In your opinion, what are some cover songs that are so good that some might mistake it for being the original version?

After ten years using this website I still have no idea how to properly post links lol. I know I’m the getting the spacing wrong.

Some may not agree but Tracy Chatman’s song Fast Car is now sang by country singer Luke Combs. Due to the fact that he didn’t change her lyrics, specifically “so I work in a market as a checkout girl,” I find it a little hard to tell them apart.
I’m on my phone so I can’t link the songs.
Side note: Andrew went over and over how to post links with me many years ago until I got the hang of it. He was very patient and kind about it.

I don’t know of any that would be mistaken for being the original song, but there are a lot that were excellent versions.

Heart doing Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin)

Billy Idol Don’t You Forget About Me (Simple Minds)

Guns and Roses Knocking on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan)

Manfred Mann Blinded By the Light (Bruce Springsteen)

Right now I’m really loving Bruce Springsteen’s cover and video of The Night Shift. I’m loving everything about it, including his hand movements.

^fan girl vibes

I like Hendrix’s All Along The Watchtower better than Dylan’s.

I liked the Eagles’ Taking it Easy better than Jackson Brown’s for many years, but since the end of the 1900s I like Jackson Brown’s better.

I like Peter Paul and Mary’s “Leavin’ on a Jet Plane” better than John Denver’s. I Like Arlo Guthrie’s “City of New Orleans” better than John Denver’s too.

Around the late 80’s, Michael Bolton did a cover of Otis Redding’s Sittin On the Dock of the Bay. Redding’s wife said it freaked her out when she heard it for the first time because Michael sounded so much like Otis. I went to YT to link it, but the Michael version they have listed was NOT the one that sounded so much like Otis, so I’m not linking it. It’s a very soulful version, but not unmistakably Otis Redding. I do remember hearing the one that you couldn’t distinguish one from the other; but it’s been so long ago that I can’t remember which album it was on.

@zenvelo But John Denver didn’t write or originally sing “City of New Orleans.” It was Steve Goodman. I really like the Arlo version best too, though.

Jimi Hendrix, All Along the Watchtower.

Alien Ant Farm, Smooth Criminal.

Number one is always the original Black Magic Woman by Fleetwood Mac.

Few realize this was written and performed by Fleetwood Mac in the Peter Green Days.

Santana’s Cover isn’t so bad either.

This cover cannot be mistaken for Prince’s original, but I like it a lot. Art School Girlfriend: I Would Die 4 U

Bang Bang by Nancy Sinatra is a cover of Cher

One of the biggest “mistaken” originals was definitely Sineade OConnor’s “I can’t make you love me.”

Originally and (to me) far better done, by the artist formerly known as Prince…

Although. O’Connor’s version was later covered by Chris Cornell, in an unplugged type way, and is viewed by some as the best of the three versions.

Incidentally. I heard some of Prince’s studio work was recently released. Mostly unfinished songs. This song being one of the songs I heard. It was very different from the song Prince eventually went with, that is SO great.

But back in the 90’s, O’Connors song was everywhere. The obvious difference being that her version is “pop.” Therefor, it will always have more mass appeal…

There are many that come to mind.

• I also thought of “Mad World”
• “Nothing Compares 2U” by O’Connor vs. Prince, and also Cornell’s amazing unplugged version.
• “Hurt” originally by Nine Inch Nails and covered by Johny Cash (Though I’m partial to the original myself).
* Where Did You Sleep Last Night performed by Nirvana, originally by Lead Belly
• Never Let Me Down Again by Luno is an amazing version of Depeche Mode’s song, not better than the original—are awesome.
* Elanor Rigby by Gunship (one of my favorite bands) is a fantastic Synthwave cover of the Beatle’s legendary track.

Oh yeah.
That “I will always love you” song.
Dolly Parton wrote and originally performed that. I think.

Obviously though, Whitney murdered it. So. I’m pretty sure most people probably don’t even know that… Big one…

Here is my favorite current cover by Sierra Hull
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFIQgPAms88&ab_channel=PasteMagazine

Here is another by Lena Hall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liCL9_FNO3I&ab_channel=LenaHall

“Statesboro Blues” by the Tedeschi-Trucks Band (featuring Warren Haynes)

Is a cover of…

“Statesboro Blues” by the Allman Brothers Band (circa 2010 lineup featuring Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes)

Is a cover of…

“Statesboro Blues” by the Allman Brothers Band (original lineup)

Is a cover of…

“Statesboro Blues” by Taj Mahal

Is a cover of…

“Statesboro Blues” by “The Rising Sons” (circa 1965, Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder)

Is a cover of…

“Statesboro Blues” by Blind Willie McTell (Original recording 1938).

Edit.
Yeah. I unfortunately confused some people…

Thank you @gorillapaws , for clearing that up politely… My b….

“Because the Night” which was recorded by Patty Smith and also by Bruce Springsteen. Patty Smith made it a hit. Here’s the history of the song:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Because_the_Night

Another song with a long life of covers is “When the Levee Breaks”.
(Sorry no links, I’m on the phone.)

“When the Levee Breaks” (Playing For Change featuring John Paul Jones and other artists, 2022)

is a cover of…

“When the Levee Breaks” (Led Zeppelin, 1971)

is a cover of…

“When the Levee Breaks ” (Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe MCoy, 1929)

I wouldn’t say “mistaken for” so much as “as good as” or even “better than”, IMHO.

Lots of good examples above for sure.

As much as I love Tom Petty and “Free Falling”, John Mayer’s version (only ever performed and recorded live) is amazing.

I just saw him in Boston last week and he did it. It’s a staple of his shows.

I went to UToob to audit @janbb‘s selection of BSpring’s Night Shift cover, and discovered that Squint Leastwood has passed on to the HIgh Plains in the Sky.

I love Free Falling; haven’t heard Mayer’s version – love him too.

@MrGrimm888 I much prefer the Dolly Parton version of I Will Always Love You – maybe because I heard it many years before Whitney’s version.

The Corrs cover of When the Stars Go Blue.

Johnny Winter’s cover of Good Morning Little Schoolgirl. and Highway 61 Revisited.

Jimi Hendrix: All Along the Watchtower.

Eric Clapton & Sheryl Crowe: LIttle Wing.

Orgy: Blue Monday.

Linda Ronstadt: You Can Close Your Eyes.

Jeff Beck & Rod Stewart: People Get Ready.

Bobby Hatfield: Unchained Melody

Aretha Frankentstein: I Say a Little Prayer.