And I’m not saying that the original is bad. You have to have a good song to have a good cover in my opinion. But sometimes the cover artist just understands the mission and takes what the original song did and expands on that a hundred times over.
What’re some of your guys’s favorites?
Nirvana did a bunch of great ones during their brief time together.
The Man Who Sold The World has already been mentioned, but their versions of Turnaround by Devo, Plateau and Lake of Fire by Meat Puppets, and Where Did you Sleep Last Night and They Hung Him On A Cross by Leadbelly are all beautiful renditions in their own ways.
Of those, I’d say that Where Did You Sleep Last Night and both of the Meat Puppets covers are just as distinctly re-stanked by that Nirvana magic as their Bowie cover was. I like their version of They Hung Him On A Cross more than the original too, but tbh it always made me feel a bit weird hearing a white man singing that one. I get that it came from a place of reverence and compassion, but…idk man. I am both mixed race and have mixed feelings on that one lol. At the same time though, if any white man was to cover that one, I’m glad it was him since the hurt inherent to Kurt’s voice was a perfect match for the vibe and tone.
also Jesus doesn’t want me for a Sunbeam which came from unplugged too.
some of my favorite covers nirvana did though were not off unplugged, Love Buzz, Molly’s Lips, And I Love Her