Cover songs can be fun when they are done right. Or differently. A great cover will allow an artist to inject their personality and perspective to enhance or even remake the track. The following five covers of famous songs certainly do that. They recontextualize the tunes by performing them in an entirely different way than the originals. Kudos for their creativity.
1. 2CELLOS, “Thunderstruck” (AC/DC)
During their 11-year run, the Croatian duo that is 2Cellos made quite a name for themselves with their eclectic string covers by a wide range of artists like U2, Michael Jackson, Nine Inch Nails, Muse, Wings, and Iron Maiden. But their genius move was taking on AC/DC with such aplomb (and a little multi-tracking) and creating a video that imagined them as baroque musicians freaking out a royal audience by literally shredding their strings. Naturally, the kids dig it but the parents are gobsmacked. The clip has over 260 million views on YouTube and is a hoot. You can also watch 2Cellos perform it live before a festival audience here.
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2. William Shatner, “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” (The Beatles)
Let’s be honest: Almost any cover that Shatner does is off-the-wall. From the moment he covered the Beatles classic “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” in brassy pop-band fashion for his 1967 album The Transformed Man, it was apparent that the famed Star Trek actor was doing a tongue-in-cheek take (we hope) – he simply orated the lyrics in quirky fashion and never sang. He’s made a side career out of it too – Shatner has done numerous solo albums since then; collaborated with the likes of Ben Folds, Henry Rollins, Judy Collins, Iggy Pop, Aimee Mann, and Adrian Belew; and released The Blues which went to #1 on Billboard’s Blues Chart in 2020. Boldly going where no orator has gone before…
3. Sid Vicious, “My Way” (Frank Sinatra)
After the dissolution of punk icons The Sex Pistols in 1978, bassist Sid Vicious was trying to find which direction to go in on his own. So he decided to go with this unusual rendition of a song made famous by Frank Sinatra (but which was originally a French melody by Jacques Revaux set to new English lyrics by Paul Anka). Sid’s cover – which features a string section as well as Pistols guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook – opens with him lampooning the crooning of Sinatra before the charged punks riffs and his sarcastic, snarling vocals kick in. Many of the lyrics were tweaked to make them feel more punk.
“For what is a prat? What has he got?
When he wears hats and he cannot
Say the words he truly feels
But only the words of one who kneels
I passed them all, I kicked their balls
And did it my way”
The following clip from Julien Temple’s belatedly released 1980 mockumentary The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle – which starred the Sex Pistols and their manager Malcolm McLaren – shows Vicious performing before a more “proper” (i.e. non-punk) British audience, many of whom seem to love him. Vicious recorded “My Way” in 1978, and it came out on his post-humous live debut album Sid Sings in late 1979, about 10 months after his death by a drug overdose.
Leonard Cohen once said he far prefers this version to Sinatra’s: “When Sid Vicious did it, he provided that other side to the song; the certainty, the self-congratulation, the daily heroism of Sinatra’s version is completely exploded by this desperate, mad, humorous voice.”
4. An Amped-up Guitar Rendition of Game of Thrones
Ever wondered what the Game Of Thrones themes would sound like with six electric guitars? When hard rockers Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine), Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme), Scott Ian (Anthrax), country artist Brad Paisley, series composer Ramin Djawadi, and series creator Dan Weiss sat down at Fender headquarters in 2019, they figured out how to make it all work. It’s certainly heavy and distorted plus it’s got guitar solos! Everyone brought their own personality to their six-string leads. And a fun time was had by all, no backstabbing required.
5. Tori Amos, “Raining Blood” (Slayer)
Of all the songs on this list, “Raining Blood” is really a hit within its own genre more than the mainstream. But people know it well enough. When Amos covered Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” she enhanced the inherent sadness in the lyrics. And in the way she tackled that track she dove into reinventing on the apocalyptic last cut on Slayer’s seminal thrashterpiece Reign In Blood. That’s a bold move. She was also smart in how she covered it – it’s a slo-mo rendition with ominous ambient gurgling floating behind her moody playing piano and haunting vocals. It’s Tori summoning her Goth side.
YouTube user @thecianinator offered this great summation: “Slayer: Soundtrack to the war that causes the end of the world; Tori Amos: Soundtrack to the world after that war has already ended it.”
Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)