Cover songs have been a standard artistic practice since the dawn of the music industry. Some bands start off by playing covers while they develop original material. Some artists become successful with their rendition of a famous song, oftentimes becoming as or more successful than the original. And then there are those artists who put such a spin on the track they’ve selected that it truly becomes their own.
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Here are three songs that fall into the latter category. You might love the original, but these versions resonated even more strongly with so many of us.
1. Sinead O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U” (1990)
Prince originally wrote and recorded this ballad, but then bequeathed it to a Minneapolis funk band called The Family. The Purple One’s rendition featured a full band while the Family’s take started almost as if it were an ambient hymn, building from solo singing to vibrant vocal harmonies over a bed of synths. But when Irish singer-songwriter Sinead O’Connor covered it for her sophomore album I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got in 1990, she took it to another level. Whereas the Family conjured an enchantingly dreamy version of the song, O’Connor captured the heartbreak and melancholy within the words in a way that the other artists did not. Backed only by synth and drum accompaniment, her angelic voice teetered on the edge of despair, and the video predominately featured her in an emotional close-up. She truly felt the song.
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2. Whitney Houston, “I Will Always Love You” (1992)
When Dolly Parton first wrote and recorded the delicate country ballad “I Will Always Love You” in 1973, it was about breaking up with her business partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, with whom she had sung on his television show for many years. She wanted to go solo but was respectful to their relationship and looked back on the positive aspects of it. The song was a #1 country hit for her in 1974 and again in 1982 when it was re-recorded for the Best Little Whorehouse In Texas movie soundtrack. It has achieved platinum status in America.
When Whitney Houston gave it an R&B arrangement (with a sax solo) for the soundtrack to The Bodyguard movie, in which she co-starred with Kevin Costner (in the title role), she delivered an increasingly intense vocal performance with each chorus. But it has been noted that it is more controlled than what many people would expect from Houston. Parton’s version was more restrained, but Houston’s take fit the time period when divas like Mariah Carey and Celine Dion were belting it out. And she certainly gave it her own spin which resonated with the mainstream. The song went #1 in over 20 countries, including the U.S. where it sold 10 million copies and won two Grammy Awards. Parton must have loved those royalties.
3. Johnny Cash, “Hurt” (2002)
The Grammy Award-nominated “Hurt” was originally the closing track to the Nine Inch Nails masterpiece The Downward Spiral, a dark and depressing concept album from 1994 that delved into the mind of a person at odds with the chaos of the world who descends into depression and madness. It also explored what would later be termed toxic masculinity. The eerie ambient outro to the album was haunting and disturbing – and has raised debate over whether it’s about self-harm or suicide – but when Johnny Cash took hold of it during recording sessions with producer Rick Rubin for his final album, he gave it a simple voice, acoustic guitar, and piano arrangement. He recorded the song near the end of his life – his wife June Carter Cash, who appears solemn in the video, would die three months after him – and there was a mournful quality that actually augments the regret and anguish from the original and takes it to a different place. While Trent Reznor’s original was definitely impactful, Cash’s version, when viewed with the morose video featuring the frail troubadour along with footage that spans his life, will make you openly weep. (Interestingly enough, director Mark Romanek had worked with NIN previously.) “Hurt” took on a new meaning when re-interpreted by a man 40 years older than when the original singer recorded it, and it has received universal acclaim and been used in many films. Both versions are great, but Reznor himself has conceded that “Hurt” is no longer his song.
Correction: An earlier version of this article stated Sinead O’Connor covered “Nothing Compares 2 U” for her debut album. It was featured on her sophomore album, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got. in 1990.
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