10 Rock Cover Songs Better Than The Original
5. Urge Overkill: Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon (Neil Diamond)
Urge Overkill's only real claim to fame is being featured in a Quentin Tarantino movie. Even then they were performing someone else track... , but damn did they do a fine job. The original Neil Diamond version is pretty similar but lacked that little bit of bite, brought on by a couple electric guitars and a touch of reverb pedal.
Urge Overkill's version also manages to come across far less creepy than the original. The lyrics of Diamond's 1967 single don't leave much room for ambiguity. He's essentially serenading an underage girl who he's got a thing for - promising that once she becomes a women, she'll need a man to look after her. Clearly Diamond thought he was that man, and his proposition was too good for any girl to refuse... Damn the '60s were a creepy time.
Regardless, Overkill's version managed to circumnavigate these issues, somehow. Most likely due to their version being associated with Uma Thurman dancing around in Pulp Fiction, rather that Diamond's underage love interest.