10 Amazing Cover Songs You Need To Hear

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In the early days of recorded music it wasn't uncommon to find recordings of the same song by several different artists: blues standards, the Great American Songbook, reworked folk jams, multiple musicians working from the same repertoire, each putting their own distinctive spin on a well-known classic. It's not a trend that is only found in music but it is one that is easily observed through one specific kind of song. The cover.

Cover songs have been around as long as organised music, you can make a claim that early compositions by names such as Beethoven or Bach were all turned into covers by anyone who wanted to hear the music, as the ability to record audio wasn't readily available or indeed invented in their time. Since early classical music needed to be performed to actually hear it, it was up to the individual to seek a performance or play the piece themselves, this would obviously change the nature of the piece as humans by design are individuals, and would put their own spin on the material. No word on who did the first rock Gregorian chant though, probably Christopher Lee.

But as music becomes easier to find and the number of genres and artists increase in the public consciousness, the type of cover song you find can extend from the simple imitation to the downright weird.

At first glance there's very little common ground between Rihanna, the golden-voiced pop princess from sunny Barbados, and politically-engaged Welsh miserablists the Manic Street Preachers. And that is what makes the song so great: when two completely different acts can play a track and it fits just as comfortably with both, like it could have been written for either of them, then you have yourself a versatile well-written song. Not surprising as Umbrella was composed by music powerhouses Tricky Stewart, Kuk Harrell and The-Dream (look these guys up, they're responsible for tons of hits).

Umbrella is about friendship, unbreakable, unshakable friendship; and that's why it fits so well in the Manics' repertoire. The emotion is palpable, this band has stuck together through mediocrity, through tragedy, through several genre changes, the one constant for the band is the band itself and their commitment to each other.