Is the original song always better than the remake?

[WillParkinson]

Paul and I were watching TV the other day and this song came on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJHaJNV4H3k (Magic by Selena Gomez)

Paul said that the original songs are usually better than remakes. I personally like her version, even if I think the original is good, too.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

1. I often find that the version I hear first sets my standard for the rest...

...even if it isn't the original.

[hippywife]

2. ...

Exactly! :thumbsup:

[gmoney]

3. Well, she certainly is cute and has the most perfect teeth I've ever seen

Someone recently pointed out how bizarrely inane the verse lyrics are to that song, but the chorus is one ginormous hook.

Her version's OK and probably sounds better than the original if you're used to the current pop music "production values" -- that robotic autotune effect is always a red flag to me though.

[mikeytherat]

4. America's "Muskrat Love" was better than the Captain and Tennille's cover of it.

Wait. Scratch that. They suck equally.

mikey_the_rat

[Curtland1015]

5. "Proud Mary"

While I love Creedence, I much prefer Tina Turner's version.

Also, "All Along The Watchtower". I like Jimi Hendrix's version more than Dylan's.

[fizzgig]

9. i agree with you on 'all along the watchtower'

[gmoney]

6. Remakes are frequently better...

Travis' remake of Britney Spears' "Hit Me Baby One More Time" for instance... actually reveals that the song isn't completely soulless. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRHZqg8yVXQ

Young Fresh Fellows did a similar interpretation of Debbie Gibson's "Shake My Love" that shows the song's true sadness. Sorry, it's not on YouTube.

I'd say the Peter Paul and Mary version of "Leavin' on a Jet Plane" is better than John Denver's -- even Chantal Kreviazuk's version is better than Denver's. (Ignore Ben Affleck's butchery) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7RLcq4Kn3Y

The Beatles version of "Twist and Shout" is arguably better than the Isley's or other earlier versions.

Hendrix' version of "All Along the Watchtower" really surpasses Dylan's.

Patsy Cline's version of "Crazy" is true perfection, as good as Willie Nelson's original and subsequent versions may be.

It really depends on what the interpreting artist brings to the song. Frequently "It's the singer, not the song" as is evidenced by the many recordings of songs that would be considered "standards." Some really great performers do almost no original material.

[SoxFan]

7. Bob Dylan pretty well blows this out of the water

Brilliant songwriter, but not a great performer. Watchtower (Hendrix), Knockin' On Heaven's Door (The Alarm), Mr. Tambourine Man (Byrds), and It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (Shadowlands) were all better as covers.

[Coventina]

11. Mr. Tambourine Man immediately came to my mind as well. n/t

[pokerfan]

22. Best example

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0hTtsqiFCc

[SoxFan]

40. Shatrolled!

:wow:

[PVnRT]

8. Alanis Morisette's cover of "My Humps" is brilliant (n/t)

[LeftinOH]

10. The classic example: Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" vs. Whitney's skreechfest -n/t

[Bucky]

21. Agreed. Whitney Houston absolutely improved on the original there.

Dolly's version is just sweet. I hear Whitney singing it and I can practically see her aging outside a prison gate in my mind.

[TZ]

12. Generally I like the original better...

But Johnny Cash's "Hurt" is waaaay better than NIN's...

[CreekDog]

13. Not if Dylan sang the original

then it almost never is, especially if the Byrds did the remake.

[qb]

14. I usually like the original better, but Paul Young did Everytime You Go Away way better than

[kwassa]

15. Aretha's "Respect" was better than Otis Redding's original.

and Otis wrote the song and was a great musical artist in his own right.

[blondeatlast]

25. I was hoping someone would mention that but it took until post 15.

Thanks.

[ZombieHorde]

16. I think I like Bootsy's version of "If 6 were 9" more than Hendrix's version.

The album Bootsy's version is on is named "Axiom Funk", "Funkrinomicon" or something similar to that.

[Bennyboy]

30. Ever hear Santana's take on that one?

Amazing. it is like jimi comes out and stands right next to Carlos.....

[ZombieHorde]

38. No, I haven't heard Santana's cover. nt

[joeybee12]

17. MacArthur Park by Donna Summer is a classic...the original

is garbage.

[Forkboy]

18. No. I can think of plenty of covers that put the original to shame, imo.

[SKKY]

19. Here are some remakes I thought were better than the original...

"Get down, make love" - by Nine Inch Nails
"Sympathy for the Devil" - by Jane's Addiction
"Black" - Aaron Lewis
"Personal Jesus" - Marilyn Manson

There are more covers I like, but these are the only I've head that are clearly, and beyond a shadow of doubt, better than the original. Again, just MHO.

[Bucky]

20. The Venture's "Tequila" is perhaps the weakest version of the song

[Bennyboy]

23. Dylan loved it when the Dead covered him....

From RollingStone interview:

SNIP>>>

Point taken. He expands on the explanation he offered for "Blind Willie McTell": "Strangely enough, sometimes we'll hear a cover of a song and figure we can do it just as well. If somebody else thought so highly of it, why don't I? Some of these arrangements I just take. The Dead did a lot of my songs, and we'd just take the whole arrangement, because they did it better than me. Jerry Garcia could hear the song in all my bad recordings, the song that was buried there. So if I want to sing something different, I just bring out one of them Dead records and see which one I wanna do. I never do that with my records."

SNIP
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/11216877/the_modern_times_of_bob_dylan_a_legend_comes_to_grips_with_his_iconic_status/4

[Dramarama]

24. Jim Carey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-IJc7i19HE&feature=related
Beats the original :)

[blondeatlast]

26. "Dear Prudence" by Siouxsie and the Banshees was=/> than the Beatles, IMHO. nt

[Bennyboy]

27. Phish does some amazing covers....

Frankenstein http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE8BbEeNjLw

A Day In The Life http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrNTFSF4Lxg&feature=related

Whle my Guitar Gently Weeps http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGz0gY9sVfc&feature=related

Drowned http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYNWO4MS8Kg&feature=related

[OwnedByFerrets]

28. All along the Watch Tower is the best example of this.

[Bennyboy]

31. A whole ton of Watchtowers in here!

http://www.youtube.com/my_playlists

[NightWatcher]

29. Pearl Jam owns the Who's Love Reign O'er Me

[Amerigo Vespucci]

32. Joe Cocker took ownership of "With A Little Help From My Friends" at Woodstock...

...yes, it was on his first album, but he really took a blowtorch to the song at Yasgur's Farm.

He later claimed that he was the only member of his band not on acid during that performance (http://anawahwah.blogspot.com/2009/07/40-anos-de-joe-cocker-de-woodstock-ao.html).

:toast:

[DU GrovelBot]

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[Franzia]

34. The Bangles kicked ass on "Hazy Shade of Winter".

Much better than Simon & Garfunkel, IMO.

Bangles

S&G

[July]

35. I'll go with the Dixie Chicks' s "Landslide" over Fleetwood Mac.

Really like their version.

[Bennyboy]

36. Jerry Garcia OWNED The Thrill Is Gone...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPhWBUg9n6U with David Grisman and Joe Craven.

But then again Jerry owned every song he played. And he played the great American song book, from gershwin to the Carter family and Ornette Coleman and Buddy Holly.

[MrSlayer]

37. No, not always.

Led Zeppelin's "Dazed and Confused" comes to mind. Hendrix's "All along the Watchtower" crushes the original. Manfred Man's "Blinded by the Light" is head and shoulders above Springsteen's. Many examples of the cover being better than the original but most of the time the original is best.

[mentalsolstice]

39. k.d. lang's cover of "Helpless"...

is much better than Neil Young's original (and I'm a fan of both).

[LostInAnomie]

41. Rage Against theMachine's cover of Maggie's Farm kicks the shit out of Dylan's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxHIVxz1K5M