music monday: awesome cover songs

I didn't know what a cover song was until college because I was too young to know whether a song was an original or a remake!

I wonder how artists feel when the cover is actually better than the original. Jeffrey Gaines said in an interview that he spoke to Peter Gabriel after he heard the cover of "In Your Eyes." Peter Gabriel loved it so much that he said something like "This is how I intended the song to be. You captured it." How gracious is that??

Anyway, here are some cover songs that I think the original artists should approve of.

"Free Fallin'" originally by Tom Petty, covered by John Mayer

I love how the chorus just soars, even with his falsetto and the changed melody. The breakdown section is also awesome.



"Under Pressure" originally by David Bowie and Queen, covered by The Used/My Chemical Romance

The original version of this song totally rocks, but I like how The Used and My Chemical Romance sped it up a little and made it a little more relevant to the 00s. I also love the "ba-da-dee-da-deh!"s



"In Your Eyes" originally by Peter Gabriel, covered by Jeffrey Gaines

I mentioned this song in a previous post, but I just can't get enough of it. I love what he did with the build-up into the chorus, love his thick voice and the sound of that guitar. Mmmm.



Can you suggest any others?