, but they put a Black Sabbath cover on their debut album. It actually sounds pretty awesome with sugary sweet vocals and Rhodes piano.

“Oops! I did it again” – Richard Thompson

Richard Thompson has earned an Orville H. Gibson award for his acoustic guitar playing, an Ivor Novello Award for his songwriting and a lifetime achievement award from BBC Radio. He has never shaved his head nor shown his genitals in public (at least that I’m aware of). He’s about as un-Britney as one can get, and yet, he makes the song his own.

“2 Become 1” – Paul Gilbert

Paul Gilbert is regularly included on those “Greatest Shredders of All Time” and “Fastest Guitarists of All Time” lists. It’s true; he’s pretty good. Like, mile-a-minute-fret-board-melting-OMG-how-many-hands-does-this-guy-have good. (Also: former member of Mr. Big, but we can see past these things). You really want to think that this Spice Girls cover going to be some self-indulgent technical exercise where he noodles all over the song, and it is, but only at the end (followed by a special surprise). For the most part, it’s pretty faithful to the original, and the way he talks at the beginning of the video makes it seem like he genuinely loves the song, which is sort of endearing.

“Breakin’ the Law” – The Supersuckers

The self-proclaimed “Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band in the World” have been known to make occasional forays into country music. With this song, they drag Mr. Rob “the Metal God” Halford, kicking and screaming with them.

“Fat Bottomed Girls” – Oxford University’s Out of the Blue

The fine young gentlemen of Oxford University –- who, in my mind, still considered powdered wigs and breeches “casual attire” –- recite the lyric “left alone with big fat fanny/she was such a naughty nanny/heap big woman you made a bad boy out of me” and all is right with the world.

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Comments (47)

  1. Ben Folds covering Dr. Dre’s “Bitches Ain’t Shit” is phenomenal just because Ben is a 40-year-old white guy. Just saying.

    posted by Ethan on 3-9-2010 at 10:25 pm

  2. What, no love for Don Ho’s cover of Peter Gabriel’s “Shock the Monkey”?

    posted by Ray Radlein on 3-9-2010 at 10:34 pm

  3. Elvis Costello did Christina Aguliera’s Beautiful on the House soundtrack

    posted by Joe on 3-9-2010 at 10:58 pm

  4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWQo0bktuAI

    Nickel Creek singing “Toxic” by Britney Spears. Lots of these online. Saw it live – it was awesome!

    posted by Tom "The Practical Nerd" on 3-9-2010 at 11:16 pm

  5. Alas, the Cardigans are no longer together. They are all spread out on different projects. It’s too bad, because they made some fine pop rock that for some reason never got the hype it deserved in North America.

    Richard Thompson’s version of “Oops! I Did It Again” is just epically good.

    posted by Leigh on 3-9-2010 at 11:34 pm

  6. No list of surprising covers is complete without Jonathan Coulton’s whiter than white cover of Sir Mix-a-Lot’s \Baby Got Back\. It’s actually a beautiful ballad in heavy rotation on my iPod.

    posted by Kevin on 3-9-2010 at 11:44 pm

  7. I think that Chris Cornell’s arrangement of Billie Jean is awesome. Love it. Maybe even more than the original.

    posted by Amy on 3-9-2010 at 11:52 pm

  8. I really like Ray LaMontagne’s cover of Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy.

    Also, the PS22 elementary school chorus does a lot of covers, but I much much prefer their version of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida to the original (partly because I really don’t care for Chris Martin’s voice)

    posted by KC on 3-10-2010 at 12:07 am

  9. Whoops! Left an old link in. Please ignore!

    posted by KC on 3-10-2010 at 12:09 am

  10. Don’t know if anyone’s mentioned it, but the Gourd’s cover of “Gin and Juice” is really entertaining. My favorite cover ever, though, is probably the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain’s cover of Kate Bush’s “Wuthering Heights.”

    posted by Kate B. on 3-10-2010 at 12:14 am

  11. When we saw Antony and the Johnsons with the Portland Symphony Orchestra in 2008 he totally blew the audience away with a cover of Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love”… fantastic! And completely out of left field!

    posted by Dana on 3-10-2010 at 12:37 am

  12. Some fine covers. Ben’s “B*tches Ain’t Sh*t” is classic as is the Gourd’s “Gin & Juice”. Also a good rap cover is Jenny Owen Youngs “Hot In Herre” by Nelly. Surprisingly good = Lily Allen singing the ELO classic “Mr. Blue Sky”. The Bird & the Bee singing a whole album of Hall & Oates covers.

    posted by Stephen on 3-10-2010 at 12:54 am

  13. Beg borrow or steal any record you can find by a band called “Big Daddy.” Their claim to fame was covering songs from the 80s and 90s in the style songs from the 50s or 60s. They did “Money For Nothing” in the style of “Sixteen Tons,” “Welcome To The Jungle” as “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” and Wilson Philips’ “Hold On,” as “Higher And Higher.” But my favorite BD moment was when they took a song I dislike from an artist I love (Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing In The Dark,”) and did it in the style of a song I love by an artist I dislike (Pat Boone’s “Moody River.”) Amazing. They also did the entire Sgt. Pepper album in the style of other songs. Somebody stole my copy (see above) long ago, but I remember “With a Little Help From My Friends” as a Johnny Mathis song, and “Lucy In The Sky” in the style of Jerry Lee Lewis.

    Sorry about any typos. Blame it on “La Fin Du Monde.”

    posted by Joe Maz on 3-10-2010 at 12:54 am

  14. Anybody else recognize the first solo in “2 Become 1″? It took me a second, and it’s in a different key, but it’s definitely the solo from “Stairway to Heaven.”

    posted by Ben on 3-10-2010 at 1:12 am

  15. I think my favorite odd cover has to be Anthrax doing The Smiths’ London. Very different, but very good.

    Or perhaps Cat Power’s version of New York, New York.

    Or Damien Rice singing When Doves Cry.

    I’m useless at picking favorites, if you couldn’t tell.

    posted by jen on 3-10-2010 at 1:14 am

  16. Alanis Morrisette doing “My Humps”. The song itself isn’t that bad, but the video for the song is just to damn funny. I crack up every time I see it.

    posted by sara on 3-10-2010 at 3:14 am

  17. Give a listen to Hayseed Dixie’s “Bohemian Rapsody”

    posted by evilimp on 3-10-2010 at 4:06 am

  18. You obviously never hear the Brady Kids’ rendition of American Pie.

    posted by carli on 3-10-2010 at 4:08 am

  19. The Cardigans also covered “Iron Man” on their album “The First Band on the Moon.”

    Missing from this list: Tori Amos covers Slayer’s Raining Blood. I did not realize great metal could be so bastardized.

    posted by Joel on 3-10-2010 at 8:14 am

  20. This one was just released: Jamie Cullum covered Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop the Music”, and it is absolutely fantastic.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0z1Mo7O6dE

    posted by Sally on 3-10-2010 at 8:56 am

  21. Was at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo last night and Darius Rucker played. He finished the night playing Purple Rain. That is right Hootie played Prince at the freakin rodeo. And it was AWESOME!

    posted by Chris on 3-10-2010 at 9:09 am

  22. Janes Addiction does “Rock and Roll” by Lou Reed followed by “Sympathy for the Devil” back-to-back on their first album. AWESOME!!!

    posted by Dave on 3-10-2010 at 9:11 am

  23. Gotta plug Me First & the Gimme Gimmes. They’re a punk band with the kind of respect, admiration, and esteem for the great hits of yesteryear that gives them Puppy Cradle Death Syndrome. Check out their punk rock covers of the Beach Boys’ Sloop John B or Styx’s Come Sail Away.

    reCaptcha: enforcer Had. What? The suspense is killing me — it could be anything! Brass knuckles? Hockey stick? Ice cream cone?

    posted by Pete on 3-10-2010 at 9:51 am

  24. Paul Anka covered Mr. Brightside by The Killers.

    posted by Admiral Byrd on 3-10-2010 at 10:15 am

  25. I hear you Joe Maz! I’m partial to “Raftman” but “La Fin du Monde” is also excellent. And a good excuse.

    The first one that came to mind was Cake’s cover of “I Will Survive”. And Seu Jorge on most of the soundtrack to Wes Anderson’s “The Life Aquatic”. I remember seeing it in the theatre and cluing in during “Ziggy Stardust” – Bowie sounds wonderful in Portugese.

    posted by Bert on 3-10-2010 at 10:18 am

  26. I remember Dave Grohl on the old Craig Kilborne show did an awesome and hysterical Stairway to Heaven. Also check out Richard Cheese he does modern songs in an over the top lounge singer style

    posted by bob2 on 3-10-2010 at 11:55 am

  27. Graham Parker did a good cover of Prince’s “Cream” on his live album “Last Rock’n'Roll Tour.”

    posted by Jon. on 3-10-2010 at 12:12 pm

  28. @Kate B – love the Gourds “Gin & Juice” cover.
    Also – Bif Naked’s cover of “We’re Not Gonng Take It” is fantastic.

    posted by Ted Lange As Your Bartender on 3-10-2010 at 1:08 pm

  29. Recently, The Fray covered Kayne West’s “Heartless”. It is totally different than Kayne and yet it works! It just shows how good a lyricist Kayne West really is. . .

    posted by Mavis on 3-10-2010 at 1:22 pm

  30. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Out of the Blue perform multiple times at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival… They do a lot of other covers too. Sex Bomb is my favorite :)

    posted by Monterey on 3-10-2010 at 1:23 pm

  31. I was blown away by Prince’s cover of “Best of You” by the Foo Fighters at the SuperBowl a couple years back. It came as a big surprise and gave Dave Grohl some validation as a songwriter.

    posted by dagnabbit on 3-10-2010 at 2:32 pm

  32. Nobody’s mentioned Johnny Cash yet? His covers on the ‘American’ albums are fantastic. U2′s ‘One’, Petty’s ‘I Won’t Back Down’, and many others are great, but his version of ‘Hurt’ by Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) is absolutely perfect!

    posted by jdb on 3-10-2010 at 3:23 pm

  33. What? Nobody has mentioned Pat Boone’s heavy metal CD? Ozzy’s “Crazy Train” was the best!

    posted by John on 3-10-2010 at 6:34 pm

  34. Richard Cheese covering “Baby Got Back” and “Personal Jesus” in true lounge-lizard style…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCv2cgIlnHA

    posted by Erika on 3-10-2010 at 7:44 pm

  35. Nina Gordon’s cover of “Straight Outta Compton” is hauntingly beautiful. No kidding.

    posted by John on 3-10-2010 at 9:00 pm

  36. Any cover by Richard Cheese and Rage Against the Machine is awesome!

    posted by Angela on 3-10-2010 at 9:40 pm

  37. Torie Amos- “I Don’t Like Mondays”
    Marilyn Manson- “Personal Jesus”
    Torie Amos- “Smells Like Teen Spirit”

    The Zappa boys and Tesh were fantastic!!

    posted by gus on 3-10-2010 at 10:07 pm

  38. That Paul Gilbert clip is great. You mentioned the surprise at the end (the “Sweet Leaf” solo) but you didn’t mention the “Stairway To Heaven” solo in the middle…

    But even those goodies couldn’t make me like the song.

    posted by Paul on 3-11-2010 at 1:45 pm

  39. I really like Florence and the Machine’s cover of Addicted to Love, by Robert Palmer. She sings a cappella at the beginning and it sounds darker than the original. No models on guitars though.

    posted by Sara on 3-12-2010 at 11:13 am

  40. I am probably going to some sort of musical hell for the blasphemy I am about to spout, but I must admit, the BEST COVER EVER was when the Bangles did “Hazy Shade of Winter.” What? Don’t look at me like that!I STAND BY THIS!

    Also, Annie Lenox’s “No More I Love Yous” and Johnny Cash’s American series IS awesome. His version “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” makes me cry.

    posted by Dara on 3-14-2010 at 12:11 am

  41. One of the songs that got Barenaked Ladies originally noticed back in their early years was their cover of ‘When Doves Cry’.

    posted by Tim on 3-14-2010 at 1:12 pm

  42. If their cover caused even one person to look up Dire Straits, then it was worth it. Of course they won’t top the original, that’s like trying to rewrite Shakespeare.

    While we’re on the subject of covers, and Zappa is on my mind, I simply must share this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p3Ue3ncH3g
    Frank Zappa covers Stairway to Heaven. Horn section > Guitar solo?!?!?

    posted by Josiah on 3-15-2010 at 4:43 am

  43. Romeo and Juliet was one of my favorite songs for as long as I can remember. Dire Straits and Talking Heads were on a loop throughout my childhood… all that the Killers cover did was make me want to hear Dire Straits!

    posted by Shawn on 3-15-2010 at 10:11 am

  44. For another Spears cover, Travis covering Hit Me Baby One More Time…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acULghgYUg0

    posted by Ed on 3-15-2010 at 2:49 pm

  45. Pansy Division’s cover of Spinal Tap’s “Big Bottom”….

    posted by RandyG on 3-16-2010 at 2:55 am

  46. Probably one of the most bizarre covers I have seen is Arch Enemy singing “Call Me”.

    The KidneyThieves cover of “Crazy” is kind of odd as well, but more like Marilyn Manson with Sweet Dreams than the bizarreness of Arch Enemy doing Call Me.

    posted by John on 3-16-2010 at 4:51 am

  47. One of the best covers I heard recently is a solo acoustic version of Outkast’s “Hey Ya” performed by Mat Weddle of Obadiah Parker. Seriously look this one up if you haven’t heard it–more poignant a song than I remembered from Outkast’s fun, upbeat version.

    posted by MikeD on 3-23-2010 at 11:02 am

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