3 Contemporary Covers by Older Artists Better Than the Originals

With age comes confidence and wisdom that only a healthy dose of hindsight can provide, which is undoubtedly why contemporary covers by older artists can hit you even harder than the original version. Of course, there is merit to the performance and production styles chosen by a song’s original artist.

But in these songs’ cases, a veteran artist’s professional trajectory, personal wins and losses, and overall experience within the music industry add another layer to newer songs. It’s the sonic equivalent of a wine maturing and becoming more complex with age.

Let’s take a look at four contemporary covers by older artists that are better (or, at the very least, an ear-catching, interesting take on) the original.

Johnny Cash’s “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails

When it comes to veteran artists covering contemporary songs, it’s hard to get more poignant and moving than Johnny Cash’s rendition of “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails. Despite the Man in Black being vastly sonically different from the industrial rock band, Cash’s rendition of NIN’s 1994 track made perfect sense. Within the context of Cash’s tumultuous, decades-long career, the words, I hurt myself today to see if I still feel become even more heartbreaking. Even the original songwriter, Trent Reznor, couldn’t deny the power of Cash’s version.

Speaking to Alternative Press, Reznor said, “It really made me think about how powerful music is as a medium and art form. I wrote some words and music in my bedroom as a way of staying sane…some-f***ing-how that winds up reinterpreted by a music legend from a radically different era/genre and still retains sincerity.”

Willie Nelson’s “Lost Cause” by Beck

Willie Nelson’s 2024 rendition of Beck’s melancholy 2002 track from Sea Change has a similarly wistful, nostalgic feel as Johnny Cash’s “Hurt.” Again, Willie Nelson and Beck are incredibly different in terms of genre. Yet, Nelson’s rendition of a contemporary cover as an older artist gives the song more depth and meaning than the original—which already had plenty on its own. In Nelson’s version, it’s almost as if the “lost cause” is his own mortality. As one of the oldest country stars in the game, he seems to be resigning to the ongoing passing of time.

Beck told Rolling Stone, “Willie’s songs have been my companions for most of my life. I’ve been lucky to get to hang out and sing with him on several occasions over the years. There’s no one like him in music, and it’s the greatest honor to have him record this song.”

Nina Simone’s “Rich Girl” by Hall & Oates

It doesn’t take too much effort to pick up on what Hall & Oates’ pop classic, “Rich Girl,” is about. In a 2013 interview with American Songwriter, Daryl Hall revealed that the inspiration behind the lightheartedly scathing song was his wife’s ex-boyfriend from college, Victor Walker. After Walker visited the Halls and exhibited erratic behavior, Hall said he thought, “This guy is out of his mind, but he doesn’t have to worry about it because his father’s gonna bail him out of any problems he gets in.”

With Nina Simone at the helm, the song seems to take on a whole new meaning. Suddenly, the “rich girl” in question could just as easily be the more commercially successful musical stars who superseded Simone in terms of fame and fortune. Simone had a tempestuous reputation and a stubborn dedication to pursuing her artistry no matter the trend du jour, giving Hall & Oates’ “Rich Girl” a more complex meaning that certainly stands up to the original.

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