Songs that you didn't know were cover songs until later in life...

[Spongey34]

Golden Brown - The Stranglers

I'd only heard it by Cage the Elephant til recently.

 

[SpongeBobfan1987]

I just found out Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn" (1997), Trine Rein's "Torn" (1996) and Ednaswap's "Torn" (1995)
all trace their DNA to a Danish alternative rock song from 1993, "Braendt" by Lis Sorenson:

​

 

[SpongeBobfan1987]

Another I song I liked, "Self Control" by Laura Branigan, was originally an Italo-disco song performed by Raf.

 

[Hawky Super Star]

I also found out that German record producer Frank Farian got a hold of it and had singer Brad Howell and his band (The Real Milli Vanilli) perform a cover of "Girl, You Know it's True" (originally performed by Numarx of Baltimore, Maryland) and made Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan lipsynch to it and pass it off as their own work under the "Milli Vanilli" name just like all their other tracks, all of that lip-synching eventually got them disqualified from winning a Grammy Award in 1989, as well as having their singing voices scrubbed from the DiC-produced cartoon "Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3," it was the episode "Kootie-Pie Rocks," in which Rob and Fab both guest starred in 1991, due to the fallout from the lipsynching controversy...

I don't have anything new yet to add to this thread, but since I don't feel like making a new one just for this, here's a related thing I just found:



Apparently, Fab is still active in music, and actually can sing Milli Vanilli's old songs perfectly well now. I say he deserves massive props for not giving up after all this time.

 

[Emma the Mermaid]

I didn't know Puppy Love by Donny Osmond was a cover

I remember when Tragedy by Steps came out & being told it was a cover of The Bee Gee's

 

[SpongeBobfan1987]

I just found out recently that Rick Springfield covered the song "I've Done Everything For You," originally sung by Sammy Hagar in 1978, in 1981, thanks to some info from the WhoSampled website...

 

[Celystial]

Brand New Key - The Dollyrots
Crimson and Clover - Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
Louie Louie - Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

(...yeah, I like rock, okay?)

 

[Emma the Mermaid]

I forgot to say I didn't know Freak Me by Another Level was a cover

 

[MainlyASpoon]

This doesn't entirely fit the prompt, but it's kind of similar. The other day I decided to listen to Miranda Cosgrove's music rather than listening to any of my liked songs. One of the songs was a cover of the song Raining Sunshine that played at the end of the movie Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. As the song continued I noticed that the cover was extremely similar to what I remember the original song sounding like, and I was impressed. After looking it up though I came to learn that it wasn't actually a cover, it's her song and her voice during the movie's credits.

Just so I am not completely off topic though, I was pretty shocked when I learned Smash Mouth didn't make the song I'm A Believer.

 

[Celystial]

Shout - Green Day

 

[SpongeBobfan1987]

Another song that I found, that was not only a cover of a 1989 Billy Joel classic from 2023, but was arranged with new lyrics about pop culture and events that occurred around the world from 1989 to 2023, that would be Fall Out Boy's cover of "We Didn't Start The Fire."

 

[SpongeBobfan1987]

I've just discovered that "Love Never Felt So Good," performed by Johnny Mathis in 1984 was a cover of a previously unreleased 1980 song by Michael Jackson which appeared on the posthumously released 2014 Michael Jackson album, Xscape.

 

[Celystial]

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Britney Spears

 

[PinkPugPrincess]

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Britney Spears

Ah, yes, the classic hit from The Rolling Stones that my favourite singer, Sandie Shaw, also recorded for her fourth original album The Sandie Shaw Supplement.

 

[SneakyMcSneakyPants]

Strawberry Letter 23 - The Brothers Johnson. Turns out Shuggie Otis did the original version.

 

[NOTSpongeblobmaster]

Can't Watch This- Weird Al

 

[SpongeBobfan1987]

Can't Watch This- Weird Al

That is not a cover song. To be a cover song, it has to be a remake with the same lyrics, or done in a foreign language.
Music by "Weird Al" Yankovic do not count, since those songs fall under the category of parody music.

Cover version - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[NOTSpongeblobmaster]

That is not a cover song. To be a cover song, it has to be a remake with the same lyrics, or done in a foreign language.
Music by "Weird Al" Yankovic do not count, since those songs fall under the category of parody music.

Cover version - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

My bad

 

[NOTSpongeblobmaster]

Feeling Good- Michael Buble

 

[Hugs4Softie]

I believe the song is "The Man Who Sold The World" by Nirvana