MUSIC - What is the deepest cover song you know?

By deep I mean with the most obscure original. I am not talking 'all along the watch tower' but things like Fever Ray's cover of Vashti Bunyan's song Here before

Fever Ray is relatively well known while Bunyan had very limited success

45 points · 68 comments · view on lemmy.world

68 Comments

disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 2y (3 replies)

Gloria Jones originally performed Tainted Love in the ‘60s. It didn’t hit until Soft Cell covered it in ‘81.

Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net · 5 pts · 2y

Holy shit. Mind blown

PipedLinkBot@feddit.rocks · 3 pts · 2y

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Soft Cell covered it

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Pulptastic@midwest.social · 2 pts · 2y

Wow, this is why I'm here.

Davel23@fedia.io · 19 pts · 2y (3 replies)

Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Want to Have Fun was originally Robert Hazard's Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net · 4 pts · 2y

Wow. Again, mind fucking blown

boogetyboo@aussie.zone · 3 pts · 2y

I had no idea. This slaps.

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tsonfeir@lemm.ee · 14 pts · 2y (1 reply)

“Torn,” by Natalie Imbruglia (1997) was originally written by Ednaswap and recorded in 1995—which, imo, is better. However, even though they wrote it, it was first recorded in 1993 by danish band, Lis Sørensen, who titled it “Brændt,” which means “Burned.”

Bonus! "The State I'm In" a song from Ednaswap’s first album, was covered by Sinéad O'Connor for her 2000 album Faith and Courage.

Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net · 2 pts · 2y

Wild! I didn't know that wasn't done by Sinead

livus@kbin.social · 11 pts · 2y (1 reply)

Harry Belafonte's exuberent cover of "Day O (Banana Boat Song)" which was a hit in its time and re-popularized by the dinner scene in Beetlejuice.

The original is Jamaican folk/traditional and the first recording of it Eric Connor - Day O has a totally different tone to it. In the original, labouring on a banana plantation is as tiring and depressing as you'd think.

PipedLinkBot@feddit.rocks · 2 pts · 2y

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AlternateRoute@lemmy.ca · 7 pts · 2y (1 reply)

Whiskey In The Jar Song by Metallica, original is from the Dubliners in 1969 a traditional Irish song in the 1950s

dan1101@lemm.ee · 8 pts · 2y

Metallica might have been more influenced by the Thin Lizzy version. But the song is older than The Dubliners.

rockSlayer@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 2y (2 replies)

You want obscure? Here's a cover of a song by Joe Glazer, written in the 1940s by a union coal miner that immigrated to the US

Nath@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 2y

The first one I didn't know! And yes, this one is absolutely the most obscure cover of an even more obscure song I think I've heard of.

PipedLinkBot@feddit.rocks · 1 pts · 2y

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Brkdncr@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 2y (3 replies)

The Amen Break is a few seconds sample that became drum and bass. All of drum and bass has roots from that sample.

DABDA@lemm.ee · 3 pts · 2y (1 reply)

~18 min explanation on it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac

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Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 2y

For only seven seconds worth of drumming the Amen Break’s influence and reach is mind blowing. It literally changed (modern, western) music.

EarWorm@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 2y

Not sure if this applies, but people still seem to think that Nine Inch Nails covered Hurt by Johnny Cash and not the other way round. That or they haven't even heard the original.

llamapants@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 2y

Rage Against the Machine's Renegades of Funk was originally written and performed by a band called Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force in 1983.

RAtM

Afrika Bambaataa

dandroid@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 2y (1 reply)

The song 1985 was not originally recorded by Bowling for Soup, but SR-71

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Nemo@midwest.social · 4 pts · 2y (1 reply)

probably The Association's cover of "Windy" by Ruthann Friedman (which she wrote about a guy, btw)

klemptor@startrek.website · 3 pts · 2y

Who's tripping down the streets of the city

numbermess@kbin.social · 4 pts · 2y (4 replies)

This cover by the Afghan Whigs of the song "Lost in the Supermarket" by The Clash is really good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzDJhOMjq1E

MisterFeeny@kbin.social · 6 pts · 2y (2 replies)

Dude, London Calling (the Clash album this song is from) sold over 5 million copies. They are in no way obscure.

boatswain@infosec.pub · 2 pts · 2y

For real, they're The Only Band that Matters.

numbermess@kbin.social · 2 pts · 2y

Ah. Sorry.

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protist@mander.xyz · 3 pts · 2y (1 reply)

The Louis Prima Orchestra's cover of "Whatta Ya Gonna Do?", by Sunny Skylar. One of my favorite songs, a perfect blend of New Orleans and New York in the 40s. The link above is the only version I can find on the internet, which is instrumental. The version on the record I have has vocals and is cleaner. I hope somebody works to preserve Louis Prima's catalog from the 40s digitally, there's so much old music at risk of being lost!

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HowMany@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 2y

once upon a band we played "Sister Andrea" by Mahavishnu Orchestra with many precisions and very many clarities ♫♪!! (it sounded pretty close)

Pulptastic@midwest.social · 2 pts · 2y (1 reply)
Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net · 2 pts · 2y

Type O's cover is so weird: really turns out on its ear

bhamlin@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 2y

Johnny Cash's cover of Hurt. Trent came off a bit whiny. Cash... it's his song now.

guyrocket@kbin.social · 2 pts · 2y (1 reply)

God Gave Rock and Roll To You was a hit for Kiss.

Original by Argent: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QsG5V-o6uxY&pp=ygUdZ29kIGdhdmUgcm9jayBhbmQgcm9sbCB0byB5b3U%3D

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RBWells@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 2y

Well apparently people think Darius Rucker wrote the Old Crow Medicine Show song Rock Me Mama, and what's more, OCMS in their turn credited it (in jest) to Bob Dylan.

Drives me crazy that people don't know Stomp and Holler is a Hayes Carll song, and that Hallelujah is a Leonard Cohen song, and Downtown Train a Tom Waits song, too.

But I don't know if any of these are as obscure as you are looking for. You are looking for songs even music people don't think of as covers?

elasereray@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 2y

John Coltrane's versions of Afro Blue. Very different from Mongo Santamaría's original. I like both approaches, but Coltrane's recordings of it were all just so powerful.

Qkall@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 2y (1 reply)

Hard to pick one, but murder by death has quite the number of them... But them covering the 90s rnb classic 'creep' was a shock

https://youtu.be/eaMj2l-iif4

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Ginger666@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 2y
Today@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 2y (2 replies)

Two that are not at all obscure to but often overshadowed by their covers... i love the Four Seasons version of Beggin - https://youtu.be/d5AfvOk57bE?feature=shared

Same for the Everly Brothers doing Love Hurts - https://youtu.be/hFE2SnliiV0?feature=shared

Edit to add - i didn't know Peace, Love, and Understanding was Nick Lowe's.

Clbull@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 2y

There's a kid I know from a few karaoke nights whose go-to song is Beggin. Now it makes more sense why he does that song a bit differently (the first "Beggin" in the chorus he doesn't sing.)

I only grew up with the Madcon version and I didn't know until today that it was a cover.

I also heard a local singer do a really good acoustic cover of that song, where he actually does the rap parts.

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nicerdicer2@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 2y (1 reply)

"House of the Rising Sun" has been covered numerous times. The most known version is from The Animals. I was today years old when I learned that this is the original version of the song. However, my personal favourite cover version is from BTO.

Another well-executed cover version is of the song "Johnny B. Goode", covered by Peter Tosh, beause it is tranferred into a different music genre.

PipedLinkBot@feddit.rocks · 2 pts · 2y

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well-executed

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Resol@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 2y

Literally any cover of "Hold Me Closer" by Cornelia Jacobs.

starman@programming.dev · 1 pts · 2y (1 reply)
PipedLinkBot@feddit.rocks · 1 pts · 2y

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Got My Mind Set on You by George Harrison

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fitgse@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 2y (1 reply)

Stille Volk’s cover of Iron Maiden’s To Tame A Land:

Stille Volk - Adoumestica Una Terro

Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net · 2 pts · 2y

This would be a perfect fit if it went the other way. Big band covering obscure band

No1ButtMe@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 2y

Collective Soul covered the Morphine song You speak my language

callouscomic@lemm.ee · 1 pts · 2y (2 replies)

Probably The Man Who Sold the World covered by Midge Ure, which I find much better than Bowies original or the famous Nirvana cover.

Also really like Renegades cover by 36 Crazyfists.

Pulptastic@midwest.social · 4 pts · 2y

Good song, but Bowie is not obscure.

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HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club · 1 pts · 2y (1 reply)

Bowling For Soup covered 1985 as the original came from SR-71

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dan1101@lemm.ee · 1 pts · 2y

The Breeders "Drivin' on 9" was a cover of song by an obscure band called Ed's Redeeming Qualities. The Breeders version is IMO sweet and meloncholy but the original is rather weird.

crawancon@lemm.ee · 1 pts · 2y (1 reply)

Dax Riggs covering Bonnie Prince Billy's Grand Dark Feeling of Emptiness

https://youtu.be/obnh0-NOjZg?feature=shared

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smileyhead@discuss.tchncs.de · -3 pts · 2y (3 replies)
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colourlessidea@feddit.de · 8 pts · 2y (1 reply)

The original had not much success until the cover?? Where did you get that information from?

kromem@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 2y

Yeah, I literally laughed out loud when I saw that.

I have one word for that commenter.

"Plastics"

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