better than the originals

remakes that I think are better than the originals:

Sinead O’Connor’s cover of Elton John’s  “Sacrifice”. I like this song anyway, but just like she does with Prince’s Nothing Compares 2U, Sinead eclipses the original. Probably my favorite cover. Ever.

I was listening to this today and it gave me the idea for this post. Sara Polley’s One More Colour. Jane Siberry’s voice is so much fun to listen to (love Map of the World). But Sara’s lingering delivery lends it some grace.  Alot of good remakes happen when the delivery is slowed down.

Mitch Ryder-“When You Were Mine”. Poor Prince. He writes these great songs, and other people sing ’em better than he does. Sometimes. The voice makes the difference on this one. Ani Difranco does a nice cover of this too. But NOT Cyndi Lauper.  I do think Prince could do an incredible job on Amy Winehouse’s Love is a Losing Game though. It sounds like something he’d write.

“After You’ve Gone”. The video is pretty crappy, but listen to it anyway. I wish Fiona would do an entire album of either standards, or her own lyrics delivered in this sort of style. Fiona also does a hair raising version of Elvis Costello’s I Want You that gives him a run for his money.