Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. We have heard this a million times. I don’t necessarily agree, but in some cases I think it’s true. I decided to write this post after coming across the song; ‘Hurt’ by Johnny Cash. The first time I heard that song I thought it was a very powerful and emotive song. The lyrics were so poignant and the video connected well with the overall theme of the song. After being blown away by the song, I decided to do some research on it (as per usual). I found out that the song was actually written by Trent Reznor and was a cover of a Nine Inch Nails original. That’s when I remembered another favorite song of mine; Pearl Jam’s ‘Last Kiss’. This song was also a cover; the original version was done by Wayne Cochran. This got me thinking about cover songs. I realized that some of my favorite songs were cover songs. At first I was going to make a list of the greatest cover songs of all time. After thinking about it some more, I decided against it. If you are interesting in such a list, you can check out; The Greatest Cover Songs of All Time or Cover Songs More Famous Than The Originals.
Instead, I decided to do a list (unranked) of my all time favorite cover songs. What are some of your favorite cover songs? Let me know in the comments section.
1. “Hurt” by Johnny Cash (original by Nine Inch Nails)
2. “Smooth Criminal” by Alien Ant Farm (original by Michael Jackson)
3. “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper (original by Robert Hazard)
4. “Last Kiss” by Pearl Jam (original by Wayne Cochran)
5. “Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia (original by Lis Sorensen)
6. “Nothing Compares To You” by Sinead O’Connor (original by Prince)
7. “Leaving On A Jet Plane” by Chantal Kreviazuk (original by John Denver)
8. “Piece of My Heart” by Janis Joplin (original by Emma Franklin)
9. “Everything I Own” by Ken Boothe (original by Bread)
10. “Space Oddity” by Natalie Merchant (original by David Bowie)
Renegade Expressions 
wow! What an eclectic range of music you got here. I love Joplin and pear jam. Pearl jam came on at a good time in my life, finished college,just turned 21 and became a mother all in this one year…it was a great year 🙂 .
Then there’s Prince, but I don’t think I like hearing that song from anyone other than him 🙂
Natalie did a good version of thorn, I think that’s about all I like of her music.
Just listened to Mr Cash, really nice 🙂
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Thank you. I think the ‘Hurt’ cover is one of the best covers i have ever heard. ‘I Will Always Love You’ by Whitney Houston and ‘Respect’ by Aretha Franklin are also great covers.
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Hard to find a #Top5 – but here goes: 1. Baltimore – Nina Simone 2. O’Jays – Now That We’ve Found Love 3. Ken Boothe – Everything I Own 4. Singing Melody – Back For Good 5. Tank – I can’t Make You Love Me
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EDIT” I guess I should’ve said: Third World’s Now That We’ve Found Love… (originally by The O’jays)
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Interesting choices, i will have to check YouTube for some of those.
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What an interesting mix of songs and yet all good choices! I love Jonny Cash’s version of Hurt, it’s incredible!
Personally I love the Leonard Cohen song Hallelujah and while there have been many covers of it my favourite is the Jeff Buckley version – although Jon Bon Jovi does a pretty good version live!!
Cheers for sharing
Graham
http://therocketdogs.com
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Thank you, i just checked out the song Hallelujah. I prefer Jeff Buckley’s version.
I checked out your website too……..good luck with the band.
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