On Sunday, we counted down what KEXP listeners said were the Best Cover Songs ever. hands down. You picked Nirvana’s rendition of the classic bluegrass tune, “Where Did You Sleep Last Night,” and while Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful” may have climbed to number 2 on Billboard’s top 100 in 2003, Clem Snide’s version scored spot #41 on our countdown of best covers of ALL time. Here are they are:
| Rank | Cover Artist | Cover Song | Original Artist |
| 60 | Pavement | The Killing Moon | Echo and the Bunnymen |
| 59 | Sissy Bar | Gin and Juice | Snoop Dog |
| 58 | Supersuckers | Hey Ya | Outkast |
| 57 | Revolting Cocks | Do Ya Think I’m Sexy? | Rod Stewart |
| 56 | Red Hot Chili Peppers | Higher Ground | Stevie Wonder |
| 55 | Thom Yorke | All for the Best | Miracle Legion |
| 54 | White Stripes | Jolene | Dolly Parton |
| 53 | TV on the Radio | Heroes | David Bowie |
| 52 | Grizzly Bear | He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss) | The Crystals |
| 51 | Flying Lizards | Money (That’s What I Want) | Barrett Strong – also covered by The Beatles |
| 50 | Johnny Cash | Rusty Cage | Soundgarden |
| 49 | Love & Rockets | Ball of Confusion | The Temptations |
| 48 | LCD Soundsystem | Jump Into the Fire | Harry Nillsson |
| 47 | Ministry | Lay Lady Lay | Bob Dylan |
| 46 | Elbow | Running to Stand Still | U2 |
| 45 | Talking Heads | Take Me To The River | Al Green |
| 44 | Breeders | Happiness Is A Warm Gun | Beatles |
| 43 | Aimee Mann | One | Harry Nillsson |
| 42 | Afghan Whigs | Creep | TLC |
| 41 | Clem Snide | Beautiful | Christina Aguilera |
| 40 | Twlight Singers | Hyperballad | Bjork |
| 39 | The Shins | We Will Become Silhouettes | Postal Service |
| 38 | Luna | Sweet Child of Mine | Guns N Roses |
| 37 | Aztec Camera | Jump | Van Halen |
| 36 | Peter Gabriel and Hot Chip | Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa | Vampire Weekend |
| 35 | Pixies | Head On | Jesus and Mary Chain |
| 34 | Pearl Jam | Crazy Mary | Victoria Williams |
| 33 | Patti Smith | Gloria | Van Morrison |
| 32 | Treepeople | Bigmouth Strikes Again | The Smiths |
| 31 | William Shatner | Common People | Pulp |
| 30 | Joe Strummer and the Mescalaros | Redemption song | Bob Marley |
| 29 | Nirvana | Where Did You Sleep Last Night | Leadbelly |
| 28 | Husker Du | Eight Miles High | The Byrds |
| 27 | Elliott Smith | Trouble | Cat Stevens |
| 26 | Pretenders | Stop Your Sobbing | The Kinks |
| 25 | Faith No More | War Pigs | Black Sabbath |
| 24 | The Clash | I Fought the Law | Sonny Curtis (he was a country musician who wrote the Mary Tyler Moore theme song – he joined The Crickets after Buddy Holly’s death) |
| 23 | Beck | Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat | Bob Dylan |
| 22 | Camper Van Beethoven | Pictures of Matchstick Men | Status Quo (1968) |
| 21 | Cat Power | (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction | Rolling Stones |
| 20 | The Futureheads | Hounds of Love | Kate Bush |
| 19 | Tricky | Black Steel | Public Enemy |
| 18 | The Flaming Lips | Borderline | Madonna |
| 17 | Ryan Adams | Wonderwall | Oasis |
| 16 | M. Ward | Let’s Dance | David Bowie |
| 15 | Sundays | Wild Horses | Rolling Stones |
| 14 | The Jam | David Watts | The Kinks |
| 13 | Bauhaus | Ziggy Stardust | David Bowie |
| 12 | Elvis Costello & the Attractions | (What’s So Funny About)Peace Love & Understanding | Nick Lowe |
| 11 | The Clash | Police & Thieves | Junior Murvin |
| 10 | Nirvana | The Man Who Sold the World | David Bowie |
| 9 | Gary Jules | Mad World | Tears for Fears |
| 8 | Cowboy Junkies | Sweet Jane | Lou Reed |
| 7 | Devo | (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction | Rolling Stones |
| 6 | Iron & Wine | Such Great Heights | Postal Service |
| 5 | Dinosaur Jr | Just Like Heaven | The Cure |
| 4 | Cloud Cult | Mr. Tambourine Man | Bob Dylan |
| 3 | Jimi Hendrix | All Along the Watchtower | Bob Dylan |
| 2 | Johnny Cash | Hurt | Nine Inch Nails |
| 1 | Jeff Buckley | Hallelujah | Leonard Cohen |
12 Comments
So Cat Power covered Devo with “Satisfaction” at #21, then Devo covered the same song at #7 which was apparently originally done by Devo? So they covered themselves? I’m confused.
Really both artists covered the same Rolling Stones song. I guess if you wanted to you could argue that Cat Power covered the Devo version.
Also, I was under the impression that “All along the watchtower” at #3 was originally a Bob Dylan song, not a Led Zeppelin song.
John
@#3 watchtower is a bob dylan tune, which gives him 4 spots on the list. bowie makes a good showing with 3. a nice testament to great writers.
Fun list! Haven’t heard some of these. Definitely agree w/ the top 5 though!
I think there’s an error or two though… the original artists for All Along the Watchtower and Satisfaction should be Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones respectively, right?
was there a list like this posted for the best debut albums countdown? did I miss it? I heard parts of it, curious to see the whole list. thanx…
#47 has the cover artist and cover song switched: it should be Ministry for the artist, “Lay Lady Lay” for the song.
As John noted above, #7 should list the Rolling Stones as the original artist, not Devo.
Wonderful to see Bauhaus made the chart! But what about their cover of “Third Uncle”? Don’t forget that one! =)
Ahhhhhhh! This is such a fun list.
Second that….Kudos to Bob Dyland and David Bowie!
Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin’s “Long Black Veil” recorded by Lefty Fizzell is a classic. Did I miss something? Although I have heard a few bad ones.
Good Morning,
Wow, what a great list. Really brings back fond memories.
I really like some of the vintage renditions. I neglected to add my favorite choice, French chanteuse Eileen covering “These Boots Were Made For Walking” in French by Lee Hazelwood via Nancy Sinatra.
How about the alternate take of Joe Strummer’s cover of Redemption Song with Johnny Cash? I can’t believe Uncle Tupelo don’t get any love for “No Depression.”
You guys are all lame. This list is poorly constructed. KEXP spent less than an hour on asking for this one. and the listeners spent less responding/ Years and years of great music was handed down from recording artist to recording artist. The simple fact that BLue Suede Shoes is not on the list makes it a farce. let alone Whole Lotta Love , Tobacco Road, Last Kiss from Pearl Jam and countless others that dominate over this immature pitance. For shame.
Gavin Castleton’s video of the covers he did of Nothing Compares 2 U and Sledgehammer (or any of the other covers he posted on his Youtube) are worth checking out.
I always thought that Nirvana’s cover songs (and cover songs made for Nirvana’s songs) are some of the best around. But this list is pretty comprehensive, and for the most part I agree with it. Long live mr. Cobain!