No other band/performer should ever try to cover...!

[DrNewGod]

Is there a song you think no one but the original performer should ever touch?

There have been some great covers made. But there are some that just don't sound right unless they're coming from the source. Billy Joel's "Piano Man" strikes me as a candidate.

Can you think of one?

[PaulBullion]

Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye.

Ain't Nobody by Rufus and Chaka Khan (I know there is an anemic cover and I really hate it).

What's Love Got To Do With It by Tina Turner.

[BeastieRunner]

A Beastie Boys song.

[MajorHoy]

The theme music to "Chariots of Fire" by Vangelis?

[wjowski]

American Pie

[Kirby101]

I don't think any song shouldn't be covered. The original will always exist and you never know what you get. If the cover is bad, no one has to listen to it.

Hendricks' doing Dylan's Watchtower.

Joplin doing Piece of My Heart.

Joe Cocker singing A Little Help From My Friends.

You mention Tina Turner, she covered Proud Mary by CCR and as good as the original is, she made it amazing.

[TriggerWarning]

Never say never.

I'd never have believed Hurt by Nine Inch Nails or Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel should be covered. I do like the NIN version of Hurt better but the Cash version is great in its own way. Disturbed meanwhile stole the song from S&G and now own the song as far as I'm concerned.

[TriggerWarning]

Even a novelty type song like Bohemian Rhapsody can be done by others. I don't mean that as insult to Queen but fact is the song is so unique it basically is a novelty song.

Here is Puscifer doing a cover of it. Fairly straightforward yet different enough. If you don't know Puscifer is the semi solo project of Maynard James Keenan, lead singer of Tool and A Perfect Circle.

[Mormel]

Any Stevie Wonder song. I tend to go into Stevie Wonder covers like 'this could be cool', and I walk away from it going 'what was the point?'

[numberthirty]

Any Stevie Wonder song. I tend to go into Stevie Wonder covers like 'this could be cool', and I walk away from it going 'what was the point?'

Along this line, I have a personal carve out for Stevie Wonder/Joe Jackson/Townes Van Zandt that is almost exactly what you described.

[SquirrelMan]

Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen.

[Gray Lensman]

Any Stevie Wonder song. I tend to go into Stevie Wonder covers like 'this could be cool', and I walk away from it going 'what was the point?'

Isn't one of the first Red Hot Chili Peppers hits a Stevie Wonder cover?

I don't mind cover songs, I just dislike bad cover songs. Five Finger Death Punch (I think it was them) covered Zombie by the Cranberries and somehow managed to make it less metal. How?

Anyways, a good cover song is both recognizable as a variant of the original and as a work of the covering band. If it is too different the changes may be too much, but if it is too close then why listen to anything other than the original to begin with? Of course, there are always some exceptions to any rule, especially if the changes are really good when the artist makes them.

[TriggerWarning]

Isn't one of the first Red Hot Chili Peppers hits a Stevie Wonder cover?

I don't mind cover songs, I just dislike bad cover songs. Five Finger Death Punch (I think it was them) covered Zombie by the Cranberries and somehow managed to make it less metal. How?

Anyways, a good cover song is both recognizable as a variant of the original and as a work of the covering band. If it is too different the changes may be too much, but if it is too close then why listen to anything other than the original to begin with? Of course, there are always some exceptions to any rule, especially if the changes are really good when the artist makes them.

Yep. Higher Ground was a huge song for the RHCP.

And it was Bad Wolves who covered Zombie by the Cranberries. Did you know they donated 100% of the profits from that song to the family of Dolores O'Riordan (late lead singer of the Cranberries).

[dancj]

A Beastie Boys song.

[dancj]

If the Annie Lennox version is anything to go by: A Whiter Shade of Pale.

I was once given a short playlist of covers of Don't Fear the Reaper - and all of them seemed pretty pointless compared to The Blue Oyster Cult.