History Main / TheCoverChangesTheGender

** Similarly, Fugazi's "Suggestion", a song about the objectification of women, is from the perspective of a woman for at least the first verse [[note]]from there on the POV seems to switch to that of a man who witnessed the sexual harassment in the first verse, but opted not to do anything about it[[/note]], but is written and sung by male vocalist Ian [=MacKaye=] ("Why can't I walk down the street free of suggestion? Is my body the only trait in the eyes of men?")

* Music/{{Madness}}'s cover of "Money, Money, Money" by Music/{{ABBA}} changed "If I got me a wealthy man" to "If I were a wealthy man," among other changes.

* "Mr. Sandman" was originally recorded by Vaughn Monroe with the desired "dream" being a "she". The Chordettes' [[CoveredUp much more famous cover]] switches it to a "he" and describes it as having "a lonely heart like Pagliacci, and lots of wavy hair like Liberace". The Four Aces' own cover, [[MisterSandmanSequence used in]] ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', keeps the original feminine gender.

* Music/LukeCombs's cover of Music/TracyChapman's "Fast Car" retains the line about working as a "check out girl" to save money to run away. For reasons unknown, as the gender of the singer is not relevant to the song, and Luke Comb's voice is...decidedly male.

* Averted in Groove Coverage's cover of Music/AliceCooper's "Poison". Ditto the {{Eurobeat}} version by Elisa.

* The Music/{{Vengaboys}}, who [[NonIndicativeName despite their name]] have a female lead singer, gender-flipped The Walkers' "Shalala Lala".

* The Music/BowWowWow cover of "I Want Candy" is a straight-up gender flip, but it does make the line "I like candy when it's wrapped in a sweater" sound a bit odd-- we don't have a [[SweaterGirl Sweater Boy]] trope.

* {{Eurobeat}} musician Dave Rodgers did a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUbzRdaRwK8 cover]] of Leslie Parrish's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCQVVN2jCxg "Killing My Love"]], without changing the lyrics, including the one gender-specific line in the song: "I was thinking to become your wife."

* Music/LukeCombs's recent cover of Music/TracyChapman's "Fast Car" retains the line about working as a "check out girl" to save money to run away. For reasons unknown, as the gender of the singer is not relevant to the song, and Luke Comb's voice is...decidedly male.

* Most songs on Masaaki Endoh's cover series ENSON. These range from the still-working (''[[Anime/GalaxyAngel Wing of Destiny]]''), ''[[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs Eternal Blaze]]'') to the... less so ([[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya God Knows]], Anime/GenesisOfAquarion).

* Music/LukeComb's recent cover of Music/TracyChapman's "Fast Car" retains the line about working as a "check out girl" to save money to run away. For reasons unknown, as the gender of the singer is not relevant to the song, and Luke Comb's voice is...decidedly male.

* Music/ArethaFranklin's SignatureSong "Respect" was originally written and performed by Music/OtisRedding. The original is from the perspective of a man (possibly a touring musician) who [[{{Cuckold}} doesn't mind if his lady fools around with other people]] while he's away but wants her to show him respect when he comes home. Franklin [[TheCoverChangesTheMeaning turned the song into a feminist anthem]], changing the lyrics to be from the perspective of a lady who is faithful[[note]]The original lyric "''You can do me wrong, honey, if you wanna'' / ''But only do me wrong, honey, while I'm gone''" was changed to "''I ain't gonna do you wrong, while you're gone'' / ''I ain't gonna do you wrong, 'cause I don't wanna''"[[/note]] and supports her man demanding to be given the respect she's due.

* Toni Basil's [[CoveredUp famous cover]] of Racey's "Kitty" was changed to "Mickey," though retaining the line "Anyway you want to do it. I'll take it like a man."

* Music/ArethaFranklin's feminist hit "Respect" was originally written and performed by a man by the name of Music/OtisRedding. On the other hand, the "Sock it to me!" part definitely sounds harsher being sung by Franklin. Overlaps with TheCoverChangesTheMeaning, as Franklin's alteration of the lyrics changes from a musician basically asking for a little respect from his lady but supporting her and [[{{Cuckold}} not minding if she fools around on him]], to a lady who is faithful and supports her man demanding to be given the respect she's due.

* One male cover of "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" changes the refrain to "Girl, I try to have fun".

* The folk song "The Broom of Cowdenknowes" (or "Bonny May"), like most traditional songs, exists in multiple forms, but the earlier versions are mostly be sung in third person, about a shepherdess who loved a "fair lad" and either married him and had to move to his estate or got pregnant out of wedlock and banished. (The chorus is first person, but is pretty clearly meant to be reported speech.) There are versions sung by female singers where they take May/Mary's perspective, and versions of ''those'' sung by male singers where they change "lad" to "lass" and largely gloss over ''why'' the character can't return to Cowdenknowes.

* In ''Theatre/TheKingAndI'', the song "Something Wonderful" is sung by Lady Thiang about her husband the King, urging Anna to be an advisor and friend to him. But operatic bass Bryn Terfel recorded the song on his Creator/RodgersAndHammerstein album, also titled ''Something Wonderful''. In his rendition, the song's [[TheCoverChangingTheMeaning meaning]] seems to change: rather than a woman explaining her love for a complicated man to another woman, it seems to depict a man explaining ''himself'' to a woman, being frank about his own flaws yet urging her to love him anyway.

** Music/{{KISS}} on the other hand sang "Then She Kissed Me" when they remade the song.

* The Belles, an all-female GarageRock band from Miami, covered "Gloria", best known for the [[Music/VanMorrison Them]] version, as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtxkW-_GHKA "Melvin"]]. Openly PlayedForLaughs, both because "Melvin" was a stereotypically {{nerd}}y name and because there's no attempt to stretch the name out to three syllables.

* Music/TheDoors' cover of "Alabama Song" (or [[RefrainFromAssuming "Whiskey Bar"]]) changed "Show us the way to the next little boy" to "Show me the way to the next little girl." Originally, the song was sung from the perspective of prostitutes.

* "Seattle" (also known as [[RefrainFromAssuming "The Bluest Skies You've Ever Seen Are In Seattle"]]) was written to be the opening theme for ''Here Come the Brides'', a TV series about women from the East Coast being recruited to become wives for lumberjacks in the Pacific Northwest. The song was originally from the perspective of the brides ("When you find your own true love, you will know it / By his smile, by the look in his eye"), but Perry Como's more famous cover switches the genders and changes some other lyrics to separate it from the series.