10 Cover Songs That Outshine The Original

4. Nirvana - Where Did You Sleep Last Night

As far as covers go Nirvana is probably best well known for their interpretation of David Bowie's Man Who Sold The World. I love that cover, it's one of the best covers I've ever heard but for a personal pick I'm going with this one Not many people have ever heard Lead Belly's recording of Where Did You Sleep Last night, hell not many people have ever heard of Lead Belly in general. I will say without a doubt it is worth a listen. The song is creepy as hell and the lo-fi recording combined with Lead Belly's shaky voice only serves to make it creepier. When Nirvana took it upon themselves to close out their Unplugged performance with this song they did the entire world a huge favor by letting them experience a moment that can never be created again. Kurt Cobain left a hell of a legacy before he left this world. His legend will carry on through many generations thanks to some legendary performances. With that being said no performance by Kurt or Nirvana was quite as haunting as this one. Where Lead Belly's performance is haunting as well Cobain just takes it to whole other level here. Kurt Cobain isn't exactly a great singer but he knew how to use his voice effectively and he perhaps never used it more effectively than he did in this performance. The song starts off slow and moody then eventually builds in to this massive emotional crescendo. After screaming his lungs out with passion Kurt lets out a haunting exhale in to the microphone before the band starts in to the songs ending section. I know that I've used the word haunting quite a bit but there truly is no better way to describe this song. After the song was over the producers of MTV Unplugged demanded an encore. Cobain argued with the producers and denied them an encore on the grounds that he didn't feel he could top this performance. It's hard to argue with that sentiment. If for some reason someone could only ever watch or listen to one Nirvana performance in their lifetime this would be the one I would recommend to them without a doubt.