Worst Cover Song?

[Dave Sund]

Certainly two of the worst ever conceived:

Korn - "Another Brick In The Wall"
Sheryl Crow - "Sweet Child Of Mine"

[otohara]

1. Paul Anka - Smells Like Teen Spirit

heard that yesterday on Sirius - ugh!

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

2. That's wrong on so many levels.

:scared:

[Dave Sund]

4. Yikes!

That's nearly as bad as Pat Boone's metal covers.

[dhinojosa]

7. That's so good.

I like it.

[blondeatlast]

65. Say it isn't so. OTOH, that kind of poo is too bizaare for fiction...

:puke:

You have my profound sympathies.

[Droopy]

3. "Turn the Page" by Metallica

That song sucked when Bob Seger made it, but Metallica took it to new levels of suckiness.

[Emops]

5. Any cover song where it's done exactly like the original

Like Guns 'n' Roses "Live and Let Die" or Uncle Kracker's "Drift Away."

[Dave Sund]

6. Britney Spears

"Satisfaction"

[dhinojosa]

8. No Doubt - "It's my life"

that song sucks

[blondeatlast]

66. Agreed, agreed, agreed. Stefani has been infected by the Madonna syndrome,

methinks.

[jpgray]

9. Beach Boys - "Student Demonstration Time"

BLLARRRRGHHHHH. Horrible "hep with the times" cover of Leiber and Stoller's "Riot in Cellblock #9". And Surf's Up had some good songs on it too, dammit.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

10. William Shatner - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

[Dave Sund]

11. Ouch

I remember listening to that, simply as a joke.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

29. Whatever...do you MEAN...by SUGGESTING...this?

I...feel...that...I...MUST...take...EXCEPTION...with...your...COMMENTS!

:evilgrin:

:toast:

[malmapus]

35. self delete

whoops responded to wrong one hehe :)

[Montauk6]

80. heee... that could be a transcript of Shatner

OR the Eugene Levy folkie in Mighty Wind.

[XemaSab]

32. Not to mention

Shatner's "I want to live like common people" (not sure of the exact song title), but MAN, funny as hell, but funny at Shatner's expense.

It's him just reading the lyrics in his Shatneresque voice. I was driving on the freeway when I heard it, and I almost had to pull over or get in an accident.

[Modem Butterfly]

73. Anything that man touches turns to comedic gold!

Whether old Bill intends it to or not!

[RandomKoolzip]

12. Sixpence None the Richer: "There She Goes Again."

The La's' original was a gem.

[I Know How To Do it]

17. Not to mention that the, "She" is Heroin.

[peekaloo]

21. I can't help but larf everytime that birth control commercial comes on

with that song playing in the background.


:dunce:

[dhinojosa]

23. Weird, I had no idea......

It's so simple and nice.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

42. didn't they also ruin crowded house's 'don't dream it's over?"

if i recall

[I Know How To Do it]

48. Indeed they did. The funny thing about that song is if you

look for it on Kazaa, it's listed by about 10 different song titles.

"Hey now"
"Hey Now, Hey Now"
"Hey Now Hey Now"
"Don't Dream"
"Hey Now Don't Dream"
And just about everyother permutation.

[grace0418]

51. I was going to post that if someone already hadn't! I hate when

people ruin Crowded House songs. Maybe because they're my favorite band. I guess since this was already listed I'll go with the Donny fucking Osmond cover. That's even worse, just not as widely known.

[MissMillie]

77. I thought that was 10,000 Maniacs (minus Natalie Merchant)

but I could be wrong.

[grace0418]

52. And why did they have to cover it so soon after the original?

That was weird.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

13. Tom Jones' "Burnin' Down the House"

My local alternative station played it as their joke song of the day

:(

[jakefrep]

39. Blasphemy! I love Tom Jones' version of that song!

[Bossy Monkey]

14. Those Disney children doing "Do You Believe in Magic?"

Not bad, per se, just supremely unnecessary. By definition, you can't improve on a perfect pop song.

[VolcanoJen]

15. Hole "Gold Dust Woman"

Loved, loved, loved Hole up until they butchered Fleetwood Mac's classic.

They cover Duran Duran's "Hungry Like The Wolf" in their "Unplugged" outing, which isn't half-bad and somehow fit Courtney better, back when she retained a little bit of her talent.

[NMMNG]

16. Fred Durst's "Wish You Were Here"

I'm sorry, but this is the worst attempt to remake a PF song I have ever heard.

[DS1]

33. I'd have him shot

[Dave Sund]

55. "Behind Blue Eyes"

Limp Bizkit. Disgusting.

[carpetbagger]

18. Pat Boone's cover of "Holy Diver".

Sure, his metal album has lots of things to choose from, but he actually manages to put some funky swing into "Enter Sandman" and "Crazy Train".

Not Holy Diver, however. You can get a sample of it here...

http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/9325/holydivr.ra

Oh, BTW, not to piss off any Dio fans, but I will anyway. The thing that puts this cover over the top is that "Holy Diver" kinda sucks in that Twin Peaks meets Commercial Music way.

[I Know How To Do it]

19. American Woman by Gladys Kravitz is pretty rotten.

Best versions by
Butthole Surfers and Anal Cvnt.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

46. all lenny's songs are kinda covers

since he's just a hendix cover artist at heart

[Montauk6]

20. Groaners

John Lennon "Stand By Me"
Ozzy Osbourne "Stayin' Alive"
Dweezil Zappa "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch"
Ringo Starr "I Call Your Name"
Taco "Puttin' On The Ritz"

[mr blur]

22. Hey, I love Lennon's "Stand By Me"!

but then I never could stand "Imagine", so what do I know?

[nyhuskyfan]

24. A random band called Will To Power....

Came out with a song that covered both Free Bird and Baby I Love Your Way in the same song. Oh, it was awful.

[derby378]

27. You just HAD to bring them up, didn't you?

Fortunately, looks like they turned into one-hit wonders. Wonder, that is, as in "I wonder what kind of A&R guy decided these two future has-beens deserved a contract?"

[Fenris]

25. Fred Durst's "Behind Blue Eyes"

Holy fuck.

[dean_dem]

93. If only because they misspelled Pete Townshend's name in the liner notes.

[terrya]

26. Madonna - American Pie

God, that was hideous.

[blondeatlast]

67. That's gotta be in the top, I dunno, 3, for certain. nt

[Parrcrow]

74. agreed

:thumbsdown: pee-yew!

[VOX]

92. Lining up for this one. It is ****BAD****. n/t

[derby378]

28. Not exactly WORST cover song, but - "Rebel Yell" by Scooter

Take a Billy Idol staple and redo it happy hardcore style, but otherwise make no changes at all. Meh.

Give me Crank It Up anyday over this ill-conceived notion.

[Strawman]

30. Roger Clinton - "Born Under a Bad Sign"

Sorry Big Dog, but it's pretty good cringe material. I actually own the album that is from: "Nothing Good Comes Easy."

Or Billy Idol's cover of "Heroin" on the dreadful Cyberpunk album.

[XemaSab]

31. Blue Monday by Orgy

and Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 by Korn.

The first because they try to sound too much like the original, and the second because that's a song you Just Don't Cover.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

47. orgy is especially embarrassing

if you're going to be a 1-hit wonder- at least do it with your own song

[XemaSab]

49. I don't understand

how young people can have so little understanding of music that they're not aware that both of the aforementioned songs are bad covers.

The mind... it boggles.

[blondeatlast]

68. Their version of "Blue Monday" is take cover under a pillow bad.

And they DON'T get points for nerve, either. :scared:

[alarcojon]

34. Aerosmith's "Come Together"

was pretty awful. Not as bad as some of what I've seen here.

BTW, anything by Kidz Bop is worse that anything here.

[malmapus]

36. Goin with Sheryl Crow - Sweet Child Of Mine too

Guns N Roses should not be touched, espicially by her.

[NeoTraitors]

37. The Counting Crow's 'Big Yellow Taxi'

I don't hate the C Crows, and I really like the original song (by Joni Mitchell), but when they play it on the radio I physically need to make it stop.

Bob Dylan's version of the same song was only slightly better.

Honorable mention: any song by the Atari's or Yeah Yeah Yeah's or whatever 'punk' bands that seem to do nothing but play covers of mainstream songs. They all sound like the Lemonheads doing 'Mrs Robinson' and as much as that stunk at the time, these bands make it smell even worse.

[jakefrep]

38. "Last Kiss" by Pearl Jam nt

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

44. i like that one

a surprising choice for them - and it was just something they recorde as a fan club giveaway for fun

radio got ahold of it and they went ahead and officially released it for charity

[Dave Reynolds]

40. A Perfect Circle - "Imagine"

Gloomy minor-key slop.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

41. some pop bimbo ruining the go-gos 'our lips our sealed"

also:
-puff daddy doing 'every breath you take'
-michael jackson doing 'come together' by the beatles
-the country version of aerosmith's 'dont want to miss a thing' - as if the original wasn't sappy and annoying enough
-van halen butchering roy orbison and the kinks -ozzy osbourne and some rap-metal hacks doing peter gabriel's 'shock the monkey' (though i will cut ozzy a little slack for this one, as he is on the record as being a MASSIVE peter gabriel fan)

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

45. and some kiddie poppunk band doing 'boys of summer'

the 'black flag sticker on a caddilac' lyric change is so laughable

[blondeatlast]

69. They didn't...

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Let's just toss a great cultural reference out the window, shall we?

I wish I didn't believe you, but ...sigh...

[WeRQ4U]

43. Yellow Card's recent dismantling of "Don't You Forget About Me"

Originally by SImple Minds.

It was on the MTV awards, which celebrated the Movies anniversary.

[blondeatlast]

70. God, I heard that somewhere just yesterday. I got nauseous. nt

[Gidney N Cloyd]

50. "Undercover Angel"?

[grace0418]

53. Donny Osmond "Don't Dream It's Over"

It was bad enough to have Sixpence None the Richer butcher a perfect pop song from my favorite band, but DONNY FUCKING OSMOND?

[Initech]

54. KMFDM's cover of These Boots Are Made For Walkin

No joke either.

[Modem Butterfly]

72. Dolly Parton's "Stairway to Heaven"

Yikes.

[Lilith Velkor]

83. You should hear Crispin Glover's

Heh. Wish I was kidding.

[Montauk6]

87. Is it anymore bizarre than his "These Boots Are Made For Walkin"?

[Lilith Velkor]

90. That's what I was talking about

:scared:

[Initech]

91. Judge for yourself!

http://www.kmfdmstore.com/product_info.php?cPath=62_67_74&products_id=122

[Orsino]

56. Captain & Tenille's "Muskrat Love"...

...or, come to think of it, "Love Will Keep Us Together," or any other of their covers.

[intheflow]

57. Wynona: Freebird.

Closely followed by Dolly Parton's cover of REO Speedwagon's Time For Me To Fly.

Wynona's cover sucks because she really does try to rock out as much as Skynyrd.

Dolly's cover sucks mostly due to excessive use of banjos.

[sendero]

58. Really this is like shooting fish..

... in a barrel. I contend that almost all cover versions suck. :)

[jakefrep]

61. So what you're saying is...

...Aretha Franklin's cover of Otis Redding's "Respect" sucks?
That Marvin Gaye's cover of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" sucks?

I would contend that some songs can be remade, especially after hearing the original a zillion times on the radio.

I honestly can't believe sometimes how pretentious and snotty some people get about pop music. I've never been to a classical music performance where I've heard anyone say, "You know, that New York Philharmonic is pretty good, but I wish they'd make their own music, rather than just covering Beethoven all the time."

[sendero]

62. No...

... what I'm saying is that for every good cover you can name, I can name 10 bad ones.

And comparing a sheet music rendition to a vocalist's interpretation is ludicrous, by the way.

[Kraklen]

59. That's a tough one.

There's obvious bad covers and unobvious bad covers. I mean in the sense of there's covers that are just tacky, and covers that are just wrong.

For the former I'd have to say "I am the Walrus," by Styx.

For the latter I'll say "Tainted Love," by Soft Cell.

Flame shields to maximum.

[LeftyMom]

60. Faith Hill's godawful perky version Janis Joplin's "Peice of my Heart"

It's shiny, happy and polished where the lyrics (and Janis' vocals, of course) are raw and wounded. It's clear she has no clue what the hell the song is about, can't connect with it on an emotional level and probably never even heard the original recording.

[Mixxster]

78. As hard as it seems to believe, I remember hearing at the time...

that Hill had never heard the original.

[Glorfindel]

63. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by Sir Reginald Dwight

(the former Elton John, may he rest in peace):(

[Deep13]

95. Yah, know, Shatner did a cover of that and is it ever weird!

[vi5]

64. Anything done by any nu-metal or rap rock band...

Limp Bizkit's "Behind Blue Eyes" and/or "Faith"
Korn's "Another Brick In The Wall" and/or "Word Up"
Orgy's "Blue Monday"

I'm sure there are others. Feel free to add.

[blondeatlast]

71. "Strange Fruit" by ........................... Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Oh, the humanity--and I like S & the B's, but that one is indescribably wretched and painful.

You know you have an ego problem when you take on a song WRITTEN for Billie Holliday.

:scared::scared::scared:

[StaggerLee]

89. !

Heinous

:(

[RubyDuby in GA]

75. U2's cover of the Rolling Stones Paint it Black

I'd like to personally slap the shit out of that pretentious prick Bono for ruining that song.

[Dukkha]

76. Celine Dion - "You Shook Me All Night Long"

It inspires blinding paralyzing rage!

[Jokerman]

79. Knockin' On Heaven's Door - Guns & Roses

I'll take the Dylan original or even the Clapton remake but please don't make me listen to Axel Rose butcher that song.

[Left_Winger]

81. "Under the Boardwalk" as performed by the Rolling Stones

It is on their LP 12x5

:puke:

[Strawman]

82. Any cover by Reba

I don't even know what they are. Just that I hate them all.

[jus_the_facts]

84. Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You'....

:puke:

[I Know How To Do it]

85. Not to Mention, "The Greatest Love" as well.

[dajoki]

86. elton john-"pinball wizard"

no one should do the who but the who:eyes:

[StaggerLee]

88. Love Song - A Perfect Circle

Maybe not the worst cover but it pisses me off to no end.

It's Heresy I say!

[Deep13]

94. Da Do-Run, Run sung by Shaun Cassidy

beat that

:hurts:

[Dervill Crow]

96. Jack Webb - Try a Little Tenderness

[WCGreen]

97. Gwen Stefani's crappy inclusion of If I Was A Rich Girl

Into that god awful persona she has morphed into

[tarkus]

98. You are bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

I am a huge fan of Hollaback Gurl. I like Rich Girl too though, to be honest. I don't really like pop or rap music all that much, but I will make an exception for songs that are so ridiculous they are great, and I think Hollaback Gurl fits that description.

[WCGreen]

99. Guilty pleasure

and don't say this to anyone else....

I'm a holleback girl....