Covers that are greater than the original song

[Miguelín]

Some covers that I think that are over the original song

Nirvana - The Man Who Sold The World (David Bowie)
Fuggees - Killing Me Softly
311 - Love Song (The Cure)
R.E.M. - There She goes again (Velvet Underground)
Metallica - Die, die my darling (Misfits)
Goldfinger - 99 red balloons (Nena)
...

[bluenote]

Emotions - Destinys Child

[Crushcrushchris]

I've yet to hear one.

[DuckHead]

No Doubt- It's My Life

[Adonis the DemiGod!]

DuckHead said:

No Doubt- It's My Life

Most definately.

[Diablo Cody™]

DJ Sammy & Yanou f/ DO- Heaven

[WhySoSerious?]

The ultimate:

Aretha Franklin - "Respect"

[Bob]

also Marvin Gaye's "Heard it through the grapevine" is greater, certainly in terms of success and mmmmaybe in quality, over Gladys Knights. both are good.

im having a hard time thinking of examples

[mst3k]

William Hung - She Bangs ;)

[Crushcrushchris]

TCorey said:

The ultimate:

Aretha Franklin - "Respect"

William Hung - She Bangs

I stand corrected...twice.

[BookJones]

*~Degrassi said:

DJ Sammy & Yanou f/ DO- Heaven

[Radical347]

*~Degrassi said:

DJ Sammy & Yanou f/ DO- Heaven

No way! :o

Ryan Adams - Wonderwall
Richard Cheese - She Hates Me
Sting - Windmills of Your Mind

[halo19]

Aerosmith - "The Train Kept A-Rollin'"
Gravity Kills - "Poetry And Power" (Gary Numan)

That's all I could think of for right now.

[EvanJ]

I've heard plenty of covers but rarely or never know the original song.

[SyrupBoy]

Hands down, the winner is Foo Fighers - "Baker Street"

[j]

311 - Love Song
Sheryl Crow - The First Cut Is The Deepest
Az Yet - Hard To Say I'm Sorry

[Ragin]

TCorey said:

The ultimate:

Aretha Franklin - "Respect"

That's about the only one that comes to mind, and only because you already mentioned it. It's easy to forget that Otis Redding did that first.

I always thought Elvis' Blue Suede Shoes was better than Carl Perkins version, but in recent years I've started to re-think that. Carl Perkins represented the true rockabilly nature of that song better than Elvis did.

[Hervard]

I agree with "It's My Life" by No Doubt and "Heaven" by DJ Sammy & Yanou (NOT the Candlelight mix!)

[M]

Decent covers (but by no means greater):
Madonna - Fever
Madonna feat.Massive Attack - I Want You
No Doubt - It's My Life
Destiny's Child - Emotion
The Corrs - Dreams
Celine Dion - All By Myself
Avril Lavigne - Knockin' On Heaven's Door
All Saints - Lady Marmalade

[Castlevania]

Eden's Crushs' "Glamourous Life" life puts Sheila E's to shame

Thats only real cover I have heard that surpasses the original

[Gorminako]

Let's see... most of these will go way back, because they were more creative with their covers back then.

I agree that Aretha's "Respect" is the ultimate cover.
Close behind is "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers.
"Suzy Q" by Creedence Clearwater Revival"
"This Magic Moment" by Jay & the Americans
"Baby I Love You" by Andy Kim"
"Summertime" by Billy Stewart
"Baby It's You" by Smith
"I Can Hear Music" by the Beach Boys
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Diana Ross
"Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" by Blue
"First Cut Is The Deepest" by Sheryl Crow (I guess)

Songs that were written by some other artist, but I'm not sure whose version came out first:
"It Ain't Me, Babe" by the Turtles (written by Bob Dylan)
"Into The Mystic" by Johnny Rivers (written by Van Morrison)
"Woodstock" by Crosby Stills Nash & Young and Matthew's Southern Comfort (written by Joni Mitchell)

Covers whose original I've never heard, but I can't imagine them being any better:
"Bus Stop" by the Hollies
"You Showed Me" by the Turtles
"The River Is Wide" by the Grassroots
"Can't Find The Time" by Rose Colored Glasses
"Can't Stop Loving You" by Phil Collins

As I understand it, Marvin Gaye's version of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" was recorded first, but laid around for awhile, and wasn't released until about a year after the Gladys Knight & The Pips' version. Whichever was the cover, it was a great, creative, very worthwhile effort. "Walk on By" by Isaac Hayes was another great creative cover, and I like it about equally with the original by Dionne Warwick. In the same category is the Vanilla Fudge's version of "You Keep Me Hanging On" by the Supremes.

Among others already listed, I agree with Nirvana's "The Man Who Sold The World", although the original was good, too. But I disagree with "Love Song". No one can beat the Cure's version, though 311 does a good job. Same with No Doubt's version of "It's My Life" by Talk Talk. "Killing Me Softly" was better in the original by Roberta Flack. "Emotions" was much better by Samantha Sang, and do I need to mention "She Bangs"? I've never heard the Foo Fighters' version of "Baker Street", but I can't imagine it could be better than Gerry Rafferty's original classic.

[Edf85]

Aurora - Ordinary World

[mst3k]

Good post, Gorminako.

A personal favorite of mine is Johnny Rivers' cover of "Baby I Need Your Loving", which I prefer over the Four Tops' original (some would probably disagree though).

[bluenote]

Step by step - whitney Houston
I believe in u and me - Whitney houston
without u - Mariah Carey

[Gorminako]

A personal favorite of mine is Johnny Rivers' cover of "Baby I Need Your Loving", which I prefer over the Four Tops' original (some would probably disagree though).

You know, I've begun to feel the same way, although my general distaste for covers that aren't very distinct or obviously better than the original has kept me until now from fully appreciating this cover, which does bring a nice sound to it that I like, typical of his music from 1966-69.

Most of Rivers' most played songs were covers, but he was a great songwriter, too. "Poor Side Of Town" and "Summer Rain" were self-penned. "Look to Your Soul" is extremely beautiful and introspective, and "Muddy River" has always been a favorite of mine, though never played by radio anymore. He also wrote "The Snake" for Al Wilson, a fun and clever song.

[WhySoSerious?]

Reba McEntire - "Fancy"
Mariah Carey - "I Still Believe"
Annie Lennox - "No More I Love You's"
Whitney Houston - "I Believe In You And Me"
Dave Mattews Band - "All Along The Watchtower" (Debatable, I know.)
John Mayer - "Message In A Bottle"

[Adonis the DemiGod!]

definately

Whitney Houston's "I believe in you and me"
Mariah Carey's "I still believe"
UB40's "Can't Help Falling In Love"

[Gorminako]

I found out today that Rivers didn't write "Summer Rain", but it sounds like his composition. I've always wondered about whether or not he wrote "Secret Agent Man"

I mildly disagree with "I Believe", originally done by Mariah's mentor, Brenda Starr.

I strongly disagree with "Can't Help Falling In Love", or any cover done by UB40 (all of their songs were covers), including Al Green's classic "Here I Am". No one can touch Elvis' original version of CHFIL.

And no way is John Mayer going to have a better version of "Message In A Bottle" than the Police.

[strong4PMB!]

A*Teens - "Can't Help Falling In Love"
Aaron Carter - "Every Little Step"
Emeligh - "Breathe"
Jessica Simpson - "Angels"
JoJo - "Weak"
Play - "Don't Stop The Music"

[mst3k]

Gorminako said:

I've always wondered about whether or not he wrote "Secret Agent Man" 

Nope, my reference books show he didn't write that one (too bad for him, since it's currently being used in two different national TV ads).

Don't remember if this one's been mentioned yet, but Whitney Houston's "Greatest Love Of All" (George Benson's original is kinda blah).