Today's battle comes at the suggestion of one of our readers. In 1985, Tears for Fears released Songs from the Big Chair, one of which was "Shout". Disturbed covered the song in 2000. TFF is one of my favorite bands, but "Shout" is one of my least favorite songs of theirs, largely because the song is overplayed on the radio. But it's still TFF.
I have nothing in particular against Disturbed or their cover; it's just that heavy metal is not my cup of tea. That being said, the lyrics of "Shout" lend themselves to heavy metal, and for a heavy metal song, the cover is not un-listenable. Still, it's just too darn loud. TFF can get their point across without actually shouting. There are two "covers" of the song that are better than Disturbed's....
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"I Fought the Law" was popularized by the Bobby Fuller Four in 1965. It was covered by the Clash in 1979. Although the original is more fun, I prefer the cover, which is still a lot of fun and is one of the Clash's most fun songs. The Clash was a natural to cover a song about the fighting the law. Thankfully they resisted the temptation to take this song and themselves seriously. They don't sound terribly disappointed that the law won.
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"Venus" was released by Shocking Blue in 1969. It was covered by Bananarama in 1986. Not only do I prefer the cover, I don't like the original. It's lazy and unemotional. The Venus they're singing about might as well be a plant -- a drug. But there's no doubt that the Venus about which Bananarama is singing is a woman. Bananarama's signature vocal style -- singing in unison -- lends itself to this song. Who better to sing about the goddess of love (and other related things) than an all-female chorus?
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"It's My Life" was released by Talk Talk in 1984. In 2003, it was covered by No Doubt. The original is one of my favorite 80's songs, and it takes me back to 2003, not because that's the year when the cover came out, but because that's the year when I first discovered the original in college. The cover is my favorite No Doubt song, and it's one of the best covers of an 80's song. It's almost as good as the original -- it comes this close. It manages to sound 80's-y, while still sounding original and modern (for a decade ago, anyway, but it still hold up well).
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"Crimson and Clover" was released by Tommy James and the Shondells in 68. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts covered it in 82. Unlike Tommy James and the Shondells' "I Think We're Alone Now", "Crimson and Clover" is more dated, both musically and vocally, than its 80's cover. The album version of the original, which is the cut I posted, gets really psychedelic at about the halfway point. But that's not a bad thing here. This is one of the definitive late 60's psychedelic pop songs. Through songs such as this, I can experience the late 60's musically -- safely -- without ever having had to actually live through them.
Although punky, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts' cover is basically a classic rock song. It's harder than the original, but it's also less noisy. You can hear a lot of instruments in the original; the cover is almost all guitar. The cover is also sexy -- and that's not an adjective that I throw around to describe songs (or anything for that matter) -- from the very first words from Joan Jett's lips. Although not as sexual as Joan Jett's "Do You Wanna Touch Me", it is sexier. Although the lyrics are the same, when I hear the original "Crimson and Clover", it sounds to me as if Tommy James is singing about doing drugs. When I listen to the cover, it sounds as if Joan Jett is singing about doing something a lot more fun.
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"I Think We're Alone Now" was released by Tommy James and the Shondells in 67. Exactly two decades later, Tiffany covered it. "I Think We're Alone Now" is a song about youth, sung by youth -- Tommy James and Tiffany were 19 and 15, respectively. Tiffany's version feels even more youthful, but also more immature. The original ages better and better evokes, in its quiet moments, the feeling between two young lovers that there is no one else in the world. Congratulations world, you win this one.
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"I Got You Babe" was released by Sonny & Cher in 65. Exactly two decades later, it was covered by UB40 featuring (I refuse to write "feat.") Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders. While Cher's never been my cup of tea, and Sonny was a better mayor and representative than a singer, Sonny and Cher work as a duo better than Ali Campbell (then-lead singer of UB40) and Chrissie Hynde. Yet the cover sounds better, and it's my favorite UB40 song. But not because of UB40. Because of Chrissie Hynde. Her singular voice is perfect for this song, foreshadowing the Pretenders' "I'll Stand by You" nine years later. I don't know whether I would prefer the original or the cover if the latter had just been a regular reggae pop song by UB40 without Chrissie. Thankfully I'll never have to know.
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