Covers vs. Originals

I came across a sort of meme that asks you to name 5 covers that were better than the originals. I like it so here are my answers.

In a particular order that will only make sense to me:

5. Personal Jesus - Marilyn Manson (Original: Depeche Mode)
- I love me some Depeche Mode. I really do. And I'm not saying their Personal Jesus is bad. But for some inexplicable reason, I love Manson's version more. Maybe because my best friend Meechie and I used to sing the DM version as 'Your own... personal... Hay-soos' because we were young and thought ourselves terribly funny by doing so. So the song became imprinted on my mind that way. I don't have that problem when I hear Manson's version.

4. Chocolate Jesus - James Marsters (Original: Tom Waits. I also did not intend to shoot for a Jesus theme. It just worked out that way.)
- Now, some may wish to crucify (ha! Crucify. Pun was so not intentional) me for choosing a version by some actor over legendary Tom Waits. Here's my thought process on that: I can sing along with James' version. I love James Marsters as an actor and as a musician and it's fun as hell to sing along to his version. With Tom's it's nice to just listen to him.

3. Running Up That Hill - Placebo (Original: Kate Bush)
- I can't stand Kate Bush and I never liked Running Up That Hill until I heard it done by my boys. They so totally rocked the song and, in my opinion, surpassed the original. Now, this is only my opinion. Any Kate Bush lovers out there can just keep moving. Nothing to see here.

2. Dancing Barefoot - Echo & the Bunnymen (Original: Patti Smith I think.)
- On XM 44 they play both versions of this song all the time and every time I hear it, I can remember back in the day when the only version I knew about was Echo's. It wasn't until I started listening to XM that I even knew Echo was doing a cover of it. I much prefer theirs to Patti's. The only explanation I have is that Ian McCulloch's voice is perfect and haunting and sets the most exquisite moody balance for the song. Patti's is kind of grating and I don't like it much.

1. Bigmouth Strikes Again - Placebo (Original: The Smiths)
- Yeah I know. Will she ever shut the hell up about Placebo? No, I probably won't, sorry. I much prefer Placebo's cover of Bigmouth over Morrissey even though the band did it for a Smiths tribute album. Again, this is not to say I think the Smith's version is bad or anything. I just like the harder edge Placebo gave it better.

So there you have it. 5 cover tunes I like better than the originals. Got a blog? Answer it yourself. Or leave me a comment. I'm a comment whore and I never get enough of them. :)