Music makes my world go round

I am not quite sure what made me think of it today, but while I was driving back to the office from my lunch, I was contemplating truly great covers of originally great songs.

I couldn't think of very many. I think that is due to two things. The first being that I have a really hard time with covers of songs that I love. It boggles my mind that anyone could possibly do justice to, or heaven forbid, actually improve upon, a song that I love. And the second being that I am not all knowing when it comes to music and there are probably lots of amazing fairly unknown artists producing mind-exploding versions of some of my all time favorites that I have never even heard. Having said that, I am basing my opinions in this post on my very limited exposure.

I have a very eclectic taste in music. I like it all. Really, all of it. There isn't a single genre of music that I count out all together. It may not be my favorite, I may not have a dedicated Pandora station for it, but I am sure that you could throw any type of music at me and I could find something to like about it.  Music moves me.

Because I have such a varying taste in music, it stands to reason that if I rattled off 10 of my favorite songs to you, it wouldn't be surprising that they would all be very, very different.

As I was driving, these are the first few covers that popped into my head that I will admit to liking just as much as the original, in some cases I like them even more.  Enjoy!

"How Soon is Now"- Love Spit Love.
The first time I heard this version I thought to myself "Gee, this sounds like the Psychedelic Furs" (Whom I LOVE), so I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it's the same singer, just a new band. I know that fans of The Smiths are going to hate me for this, but honestly I love both versions.



"Wild Horses"- The Sundays
Truthfully, I really dislike the Stone's version. I don't really like The Rolling Stones in general. Except for "Beast of Burden", that song is bomb.  This cover of "Wild Horses" always makes me tear up a little bit. It's something about her voice. 



"Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Tori Amos
What can I say? I love her voice. I love this song. So different and still so brilliant.




"Tainted Love"- Marilyn Manson
Yeah..... I know. Can't help it. I dig this one.



"Tears of a Clown"- The English Beat
This one might be a tie. I like this version and the Smokey Robinson original equally.




There you have it, some of my favorite covers. It's a short list for the moment, but now that I am actually thinking about it, I can come up with so many more that are good, maybe even great.

Sometimes though, silly artists get ridiculous ideas and decide to cover a song that they should never, ever, EVAR touch. Johnny Cash, I am talking to you!! How dare you mess with Trent Reznor?!  I know some people think his (Cash's) version of "Hurt" is great. To those people I say, No. You are wrong. Thank you, come again.