Had a revelation this morning while listening to a HonkyTonk playlist on Spotify that Jerry Reed originally made Amos Moses. For YEARS I just thought it was a Primus song as it has that vibe Les Claypool puts out.

Another for me was Astronomy Domine by Pink Floyd. I originally heard it on Headbangers Ball by Voivod and had no idea it was a cover. A few years later I discovered that it was a cover and to this day Pink Floyd and Voivod are two of my favorite bands.

So, What songs did you surprisingly find out were covers some time after hearing the song by the cover artist?

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[–] Tin@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

"Mad World" is the classic "what do you mean that's a cover?" song... here are some great ones that I haven't seen mentioned yet:

Nine Inch Nails "Dead Souls" (from The Crow soundtrack) is a Joy Division cover.
Guns 'N Roses "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is a Bob Dylan cover.
Whitney Houston "I Will Always Love You" is a Dolly Parton cover.
Nirvana's "The Man Who Sold the World" is a David Bowie cover.
Fugees "Killing Me Softly with His Song" is a Roberta Flack cover, but Roberta Flack's version is also a cover, it was initially recorded by Lorie Lieberman.

[–] whelmer@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Many of the songs Nirvana recorded for MTV Unplugged were covers. Love their rendition of In the Pines.

And since you brought up Nine Inch Nails, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Johnny Cash's Hurt being a cover. That's the paradigm example for me.

[–] Tin@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

Good one! It was certainly an unexpected cover when it was released, and it wouldn't surprise me if the Johnny Cash version had overshadowed the original in terms of audience familiarity. I'm also fond of Nine Inch Nails' cover of Queen's "Get Down Make Love", it was a rather niche track for both bands - so much so that despite being a Queen fan, I heard the NIN version first.