{"id":2485835,"date":"2026-07-03T01:18:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T01:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2485835"},"modified":"2026-07-03T01:18:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T01:18:14","slug":"8-cover-songs-that-are-arguably-better-than-the-originals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/8-cover-songs-that-are-arguably-better-than-the-originals\/","title":{"rendered":"8 cover songs that are arguably better than the originals"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A great cover song does more than just repeat the lyrics; it completely reinvents the mood of the song for a new generation. A redditor crowdsourced<\/a> the community on r\/MusicRecommendations<\/a> for the best ones, asking, “What\u2019s your favorite cover song of all time?”<\/p>\n

In the popular thread<\/a> on r\/MusicRecommendations<\/span>, redditors debate the best cover songs of all time, highlighting the tracks that famously \u2014 and sometimes controversially \u2014 eclipsed the original versions.<\/p>\n

1. “Nothing Compares 2 U” \u2013 Sinead O’Connor<\/h2>\n

It is the gold standard of covers, a ballad so thoroughly transformed by raw emotion that many fans don\u2019t realize that originally it was a Prince song.<\/p>\n

2. “Hurt” \u2013 Johny Cash<\/h2>\n

When a music legend covers your song at the end of his life, it stops being yours. Just ask Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails.<\/p>\n

3. “Hallelujah” \u2013 Jeff Buckley<\/h2>\n

While “Hallelujah” is originally a Leonard Cohen song, Buckley’s haunting, ethereal rendition is often cited as the definitive version of a modern classic.<\/p>\n

4. “With a Little Help From My Friends” \u2013 Joe Cocker<\/h2>\n

Joe Cocker’s version of the cheerful Beatles tune turns it into a gritty, soulful anthem.<\/p>\n

5. “I Will Survive” \u2013 Cake<\/h2>\n

Gloria Gaynor’s high-energy disco anthem gets a monotone, deadpan rock makeover that somehow works perfectly.<\/p>\n

6. “Man Who Sold the World” \u2013 Kurt Cobain<\/h2>\n

This unplugged performance of the David Bowie track, recorded decades after the original, remains one of the most powerful moments in ’90s rock history.<\/p>\n

7. “Respect” \u2013 Aretha Franklin<\/h2>\n

Few remember that “Respect” was originally an Otis Redding song, but the Queen of Soul made it all her own.<\/p>\n

8. “Smooth Criminal” \u2013 Alien Ant Farm<\/h2>\n

It started as a nu-metal novelty, but this high-energy take on Michael Jackson remains a playlist staple.<\/p>\n

Whether they reworked a classic into a new genre or stripped it back to its acoustic roots, these artists<\/a> proved that a great song can live many lives. What cover song do you listen to more than the original?<\/p>\n

Want more music suggestions like this?<\/strong> Read the full thread<\/a> in r\/MusicRecommendations<\/a>, and find more conversations like this in r\/Music<\/a>, r\/ListenToThis<\/a>, and r\/Covers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This story highlights the perspectives of Reddit users, not Reddit, Inc. Some posts or comments may be lightly edited for clarity. Questions or concerns? Contact us at upvoted@reddit.com<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A great cover song does more than just repeat the lyrics; it completely reinvents the mood of the song for a new generation. A redditor crowdsourced the community on r\/MusicRecommendations for the best ones, asking, “What\u2019s your favorite cover song of all time?” In the popular thread on r\/MusicRecommendations, redditors debate the best cover songs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2485836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[405497,354203,489481],"class_list":["post-2485835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-cover-song","tag-joe-cocker","tag-prince-song"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/8-cover-songs-that-are-arguably-better-than-the-originals.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2485835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2485835"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2485835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2485837,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2485835\/revisions\/2485837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2485836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2485835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2485835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2485835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}