The Best 7 Cover Songs Across the Universe
According to Me
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Pierce McIntyre tagged me in a post about his favorite cover songs in the history of the world. He had some good ones on it and you can find that article here:
It didn’t take me long to come up with my list of only seven, which means I’ll probably think later of others that I missed. Most of the ones I picked are because they are the versions I heard first–before the originals. I think that has a lot to do with how much you like or dislike songs that have been redone by someone else. I’m not sure how I would rank some of these, but I’m going to put the best one last.
#7 “With Little Help From My Friends” performed by Joe Cocker
This version is the one that was used for the theme song in the show The Wonder Years. I didn’t hear the original Beatles version until much later. This one is slower and sounds like there is more emotion — more pain behind it.
#6 “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” performed by T.V. Carpio
Incidentally, if you ever want to hear some of the best, unique renditions of The Beatles songs, you should watch the movie Across the Universe. It is a musical with all Beatles songs. I wasn’t going to list another Beatles song, but I decided I had to include T.V. Carpio’s rendition of “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” in this list. She sings a version in the movie that is just awesome.
#5 “Africa” performed by Weezer
Again, this version is the one I heard first around the time it was gaining so much popularity and played on the radio all the time. I never knew of the original one by Toto.
#4 “So Happy Together” performed by Weezer
Yes, another one by Weezer. I love this band and I don’t think I’ve heard any song of theirs that I didn’t like. Weezer has done a lot of covers and they do a great job with them. I first heard the original version of this song by the Turtles and still love it, but maybe you’ll like this one too.
#3 “Desperado” performed by Linda Rondstadt
This is another one that I heard for the first time on the radio when it was sung by Linda Rondstadt. I’ve always loved her voice and one of my favorites is “Don’t Know Much,” a duet with Aaron Neville. Some of you may say, “You can’t mess with The Eagles,” but I heard her first, so there you are. I think there is also an emotional connection with some of these. At the time I heard Desperado, I was really into love songs and ballads, probably because of the depression that I would experience during that time. When I heard her sing this, I really felt a lot of emotion come from it. I hope you enjoy her version as well.
#2 “Creep” performed by Brian Justin Crumm
This is probably one with which you are least familiar. Brian Justin Crum was a contestant on America’s Got Talent in 2016 and he sang a very emotional rendition of “Creep” by Radiohead. I really liked Radiohead’s original version, but this time it took on a whole new meaning. Brian is gay and the lyrics can be interpreted much differently from that viewpoint. Hearing him sing this made me cry.
#1 “I Will Always Love You” performed by Whitney Houston
I have a huge amount of respect for Dolly Parton, who wrote this song. She has written hundreds of songs and is a very smart businesswoman. Whitney Houston, of course, is one of the greatest singers that has ever recorded music. Her rendition of this song is beyond compare. Here, too, there is a lot of emotion tied to this song.
First, there are the lyrics. I guess you could say it is a love song, of sorts, but one of saying goodbye and letting them go. Then, there is the setting in which she is singing in the movie The Bodyguard. It is definitely an appropriate song for that movie. I don’t know if there is anyone who hasn’t heard Whitney’s voice singing this song, but if you are one of the few people on Earth who hasn’t, I hope you listen to the lyrics as she sings them.
Responding to this challenge has brought back a lot of memories and some feelings too. If you are a music lover, I invite you to think of your favorite cover songs. Like me, there may be some of you who don’t even know that some of your favorites are not the original versions. Write a post and tag me, Brandon Ellrich, and Pierce McIntyre. Thank you, Pierce, for inviting me to join in. I hope you enjoyed my responses.
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