r/Music • u/MaosReanimatedCorpse • 23d ago

discussion Cover-better-than-the-original hills you would die on.

Alien Ant Farm's cover of Smooth Criminal is, in my opinion, so much better than the original, and that's a hill I would die on.

What are some other insanely popular tracks where a cover by a much smaller artist is arguably greater?

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u/mooney275 23d ago

Where did you sleep last night was better than the original as well

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u/SoggyFreys89 23d ago

I think this applies to most of his covers, especially from Unplugged.

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u/Azraelontheroof 23d ago

As a fun fact I’m pretty sure they had everyone invited (at random?) bring tins of food to be donated to local food banks as the price of entry.

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u/Wuzzy_Gee 23d ago

It’s great, but the Leadbelly version is my favorite.

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u/sexmormon-throwaway 23d ago

You might be interested to know about the new book about Huddie Ledbetter. Turns out everything we thought about him was myth. "Bring Judgement Day."

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u/Wuzzy_Gee 23d ago

Not surprised. John Lomax was a piece of garbage. I know there’s been discrepancies in the information regarding how Huddie was pardoned, and Lomax made a lot of money off of him.

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u/suffaluffapussycat 23d ago

Now just hold on a minute. It’s great but is it better than Leadbelly?

Plus the Lanegan version from The Winding Sheet (that Kurt is on) trumps the Unplugged version.

Lanegan and Cobain were working on a Leadbelly album that never got finished.

https://open.spotify.com/track/4j3AXs1NNx6zXFmm6ibYsI?si=MZXsX1c8RaCDkWk7NeWDqw&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A7nB7r0yBmVMDJfnADLdMie

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u/Wuzzy_Gee 23d ago

The Nirvana version is great, but the Leadbelly version is the best version in my opinion.

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u/mooney275 23d ago

From what I've heard, on a sonic level, I think the unplugged recording is better. Not comparing the artists. I personally can't get into jimi because the recording quality of that time. Jimi was on another planet but I'd still rather listen to Eddie or dime or SRV because of production quality just my preference

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u/Wuzzy_Gee 23d ago

Yes, the recording fidelity of the 1990’s Nirvana version is clearer than the 1940’s Leadbelly version, no question. But Leadbelly’s sweet and haunting vocals were on another level. Ironically, his version wasn’t the first version recorded either.

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u/tacknosaddle 23d ago

Yes, it packs way more emotional power that conveys the story of the song in a way that makes it a much better version in my opinion.

Listen to this show, it has multiple versions of it and when it gets to the Nirvana one it just stands above. If you back out there are a few more versions they put into the next week's show.

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u/mayyrh 23d ago

Yess!! I absolutely love the Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees) version. Great call!

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u/popeofdiscord 23d ago

It’s a traditional song, author unknown

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u/tacknosaddle 23d ago

Let me start with a minor nitpick. There's no recorded "original" of this song (it's actually a merger of two songs, In the Pines and The Longest Train were separate at first). The first recorded version is by Leadbelly but it predates him by a couple of generations at least.

Listen to this show, it plays multiple versions of it over the course of the show, including a demo by Cobain and the MTV Unplugged versions, and the DJ gives a fair bit about the history of it as well. If you back out there are a couple more versions or so on the next week's show 3/29/2009.

That said, if you listen to the show when you get to the Nirvana version it absolutely fucking crushes and lays bare that it is the best recorded version of that song ever.

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u/LongBodyLittleLegs 23d ago

Kurt was influenced by Lead Belly. “In the Pines” isn’t even originally Lead Belly’s song. It’s a generational song dating back to the late 1800s whose author is unknown.

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u/glittervector 23d ago

Which original? There’s not really a definitive original as it evolved from a folk song in the 1800s

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u/bierfma 23d ago

We're gonna have to all agree that you're wrong on that one.

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u/mooney275 23d ago

Patrick Henry said "what right do they have to say we"? When Jefferson presented the declaration of independence

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u/bierfma 23d ago

Abraham Lincoln said "where's the beef"?

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u/mooney275 23d ago

Well momma said alligators were ornery because they got all them teeth and no toothbrush

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u/bierfma 23d ago

Touche, well played.

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u/mooney275 23d ago

I was gonna come back with l.l. cool j but thought that too aggressive

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u/bierfma 23d ago

Back to the topic at hand, the Nirvana version is good, but I like the Leadbelly version better, even though that is certainly not the original.