Cover Songs that are Better than the Original

We all have our favorite artists that we constantly listen to, even in the most inappropriate places. When these artists release their latest chart topping song (even if it sucked, let’s be honest) we can’t help but buy or stream it.

Covering songs has been a popular practice ever since time could tell. Artists cover certain songs to show co-artists love for their craft. When these cover versions are released, people are usually divided on it; some would like it that that version stay in the trash bins, but for most people these versions actually didn’t suck! Hell, it’s even better than the original. Here we list down songs that we prefer more than their original versions.

José González “Heartbeats”

In recent years, González’s version of the song is a popular choice for TV soundtracks (One Tree Hill, 90210). But before González released his own version, the song first appeared in the Swedish electronic act The Knife’s album Deep Cuts. We do love its synthpop and electropop origins, but we’d rather hear the raw and aching voice of González belting out those melancholic lyrics.

Johnny Cash “Hurt”

When we first heard legendary singer Johnny Cash’s version of “Hurt”, we couldn’t keep our tears from falling. The song, which tells the story of a man battling depression, perfectly fits as a goodbye tune for Cash who died a few months after its release.

Jeff Buckley “Hallelujah”

Arguably one of the most covered songs of all time, “Hallelujah” has been covered by multiple artists since its release. The late Jeff Buckley’s version is the one regarded as the best and has been widely used from TV shows to movies. The cover song is so successful that The International Observer recently named the version the “greatest song of all time.”

Ryan Adams “Wonderwall”

English rock band Oasis is known for their contribution to the rise of Brit pop in the 90s, but they’re also known for their signature song “Wonderwall”, the lyrics of which are mostly quoted in Tumblr posts. Being frequently covered up until the turn of the century, singer Ryan Adams’s version was well received by Noel Gallagher himself. Adams later on covered Taylor Swift’s whole 1989 album.

Ellie Goulding “Your Song”

The song was originally sung by legend Elton John and was covered by other artists, including another legend Rod Stewart. Ellie Goulding’s version of the song was so good that she was invited by the Royal Family to attend Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding reception to perform the song which was played for their first dance as a married couple.

Arctic Monkeys “Hold On, We’re Going Home”

Rapper Drake has a lot of memorable and coverable songs to date, but his 2013 single “Hold On, We’re Going Home” proved to be the most popular one. When indie band Arctic Monkeys performed their version of the song for BBC Live Lounge, the world fell in love not only with their version, but also with Alex Turner’s voice.

Whitney Houston “I Will Always Love You”

FUN FACT: the mega-hit Whitney Houston song “I Will Always Love You” is actually not originally hers (gasps). Tita Whitney covered the song for the movie The Bodyguard which she also starred in. The song was originally sung by Dolly Parton.

John Mayer “Free Fallin”

There’s no argument that the Continuum era John Mayer was the best John Mayer ever. After the release of his best album to date, he continued the momentum when he released the live album Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles. In the taped concert he covered Tom Petty’s 1989 track “Free Fallin”, much to the delight of fans of both Mayer and Petty.

Which cover song did you like best? Share them with us below!