What remake of a song has surprised you by how much more moving it is compared to the original version?

Nicholas Levinski ...

  1. House of the Rising Sun by the Animals. The original country song from Tom Clarence Ashley & Gwen Foster: House Of The Rising Sun (1933) does not compare.

2. Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley. The original by Leonard Cohen is very moving, but seems more narrative. I find the one by Jeff Buckley introspective rather than narrative, it is mysteriously deeper, and more human through its more minimalist setting.

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JOE SEABREEZE ....

In my opinion, one of the best songs ever written was a song by the band Badfinger called “Without You” which was released with their second album “No Dice” in 1970. And while their performance of this song was quite amazing, another singer-songwriter by the name of Harry Nilsson did a very moving rendition of it just a year or so later. This rendition ended up being his biggest hit ever.

Many people aren’t familiar with the band Badfinger, but they know their songs, because they’ve been covered a lot (“Without You” has been recorded by over 180 artists!) and their songs appeared in movie/tv soundtracks and commercials for years (even to this day. See “Breaking Bad” soundtrack). If you’re really into music and like reading about the history of artists and bands, I’d recommend you look them up online, read their story (very tragic), and listen to their songs. Many people believed that they could have been the next “big thing” after The Beatles. Even Paul McCartney thought the same thing because they were the first band signed on to The Beatles record label (Apple) back in 1968.

Badfinger - clockwise from left: Joey Molland (guitar, vocals), Pete Ham (guitar, keys, vocals), Tom Evans (bass, vocals), Mike Gibbins (drums, vocals):

Harry Nilsson:

Badfinger “Without You”:

Harry Nilsson “Without You”:

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