Top Ten Cover Songs

Most beginnings start with cover songs. Rock and roll began mostly with covers. Three of The Beatles first four albums each contained six cover songs. Many of Elvis' songs were covers. Even today, many bands get started by playing covers, as they slowly build up their own repertoire of songs.

More often than not, a cover song is a tribute, an homage, out of great respect. Some cover songs are amazing, even, on rare occasions, surpassing the original in greatness. However, the flip side of that is that many covers are terribly unlistenable. Some covers stay very true to the original, making little to no changes. Others expand and experiment, sometimes sounding almost nothing like the original.

The catalog of covers is seemingly never ending. The Beatles' "Yesterday" and Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" have both been covered hundreds of times each. Rage Against The Machine released an entire album consisting solely of covers (Renegades). Many are worth listening to, and this list easily could have been a top fifty. However, after much struggling, and rewriting, I have come up with my ten.

Top Ten Cover Songs:

10. Joe Cocker - With A Little Help From My Friends
Generally, as a rule, I find covers of Beatles songs to be distasteful. It's almost sacrilegious to even attempt to cover one of the all time greatest bands. Many people have tried, and some are downright awful. However, Joe Cocker's take on this gem is absolutely amazing. Led by a collection of organs and piercing guitar, played by none other than Jimmy Page, Cocker doesn't stick to the basic formula. He puts his own touches on the song, bending it to his will. His voice is perfect, giving a sense of uncertainty, sounding like a man who truly needs his friends for support. He caps it off by bringing in a wonderful cast of female singers to back him up, Rosetta Hightower and Sunny Wheetman. Joe Cocker is one of the only people to have covered a Beatles song who needs to feel no shame.

9. Cat Power - Sea Of Love
Originally released in the 50's by an artist names Phil Phillips, Cat Power puts a beautiful twist on this tune. A very simple, yet beautiful, cover, Cat Power takes a very minimalist approach to this song. Armed only with her soft voice, and gentle strumming, she sweetly carries you away as she confesses her true love.

8. Rufus Wainwright - Hallelujah
Perhaps one of the greatest songs ever written, Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" has been covered over 300 times. Rufus's take at it is quite beautiful. His piano rises and falls like the wave upon the shore, and his strong voice knows precisely when to soar, and when to whisper.

7. Taken By Trees - Sweet Child O' Mine
Known best for her vocal contributions to Peter, Bjorn and John's "Young Folks", Victoria Bergsman is the force behind the one woman project Taken By Trees. Here she takes a classic guitar riff and reworks it into a gorgeous piano melody. Her soft and sweet vocals take a song originally written about a lover and transform it, sounding more like a mother singing about her daughter. Joining the piano, is a simple acoustic guitar, and some tight, snare heavy drumming. The song slowly builds up, and rises as a chorus of voices sing a variation of Slash's famous guitar solo, before fading away.

6. Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
Inspired by John Cale's cover, Buckley reworked this tender ballad into a guitar masterpiece. His guitar bubbles and sighs, never rising too high, seeming as pained as its master. Buckley's vocals start off a trembling whisper, and slowly rise until he is crying to the heavens. Buckley was able to channel his own pain, and combined it with the pain of the lyrics. By the end of the song you were a part of his sorrow.

5. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - All Along The Watchtower
Released within six months of Bob Dylan's version, Jimi Hendrix's take on this song was so powerful that in future live performances Dylan played it more like Hendrix's version than his own. Jimi took a folk song and amped it up the only way he knew how. Fuzzed chords, lyrical guitar work and one of Jimi's most powerful vocal performances made this song an instant hit, but it was the solo that put it over the top. A four part solo that Hendrix carefully crafted, started simple, then slowly bubbled up, before rocketing into space.

4. Ryan Adams - Wonderwall
Backed only by a solemnly picked acoustic guitar and an ominous hum, Ryan Adams tackles this Oasis hit beautifully. Much more stripped down and slow than the original, Ryan's smoky voice echoes as though he is singing in a giant chamber. He truly sounds as though he needs to be saved, and only one person can save him. At the end a reverberating piano joins in to carry him away.

3. Johnny Cash - Hurt
Released near the end of his career, Johnny's take on this Nine Inch Nails song was so good, Trent Reznor admitted it was no longer his song. Johnny had connected with it so deeply it became his own song. His voice sounds so weathered, he truly sounds like a man who has felt, and caused, a lot of pain. A driving piano joins Johnny's guitar for the choruses, pounding home the lines. The final chorus rises higher and higher with the piano, before dropping away as Johnny's voice finishes it.

2. Nirvana - The Man Who Sold The World
One of the last recordings before Cobain's suicide was the magnificent Unplugged at MTV. Of the several covers they performed, the high point was this gem by David Bowie. Nirvana's performance helped put Bowie back on the map, introducing his music to a new generation. Mainly acoustic, save for Kurt's guitar leads, the bands take on this song was wonderful. Kurt's strained voice adds a lovely touch to the song, and Krist's bass bounces up and down through the choruses. The icing on the cake is Cobain's reinterpretation of the outro, transforming Bowie's mystic chanting into a beautiful, humming guitar solo that seems to float forever.

1. Gary Jules and Michael Andrews - Mad World
Originally recorded for the Donnie Darko soundtrack, this Tears For Fears cover was so popular the artists would eventually release it as a single the following year. A very minimalist cover, the song is led by hauntingly beautiful piano, and backed by deep ominous cello. Jules's voice whispers tales of sorrow, before echoing into a hole in space and time as he softly sings "Mad World."

- Jack