Music Freaks

[Doug1]

OK heres one for the music freaks, have you ever run across a song written by someone or some band that redone by another artist, and the song became a hit, that for whatever reason, becomes a signature song for the secondary artist?
The examples I can can think of offhand are Gary Allen's version of "Best I ever had" originally done by "Vertical Horizon" but recorded by Gary after his wifes suicide.
So you sailed away into a grey sky morning
Now I'm here to stay, love can be so boring
And nothing's quite the same now
I just say your name now.

But it's not so bad
You're only the best I ever had
You don't want me back
You're just the best I ever had.

So you stole my world, now I'm just a phony
Remembering the girl leaves me down and loney
Well send it in a letter
Make yourself feel better.

But it's not so bad
You're only the best I ever had
You dont want me back
You're just the best I ever had.

And it might take some time to patch me up inside
but I cant take it so I, I run away and hide
And I might find in time that you were always right
You're always right.

So you sailed away into a grey sky morning
Now, I'm here to stay, love can be so boring
Was it what you wanted?
Could it be I'm haunted?

But it's not so bad
You're only the best I ever had
You dont want me back
You're just the best I ever had.

You're just the best I ever had


The other is "Hurt" sorry the original band name escapes me,(insert Nine inch Nails here ) but Cash did it , it was one of his last recordings before his passing and the video is really chilling.
"Hurt"

I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real
The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything

[Chorus:]
What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know goes away
In the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt

I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
Beneath the stains of time
The feelings disappear
You are someone else
I am still right here

[Chorus:]
What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know goes away
In the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt

If I could start again
A million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way

[VWD]

I think it happens all the time Doug,

Janis doing Bobby McGee by Kris Kristofferson

[ScruffyRubicon]

First one that came to my mind

Melissa Etheridge did Breathe that was written and recorded by Greenwheel

I can think of many more

"Breathe"

I played the fool today
I just dream of vanishing into the crowd
Longing for home again
Home, is a feeling I buried in you

I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe

And I can't ask for things to be still again
No I can't ask if I could walk through the world in your eyes
Longing for home again
Home, is a feeling I buried in you

I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe
I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe

My window through which nothing hides
And everything sees
I'm counting the signs and cursing the miles in between

Home

Home, is a feeling I buried in you, that I buried in you

I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe
I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe, when I breathe
Yeah, it only hurts when I breathe, when I breathe
Oh,it only hurts when I breathe

[cath]

A lot of Willie Nelson's numbers have been ..umm...stolen by others. I'll have to get back on this, though. The list goes on and on.

Hehehe.. great thread, Doug. I know you'll come up with the lyrics

[Doug1]

Originally Posted by cath

A lot of Willie Nelson's numbers have been ..umm...stolen by others. I'll have to get back on this, though. The list goes on and on.

Hehehe.. great thread, Doug. I know you'll come up with the lyrics

I don''t think think stolen really applies in Willies case or Chris's considering they both started out as song writers. If you throw in that aspect as criteria, look at all the songs Rodney Crowell has written that were hits for others.
Remember when an artist covers another bands song and records it, it is with permission of the artist , writer or publisher. I remember seeing the Hurt video on a special on CMT, and NIN commenting that Johns version, recorded in his last days really nailed it, I guess what I am looking for are songs that due to circumstances seem as tho they were written for that artist, does that make sense?

[tsoperator]

Originally Posted by ScruffyRubicon

First one that came to my mind

Melissa Etheridge did Breathe that was written and recorded by Greenwheel

I can think of many more

"Breathe"

I played the fool today
I just dream of vanishing into the crowd
Longing for home again
Home, is a feeling I buried in you

I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe

And I can't ask for things to be still again
No I can't ask if I could walk through the world in your eyes
Longing for home again
Home, is a feeling I buried in you

I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe
I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe

My window through which nothing hides
And everything sees
I'm counting the signs and cursing the miles in between

Home

Home, is a feeling I buried in you, that I buried in you

I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe
I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe, when I breathe
Yeah, it only hurts when I breathe, when I breathe
Oh,it only hurts when I breathe

Love it done by Greenwheel, hate it by Etheridge. I was disappointed that it wasn't much of a hit for them.

[tsoperator]

What You Won't Do for Love
by Bobby Caldwell was redone by Go West and it become their one big hit.

[tsoperator]

Higher Ground by Stevie Wonder was redone by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I believe it was their first mainstream hit.

[Cylenchar]

'Hurt' by Nine Inch Nails was covered by Johny Cash, and after it came out, I heard a few people try to claim that Johny Cash had originally produce it and NIN had been the ones to cover it.

[cath]

Yup, Doug. I was being a smart aleck when I said "stole". And I do understand what you're saying.

You mean like Crazy, a signature piece of Patsy Cline, but written by Willie? Of course, I like the way he sings it, but it's Patsy's song.

[Doug1]

Not looking for songs that others wrote and then others hard a hit of per se, looking for songs that where recorded by one band then later covered by someone else, that because of circumsatnce seem to fit the second artist, and the performance is so on target that its like they own the song.
I have heard the original version of Best I Ever Had" by Vertical Horizon, it's not a lot different than the version Gary Allen does, but listening to the original(after hearing Gary) I have to wonder what was going on when it was written. In the context of Gary's late wifes untimely passing and choosing to record the song, the lyrics so fit the situation, and if you've ever seen the video the emotional intesity is so there, Honestly when I first heard it, I assumed he had written it as a way of dealing with his wifes suicide.
Sorta the same thing with Johns recording Hurt, remember he had lost his long time love June a few years back and his health was failing. Watching the video for the first time chilled me to the bone. It was later that I found out NIN was the writers.

[theplatypus]

Cash's cover of Hurt is just chilling. He did a couple of other strange covers on that record. Soundgarden's Rusty Cage comes to mind. The Gratefull Dead/Jerry Garcia Band covered at least a dozen Dylan tunes. Off the top of my head. When I Paint My Masterpiece,Tangled Up in Blue, Knockin On Heaven's Door, Queen Jane Approximately,Stuck Inside Of Mobile With the ......

[Doug1]

A lot of bands cover other peoples tunes, and a lot of artists don't write , relying on songwriters, the ones I am looking for ar the ones that grab you, fitting situations so perfectly that the cover artist "owns" the song

[theplatypus]

Here's one. The Cowboy Junkies covered the Velvet Undergroud song Sweat Jane. They pretty much nail it, ask Dobe she knows. You can hear it on the Natural Born Killers soundtrack or The Trinity Session by The Cowboy Junkies.

[dobejazz]

Thats a great one John