POP CULTURE

The Worst Covers of Springsteen Songs Ever

It takes a certain skill to make the Boss’s songs sound this bad

There have been some great cover versions of Springsteen songs. Maybe they don’t make it to Bruce’s level but many are respectable nonetheless. There’s nothing wrong with re-imagining his songs.

Amy MacDonald’s Born To Run and Blinded By The Light by Manfred Mann are but two great examples.

The bad cover versions of the Boss’s songs, however, are usually heard once and then thankfully never again. Until now.

Born To Run by Suzi Quatro

I like Suzi Quatro so I’m not sure what happened here. It’s never a good idea to cover a music icon’s signature tune although some like MacDonald have had a good shot at it. Not this one.

Born In The USA by The Stanley Clark Band

A rap version of Born In The USA with a synth riff that gets the melody wrong. Need I say more?

The Stanley Clark Band were better known as a contemporary jazz band and it would have been better for everyone if they’d stuck to what they did best.

Who thought this was a good idea?

Hungry Heart by Paul Young

For a while, in the ’80s, Paul Young was a genuine A-grade music star. He had a string of solo hits such as Wherever I Lay My Hat, Every Time You Go Away and Come Back and Stay.

It then all disappeared and he was dropped by his record label. He tried to come back in various reincarnations — TexMex, Country & Western and appearances on those ‘celebrity’ reality shows.

One incarnation was as a crooner in the Michael Bublé style. He recorded an album of rock classics in the style of swing (why?) If his version of Hungry Heart makes you want to vomit, make sure you never listen to his swing versions of Jean Genie or Walk On The Wild Side.

Fire by Robert Gordon

I don’t know a whole lot about Robert Gordon. Listening to his destruction of the Springsteen/Pointer Sisters classic, I’m not surprised. There’s something off with the arrangement; maybe it’s the lack of energy, the needless vibrating electric guitar strum, the soulless bassline and the vague rockabilly faux-Elvis tone.

No thank you.

If I Was The Priest by Allan Clarke

If I Was The Priest was an unused Springsteen track for his first album. He eventually re-recorded it in 2020 for Letter To You.

The song was first released by former Hollies lead singer, Allan Clarke. Clarke has form here and also recorded Born To Run before Springsteen (it’s true) and did Sandy with the Hollies. Weird, I know.

Clarke was great singing those fantastic old Hollies hits and was at least OK-ish on Born To Run and Sandy albeit a little bland. His version of If I Was The Priest makes my fillings vibrate and my eardrums want to shut down.

Sad Eyes by Enrique Iglesias

Yeah, I know, Enrique Iglesias and Bruce Springsteen go together like trying to mix oil and water. Or maybe solid concrete and water? And so it proves here.

Sad Eyes was a studio outtake from 1990 that eventually turned up on Tracks, a compilation of Springsteen outtakes.

Iglesias was apparently a Springsteen fan so I suppose we can forgive him for doing a cover version, especially one the man initially rejected. We can’t forgive Iglesias for making such a cheesy mess of it.

Atlantic City by Hank Williams III

We’ll finish with the worst of the worst. Atlantic City started off as possibly the best song on Nebraska and is elevated to the level of Badlands and No Surrender when the E-Street Band get a hold of it live.

The lyrics tell of organised crime, The Mob muscling in on the proposed loosening of gambling legislation in Atlantic City and a Mafia boss being blown to pieces by a nail bomb. Hank Williams decided to give this story a jaunty country and western take.

Let me know in the comments how many seconds you were able to listen before hitting stop.

I will not believe anyone who claims over 5 seconds.

Bad Covers of Bruce Springsteen songs

Have I missed any atrocious covers of great Springsteen songs? You’ll struggle to find any worse than these ones but let me know in the comments.

And apologies for putting everyone through this, especially Paul Combs and Mark Holburn. I just felt you all had to suffer with me.

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Here are some more of my unusual Springsteen musings: