10 Rock Covers That Improved Classic Songs

There should normally be a rule that no one should really cover anything by a Beatle. Since each of the Fab Four have such iconic styles when it comes to songwriting, there's no real way that something by John Lennon or Paul McCartney could possibly be improved. While Green Day did take the gamble on their version of Working Class Hero, this is more like a reimagining than a straight cover.

If you go back and listen to John's original version on Plastic Ono Band, the entire thing is played with just an acoustic guitar, as John warns us of all the vapid greed that comes with being a cog in the working class machine. For the first few seconds, it sounds like Billie Joe Armstrong is going to be going that route as well, only to have the rest of the band slowly add the full band arrangement into the mix, which gives the chorus so much more power when you hear it.

The first few times may have seemed sarcastic, but singing about the merit of a working class hero sounds almost like a curse when you have the rock and roll bombast around it, complete with a decent guitar solo to tie everything together. This is still sacred ground in rock and roll, and Green Day end their song by bringing in Lennon's original vocal from Plastic Ono Band. They may have interpreted this song, but even they're aware that nothing's going to take away from The Intellectual Beatle.