my dad hates it when new artists cover or sample songs from artists that he loved when he was younger. every time a cover song hits the radio and subsequently tickles the sensory receptors in my dad’s ears, his automatic reaction is to detest it. being recently bombarded with cover songs up the wazoo, i’ve once again followed the long-standing tradition of top five lists and summarized some of my own favourites. drum roll, please.

top five cover songs as per me:

1. “killing me softly”, the fugees
   i loved this song when it came out, and i still do. and, despite the naysayings of my elitist father, i loved this version much better than the one originally sung by roberta flack. lauryn hill’s voice is so melodic and perfect on this track. she is by far one of my favourite female musical artists. (FYI, camile is definitely not the next lauryn hill.) i could do without the “one time!” and “two times!” that wyclef chimes in with, but overall this song is my favourite cover to sing along to. whatever happened to the fugees, anyway?


2. “across the universe”, fiona apple
   the beatles’ version of this is good, too, although when fiona apple lends her sultry, low voice to it, it sounds like an entirely new song. i actually don’t like fiona apple very much, she just sounds cool singing a song like this rather than acting like the cracked-out snob that she usually is. “jai guru de va om”, bitch!


3. “the man who sold the world”, nirvana
   i’ll be honest and say that i’ve never fully listened to david bowie sing the original version, but kurt cobain’s scruffy voice kicks bowie’s british butt anyday. this song was a symbol of my generation in elementary school when i really didn’t know who kurt cobain was; i only really loved his voice. and then he went and shot himself, which made courtney love famous and which, i think, also contributed to the deterioration of my classmates into pancake-faced slut-bags.


4. “your song”, ewan mcgregor
   this was never released on mainstream radio, but if you watched and loved moulin rouge, you will feel a deep connection to it. i never knew ewan mcgregor could sing until i watched the movie, and now i can’t seem to stop loving his rendition of sir elton john’s love song. the lyrics remain more or less intact (a few are snipped out), but ewan’s power vocals make his version much more fun to sing along to. i usually get alan to pretend to be nicole kidman’s character whom i serenade, but i don’t think he enjoys that very much.


5. “i turn to you”, christina aguilera
   before the fame affected the part of her brain that coordinates colours and clothes properly, christina aguilera used to be really cool. i’ve always admired her talent in singing, no matter what [little] clothes she chooses to wear. her version of diane warren’s “i turn to you” — originally performed by all 4 one (who?) for the space jam soundtrack (what?) — is the epitome of power ballad. when she hits that high note (“the one who i can ruh-uh-uh-uh-uh-un to!”), i start blubbering like a baby, or a fanatic fan with naked pictures of her on my ceiling.