There are quite a few songs I’ve heard that were simply remakes of an older version. An easy one to use as an example is “Can’t Help Falling In Love.” Everyone and their mother knows this song was made popular by Elvis Presley.
But this isn’t the version I heard first. For me, it was the recording by UB40 that I fell in love with in the early 1990s.
There are other songs, too, that are only a newer artists take on an old classic. So my question is this:
Does a person generally like the first version they hear of a song, even if it’s not the original artist singing it?
Alien Ant Farm “Smooth Criminal,” Boyz II Men “In the Still of the Night,” Jeff Buckley “Hallelujah,” Whitney Houston “I Will Always Love You,” and Sinead O’Connor “Nothing Compares 2 U” are arguably better covers than the originals, along with many, many other songs. If you heard these first, would you think they’re better than Michael Jackson, The Five Satins, Leonard Cohen, Dolly Parton, and Prince’s originals?
What are your thoughts? Do you have a few cover favorites you like better than the original? Chime in below!
-Out of the Wilderness
Out of the Wilderness 