History Main / TheCoverChangesTheMeaning

* The cover band the Bon Bon Club released as part of their first EP an incredibly, incredibly creepy version of the song Dreams that seems to make it about a someone imprisoning their lover.

* The Crystals, a 1960s girl band, sung "He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss) in a way that is easily interpreted as sincere. It's worth noting that their producer was Phil Spector, who was never known for the most positive attitudes towards women, and was eventually convicted of murdering a woman he was on a date with. Grizzly Bear covers the song and makes it haunting and tragic. Also, Grizzly Bear's lead singer is male.
** The story behind the song might qualify as an example in itself -- Carole King and Gerry Goffin wrote it in response to finding out that Little Eva (who was moonlighting as their babysitter at the time) had an abusive boyfriend. Spector somehow got his hands on it and gave it to the Crystals as a ''punishment''.
* Uncle Tupelo's cover of "No Depression" is about...well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin depression]], whereas the original song was written about the Great Depression.
* The Delaney & Bonnie/Carpenters song "Superstar" is about a groupie, but the ghostly, eerie quality of Sonic Youth's cover makes it sound like it's about a dead lover.
** Or a creepy stalker. Either or.
** Luther Vandross' version sounds like someone wondering about a long-lost love.
* Vanilla Fudge's cover of "Season Of The Witch" turns a largely tongue-in-cheek Donovan tune and plays it dead straight in the most horrifying manner possible.
* Likewise, [=~16 Horsepower~=]'s cover of Credence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising" is genuinely creepy instead of humorous.
** Don't know about 16 Horsepower's cover, but Rasputina does a pretty damn eerie version of it with cellos.

* Absolutely any cover made by Laibach. One notable example is their version of {{Queen}}'s "One Vision," which is translated into German to highlight the unintentional fascist undertones of the original.

* Say Anything covered "I Got Your Money" by ODB and it becomes extraordinarily sarcastic.
* {{Tori Amos}}'s cover album ''Strange Little Girls'' is entirely based on this trope--every song is originally male-written and sung and reinterpreted from a female point of view. The musical arrangements are changed wildly but the lyrics are nearly the same -- the largest change is a missing verse in "I Don't Like Mondays", and none of the changes are enough to change the meaning of the song without the radical changes to the arrangement. Most notable is a cover of {{Eminem}}'s "'97 Bonnie and Clyde," done from the perspective of the dead woman in the trunk. [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel It's good but * insanely* creepy.]]
** The results were mixed: she did lovely, lovely covers of "Rattlesnakes," "Enjoy The Silence," "Time," and "Real Men." However, the covers of "Heart of Gold" and "Happiness is a Warm Gun" were... not some of her best work, to say the least. (The cover of "Happiness is a Warm Gun" is something like ''ten minutes long.''). YourMileageMayVary, of course.
** And then there's {{Tori Amos}}' version of {{Britney Spears}}' "Hit Me Baby One More Time" which turns it into something sensual and dreamy.

** And Greg Laswell then turned it from a giggly pop song into a BreakTheCutie ballad.
** {{Prince}}'s "When You Were Mine" was about a guy whose live-in kinda-sorta girlfriend gets involved with another man. Lauper's version is about a woman whose live-in kinda-sorta boyfriend gets involved with... another man. And is a transvestite.
** ''Pineapple Princess'' went from being sung by a female, ending with "I'll be his pineapple queen" to being sung by a male, ending with "I'll be your pineapple queen".

* {{Music/Muse}}'s cover of "Feeling Good" from the musical ''The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd'' is downright creepy.

* WeirdAl's [[InTheStyleOf Polka medleys]] deserve an honorable mention.
* Ugly Kid Joe turned Harry Chapin's "Cats in the Cradle" from a song of regret into something far more... wrathful.

** The Cardigans did something a little more subtle with another Sabbath cover, "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath": Both versions are basically about feeling betrayed by society - the original is an angry take on this, while the cover is more of a sadly resigned ballad.

* The film ''AcrossTheUniverse'' seemed to enjoy doing this to various Beatles hits, the most memorable being "I Want To Hold Your Hand" re-imagined as a tragic song about a closeted lesbian pining for an unrequited crush. "Dear Prudence", following up on that theme, has said character literally locking herself in a closet, with the main characters urging her to "come out". On the opposite side was "Come Together," which was performed ''just right.''
** The best example has to be "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," which John Lennon originally wrote about his obsession with Yoko Ono. ''Across the Universe'' had it sung by army recruitment officers (who happen to live right in the middle of the UncannyValley) as Max is being drafted. Towards the end of the song, the drafted soldiers are carrying the statue of Liberty as a battering ram through the Vietnamese jungle. [[CaptainObvious It is very symbolic]].
* Another Beatles example: The soundtrack to IAmSam is full of modern covers of Beatles songs. While most are just straight-up covers, Howie Day's cover of "Help!" and Paul Westerberg's "Nowhere Man" are both slow, sad, minor-key versions of the original upbeat major-key songs, and change the meaning of the songs significantly. Interestingly enough, John Lennon's original take on "Help!" was closer to Day's cover, but he was told to make it up tempo so it would sell as a single. In that regard, the cover is closer to the song's original meaning, since Lennon was fairly distraught when he wrote it.
* [[{{Ramones}} Joey Ramone]]'s cover of ''It's A Wonderful World" changes the song from bittersweet observations about the transient beauties in the world to someone experiencing dance-inducing synesthesia over how fucking awesome the world is.
** Mr. Ramone recorded the album while dying of cancer, which just seems to add another layer of Awesome to it.
* BillBailey, during his ''Part Troll'' routine, suggests as a new British National Anthem: "Zippe-dee-doo-dah" as performed by {{Portishead}}. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIuNXCBCXSs He then goes on to play what he thinks that would sound like]]. Unsurprisingly the song loses some of its upbeat tone.
** He also reimagined the theme tune to ''TheMagicRoundabout''. Complete with the "secret middle section" which reveals that Zebedee is a deformed, demonic megalomaniac with a DarkAndTroubledPast.
* Talking Heads took Al Green's rather upbeat "Take Me to the River" and turned it into a funky, eerie narrative, complete with ominous atmospheric keyboards and David Byrne's [[CreepyMonotone menacing, on-the-edge delivery]].
* Go to the ''DeadSpace'' [[http://www.deadspacegame.com website]] to download the [[NightmareFuel creepiest version]] of "[[IronicNurseryTune Twinkle Twinkle Little Star]]" ever recorded.

** The Fairy Godmother's version in ''{{Shrek}} 2'' double subverts it. It's the main villain singing a song about heroes coming to the rescue, while unbeknownst to her heroes really are coming to the rescue.

* Spineshank covered the legendary Beatles' song "While my Guitar Gently Weeps." This version turns a guitar driven song about the relative connection between all things into a critique of society and human nature through the eyes of a unchanging passive observer. The vocalist screams and chants the lyrics as if calling out the world around him for it's mistakes.
** ...The original "While my Guitar Gently Weeps" ''is'' a critique of society and human nature through the eyes of a unchanging passive observer.
** On the other hand, Lemon Demon's "While My Keytar Gently Weeps" is probably a joke about {{Synthesizeritis}}.

*** The fact that's it's upbeat is what makes it so terrifying. Brown sounds as if he is taking gleeful delight and pleasure from your misery and is dismissive of your agony treating it almost sarcastically. The cover however makes has the vocalist screaming and growling at you as if enraged beyond comprehension. It's malevonance is much more aggressive and intense.
* TomWaits' [[http://www.coveringthemouse.com/2007/10/heigh-ho-tom-waits.html cover of "Heigh Ho"]] from Disney's SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarves turns it from a chipper work song into something decidedly more depressing, if not [[NightmareFuel nightmarish]]. The tempo is slowed to a crawl, and the arrangement features the clanking percussion and minimal, dissonant instrumentation his later material is known for, along with some ominous subterranean reverb. Kind of puts the idea of dwarves putting in hours of back-breaking potentially deadly labor in a mine for no clear reason in a different light. At least one reviewer commented that it sounded like "noises from Gacy's basement."

* Several of the cuts on the album that Tom Waits did ''Heigh-Ho'' for (''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stay_Awake_(album) Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films]]'' is made up of these:
** Sun Ra and His Arkestra do a cover of ''Pink Elephants On Parade'' that's positively surreal.
*** [[DisneyAcidSequence As if the original wasn't already??]]
** Buster Poindexter and The Banshees Of Blue do ''Castles In Spain''. Their version sounds like it's being sung by a completely amoral monster.
** What Sinead O'Connor does to ''Someday My Prince Will Come'' has to be heard to be believed. "Cynical" doesn't even ''begin'' to describe it.
* TheResidents have made not one, but '''four''' albums consisting of experimental covers of music from the 50s and 60s. Most of the material on these albums either make the song sound darker or more ridiculous, or actually amplify the original's true meaning.
* TheyMightBeGiants have done this to their own songs, "Robot Parade". The original is a synth filled kid friendly song, while the "Adult" version is pure heavy metal that makes you figure that the cyborg in the said song annihilates the world. Or at least runs around blowing up bad guys.
** They also redid "She Thinks She's Edith Head". ''Long Tall Weekend'' has the original, angry, slightly grating version - the singer is obviously very frustrated by the girl's pretensions. On ''Mink Car'', though, the signer is scornful, but not angry, and the melody and vocals are much smoother.
** And on the same album, the rerecording of "First Kiss". The new version is a touching ballad love song. The original, as featured on their live album ''Severe Tire Damage'', is hard rock and is rather jarring if you heard the studio remake first.
*** Alternatively, if you heard the live version first, the lust and passion seem to have gone out of the song and it sounds a little wistful and nostalgic (though contented enough).
** They also have a song called "Pet Name" which does this ''within the same song''. It starts out sounding unhappy and frustrated about the ebbing of the tenderness in the relationship, and ends up upbeat and happy that the couple have got past the lovey-dovey stage and on to something real. This is all conveyed through the arrangement and delivery, not the lyrics.
** In a more traditional version of this trope, John Flansburgh recorded an eerie, drum machine heavy version of Gary Glitter's "Hello Hello, I'm Back Again" with Joshua Fried that makes the song sound almost like a death threat.
* BlueOysterCult has also done this with a few of their own songs; a country song called ''I'm on the Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep'' was re-recorded with heavy metal instrumentals for their second album as ''The Red and the Black'', and ''Subhuman'' and ''Astronomy'' on the ''Secret Treaties'' album both received mellower, {{Synthesizeritis}} laden redos for ''Imaginos''.

* The Blind Boys of Alabama also took DepecheMode's "Personal Jesus," which is supposed to be about Elvis Presley and sounded like a mocking of religious faith, and turned it into a straight-up Gospel song.
** They also set "Amazing Grace" to the tune of "House of the Rising Sun."
*** [[ImSorryIHaventAClue Whereas Barry Cryer did the opposite]].
* Sign's cover of the IronMaiden classic "Run to the Hills" seems to be sung exclusively from the Indian perspective with a much more somber tone in contrast to the original which was much more aggressive and sung mostly from the white men's point of view. (except for the first verse.)

* BobDylan's song "When the Ship Comes In" is an apocalyptic protest song about all the people who will be up against the wall when the revolution comes. In the hands of The Pogues, however, it sounds like the boat is full of drunken, cheerful pirates.
** The Bank of Montreal's use of a children's choir to sing ''The Times, They Are a-Changin' ''was not only vaguely weird, but also completely subverted the meaning of the song. As comedien [[ThisHourHas22Minutes Rick Mercer]] once put it: "What used to be an anthem against people like the bank is now a jingle ''for'' the bank. If you listen closely you can hear the sound of Woody Guthrie spinning in his grave."

* The Dead Kennedys "covered" the Bobby Fuller classic ''I Fought the Law'' in the loosest possible sense - about half the lyrics were altered to make it into a ProtestSong about the murders of George Moscone and Harvey Milk, and the song's refrain becomes "I fought the law, and ''I'' won."
** They also covered ''Viva Las Vegas'' in a similar manner. Although in that case they only used a few lyrical changes ("Let me roll a 7 with every shot" notably becomes "Got coke up my nose to dry away the snot") and just let the dripping sarcasm in Jello Biafra's voice do the rest.
* Iron & Wine covered the Postal Service's "Such Great Heights" and changed it from a synthpop acid trip of a love song into something more poignant and sweet.
** It should be pointed out that Iron & Wine could cover anything from Metallica to John Phillip Sousa and make it sound poignant and sweet.

* Shudder To Think covered Atlanta Rhythm Section's southern rock IntercourseWithYou song "So Into You" and somehow simultaneously played the ObsessionSong angle to the hilt ''and'' made it sexier. In particular, Craig Wedren sings the refrain "I am so into you / I can't think of nothing else" as though he means it ''literally''.

* Not so much "The Cover Changes the Meaning" as "The Cover has Absolutely Nothing to do with the Original": The Yardbirds recorded a somewhat obscure ambient chanting-type song called "Still I'm Sad." Rainbow then took the basic melody, removed all the words, and rerecorded it as a 70s hard-rocker. The live version has the lyrics again, but expands the whole thing into 10 minutes of EpicRocking.
* Everyone in the world may well have covered Katy Perry's ''I Kissed A Girl'', but Scottish indie band Travis totally change the meaning with their cover, turning a LesYay-infested hit single into a folk-tinged ballad about a gay man questioning his sexuality.
** Same with Attack!Attack!'s cover.

* Missy Higgins covered the Skyhooks song, "You Just Like Me 'Cause I'm Good In Bed," which, without changing any actual pronouns, changes the story from "guy dealing with nymphomaniac girlfriend" to "girl struggling with being used for her body."
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MejtR81RzCo Satisfaction]] by The Rolling Stones is a mid-tempo song about a man's frustration with his sex life, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pMqSyIwmA8 Satisfaction]] by Devo is a fast-paced rant against consumerism, and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AX2bcWtg1Q&feature=related Satisfaction]] by PJHarvey and {{Bjork}} is what happens right before insanity.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYWebOq1J9I Satisfaction]] by The Residents (at the very beginning of the vid) is about a guy who is just down right AxCrazy.
** Cat Power's cover drops all the choruses, leaving only the parts of the song that nobody knows.

* {{Scrubs}} once had an episode which guest starred SesameStreet characters. It ended with a mournful cover of the SesameStreet theme, which makes it sound like someone trying to forget their troubles, in keeping with the theme of the episode.
** The sitcom fantasy episode also ended with a melancholy cover of the ''{{Cheers}}'' theme, as JD is seen leaving the harsh tragedies of the hospital to seek some comfort and escapism in television sitcoms. Tragically, this performance is removed for the DVD release of the season.
** They also had Ted singing an acoustic version of Hey Ya while J.D. monologued about relationships. Wow.

* Mark Kozelek's ''What's Next To The Moon'', a whole album of AC/DC songs turned into folky acoustic ballads, tends to make Bon Scott's frequent IntercourseWithYou songs such as "Walk All Over You" and "Love At First Feel" seem outright romantic.

* The Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra takes the love Theme from the Godfather and turns it from a love theme into a song which seems to be about a fast paced chase, possibly running away from madness. They do this by changing the instrumental portions and discarding the original lyrics replacing them with barely understandable Engrish.

* Puncolle Voice Actress' Legendary Punk Collection is a collection of covers of punk and grunge songs by J-pop idols, turning songs like "Anarchy in the UK" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" into something rather surreal. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH6cASSPBoo Samples here]].
** And on the flip-side to that, the ''Punk Goes...'' album collection is arguably trying to evoke this trope. Such as Punk Goes Pop, or Punk Goes Crunk.
*** Which is silly. We ''all'' know that Punk goes "OI!".

* AmandaPalmer's cover of "What's the Use of Won'drin" from Carousel is a depiction of domestic violence and misogyny. Even when done straight, ValuesDissonance makes it pretty hard not to see the song any other way. The creepy music box style Amanda does it in makes it even more obvious, though. At some points in the song, a woman can be heard faintly sobbing.
** She covered her own song, "Oasis", making it more "serious" when people complained that the song was making light of rape and abortion.
* ''Barathrum's'' "Last Day in Heaven" is about an invasion of Heaven, with demons slaughtering angels and so forth. In the second verse of ''Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus''' cover, [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking God]] enters the fray and [[CurbStompBattle shows]] why [[RageAgainstTheHeavens raging against Heaven]] is a bad idea.

* All of the Disneymania CD's where Disney music, from ballads to comedy routines are re-imagined as jazzy speed-pop music. It's surreal to say the least and in many cases ruins the gentle flow of the music. Ironically enough, the covers of 'Cruella De Ville' mostly avert this trope
** Notably, the Jonas brothers' cover of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" gets a lot creepier with a gender flip. When a noticeably villainous female is telling you to "hold [your] tongue" to get guys to like you, you know it's not true. (Well, except that in RealLife it sometimes is....) When hot boys are singing it, and the hot boys are supposed to be virgin icons of teen hormones... yeah.
*** Of course, the video [[CompletelyMissingThePoint makes the changes more positive]] - what was a song about making a DealWithTheDevil becomes a song about how adults are forbidding kids to play in a pool, making them [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin poor unfortunate souls]]
* They did the same with Bob Segar's "Turn The Page" - the original was was a slightly-bitter lament about a musician's life on the road. {{Metallica}}'s version sounds like said musician is one bad gig away from turning a shotgun on ''somebody''.
** Also, Queen's "Stone Cold Crazy" is certainly tongue-in-cheek ("walking down the street/shooting people that I meet/with my rubber tommy water gun"). Metallica's version is certainly sociopathic ("walking down the street/shooting people that I meet/with my fully loaded tommy gun").
* The Maia Hirasawa version of The Ark's "The Worrying Kind" takes the over-the-top {{Camp}} lyrics of the original and sings them, slowed down, without a hint of irony. The effect is surreal, to say the least.

* {{Flyleaf}}'s cover of "What's this?" from ''TheNightmareBeforeChristmas''.
** To elaborate, the original is [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny incredibly excited]] about Christmas, while Flyleaf's cover sounds scared of the changes.
** Similarly we have Marylin Manson's cover of "This Is Halloween." Whereas the original is talking about a land of wonder - albiet a morbid one - the Manson cover comes off as truly being a hellish place where they delight in the torment in store for you. When Manson sings "That's our job but we're not mean." [[NightmareFuel You know]] [[BlatantLies he's lying.]]
* The entire "vocalese" subgenre of jazz does this by necessity, as it consists in adding lyrics to songs that were originally instrumentals.

* Richard Thompson covers the traditional Irish song, "She Moves Through The Fair", and changes one word. The last verse usually goes, "Last night she came to me/my own love came in", and RT changes it to, "Last night she came to me, my '''dead''' love came in". Changes the meaning of the song ''completely''
** Interestingly, that ''is'' the lyric as originally put down by Padraic Colum -- the person on record as collecting the traditional song -- so it's not so much a case of "The Cover Changes The Meaning" as "The Cover Restores The Earliest Recorded Meaning."
* JanisJoplin sang "Piece of My Heart" with a rage not commonly seen from female vocalists. Faith Hill, [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready who really should have known better]], then pissed all over her grave with her flighty, bubble-gummy cover.
** Nonononono, "Piece of My Heart" is CoveredUp. Faith Hill can't piss over Joplin's grave since it wasn't her song in the first place.
*** The original by Erma Franklin, while not as raging as Janis's, has much the same message of defiance that Hill completely missed.

* Soft Cell's version of "Tainted Love": A poppy, up-beat take on a failing relationship. Coil's take on "Tainted Love": A slow dirge likely reflecting the last thoughts of a man dying of AIDS.
** [[CoveredUp Gloria Jones']] version of "Tainted Love": An angry and defiant take on a failing relationship.
** [[MarilynManson Marilyn Manson's]] version of "Tainted Love": an angry, paranoid, descending-into-homicidal-madness take on a failing relationship?...

* People who've only heard the Joe Cocker or Tom Jones versions of "You Can Leave Your Hat On" will know it as an amourous come-on; the original, by Randy Newman, is a lot more sinister - the narrator is meant to sound seedy and lecherous.
* The Metro by Berlin: A poppy, somewhat sad song about moving on after a bad breakup. The Metro by System of a Down: a rage-filled rant about being abandoned by a loved one.

** And the music video reinforces this, indicating the titular woman (played quite well by Heather Graham) is sexually tempting, but the singer realizes that they are no good for each other.

** Also, Krokus' version, where it becomes just another song about dumping a groupie.

* When iconic band TheRollingStones play "Paint It Black," it sounds moody and vaguely depressing. When heavy-metal band The Black Dahlia Murder play "Paint It Black," it sounds angry and vaguely homicidal.
** Gob's cover of it has a relentless, driving feeling of a losing grip on sanity, and somehow also manages to sound almost happy about it.
** When TheResidents play "Paint it Black", it's a song about complete insanity and hatred for all living things or near-suicidal depression and loss, depending on the performance.
* Paloma Faith took [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaO8OWnzL1k what can only be described as the most typical song ever written]] and recast it into [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-c7vK58VPg a ballad of envy tinged with lesbian lust that really has to be heard to believed.]]

* Recent Disney stars cover other Disney songs. However, it's possible that they don't really fit under this trope, since they don't change the meaning--they rip it away completely.
* Cascada has a very energetic pop version of--wait for it--''What Hurts The Most''.
* Sanctuary, a HeavyMetal band that would later be known as {{Nevermore}}, covered Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit", and turned it from a catchy drug song that referenced AliceInWonderland to a creepy, ominous crusher about a drug trip that goes wrong with fatal consequences, and replaced Grace Slick's enchanting vocals with Warrel Dane ''screaming his balls off''.
* Susanna and the Magical Orchestra's album ''Melody Mountain'' was a whole album of these. Their cover of AC/DC's 'Long Way to the Top' is positively ''tragic''.

* The Kid Stuff Repertory Company recorded [[http://wayoutjunk.blogspot.com/2009/01/songs-from-your-good-man-charlie-brown.html this album]] in which they sang their own version of the songs from ''[[{{Peanuts}} You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown]]''. Among their weird interpretations of the songs, the most notable is that their version of the title song goes from sounding fun and boisterous to something you'd expect to hear at a funeral.

* The original version of ''Respect'' by Otis Redding was about a henpecked husband pleading with his wife for respect and recognition. Aretha Franklin's cover transformed it into to a song about a woman telling a lover that she wasn't going to accept his dismissive attitude toward her any longer, thus giving birth to a major theme song for Second Wave Feminism.

* During the 2009 Australian Idol season, when contestant Toby chose 'Please Don't Leave Me' for a Pink-themed night, it created this trope along with a slight helping of {{Double Standard}} and {{Unfortunate Implications}} or even AbuseIsOkayWhenItIsFemaleOnMale coming from the lyrics, especially lines like "I'll cut you into pieces", and "You're my perfect little punching bag". Judge Ian 'Dicko' Dickson lampshaded this by pointing out that sung by a female (and further example the somewhat lighthearted, {{Affectionate Parody}}/{{Black Comedy}}-esque portrayal of the subject matter in the music video), Pink sounds much like the badass {{Femme Fatale}}, but Toby's version would probably come off with a creepy serial killer/wifebasher vibe. {{Your Mileage May Vary}}.

** And her cover of Wilson Pickett's "Land Of A 1000 Dances" is a 10-minute psychedelic freakout about a male-on-male rape victim who commits suicide by slitting his throat.

* The cover of "Shake, Rattle, and Roll" [[CoveredUp (the one you've probably heard)]] is WAY cleaner than the original. The original has a line ("I'm like a one-eyed jack glaring at a seafood shop") that is easy to understand if you have a dirty mind (one-eyed jack= "cycloptic trouser snake", seafood shop= "fish taco"). That particular line is nothing compared to the later line that basically describes what the 1-eyed jack is doing inside the seafood shop in the most detailed way possible for the 1950s.
** That's mighty interesting considering Bill Haley's cover (I assume that's the one we've heard?) has that "one-eyed cat" lyric intact. It doesn't have the "get over hill" line later, though, if that's the one being referred to.

* The girl group Girlicious recorded a cover of the David Guetta song "Sexy Bitch." Instead of the male narrator admiring a sexy bitch, the song is turned around so that a female narrator is referring to herself as a sexy bitch.
* Brazilian song "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDvX7rM8tro Rap das Armas]]" (widely known for its use in ''TheEliteSquad'') was originally written by MC Junior and Leonardo a protest on the violence in Rio de Janeiro. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZthNYozVwNM The better-known cover]] by Cidinho and Doca instead tells a story from the point of view of drug dealers about to fight off the police.
* The original Rolling Stones version of Under My Thumb has Mick Jagger being very smug, self-satisfied and quite pleased with his place in the world. Mike Ness performing it with Social Distortion, on the other hand, is extremely angry, depressed and comes off with the air of intending to exact a brutal, hateful vengeance.
* In Ash's "Shining Light" the subject of the song is a girl. In the covers by Emm Gryner and Annie Lennox, it's God. It does make the line, "a full on chemical reaction," sacrilegious.

* Chris Daughtry's cover of "Poker Face" by LadyGaga sounds more like a cad's depressing lament than an upbeat ode to promiscuity like the original.
* Placebo's version of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill". The original version is quite upbeat and hopeful; Placebo's version is a depressive (and somewhat NightmareFuel-y) lament.
* Great Big Sea took a 19th Century advertising jingle (Cod Liver Oil), changed the key, and transformed it from another happy, mindless bit of fluff into a dark, suspicious diatribe.

* Dynamite Hack's cover of Eazy-E's Boyz in the Hood takes a hardcore rap about drinking, smoking crack, and throwing hoes at their fathers and turned it into a pleasant accoustic guitar song [[LyricalDissonance about the same damn thing]]
* Save Ferris did a cover of Dexys Midnight Runner's famous (see: [[OneHitWonder only]]) hit Come On Eileen. The original is a herald to Eileen to stop being fleshcandy and trying to seduce him, while Save Ferris's version seems to be more in the vein of not growing up so quickly and making foolish choices.

* Reel Big Fish covered Sublime's Boss DJ, turning a mellow acoustic song into a reggae-styled ska song.

* Yael Naim's cover of {{Britney Spears}}' "Toxic"? Her voice makes the song all the more awesome. It's soft, slow, sensual, and truly gives off the air of an addict. Go listen to it [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETh0Kfxk2BY&feature=related NOW.]]

** MauriceWhite's cover version ''Tomorrow'' changes a classical J-pop sequence into RhythmAndBlues; comparison [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3gnVtkg-Xk here]].
** The cover version by the Canto-pop singer Hacken Lee, ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2wS64xhQi4 Daybreak]]'' downright changes the meaning of the song from star-crossed lovers to a male apologizing for hurting her girl.
* {{Hong Kong}}ers are actually masters of this trope. Another example: ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOfeGKwaVNI Green Water, Clear Breeze]]'', Hong Konger cover for NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind's EndingTheme ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtv3-x5D99M Tori no Hito]]'', not only changed the style from a light [[ClassicalMusic classical]] that resembles ''[[LudwigVanBeethoven Ode of Joy]]'' into a majestic [[TheEighties 1980s]] pop WithLyrics more fit of a NationalAnthem:
-->''With you we prospect''
-->''and new paths we'll pave''
-->''May it shine, this new light and spirit''
-->''together we create the glorious and resounding!''

** Babes In Toyland's cover of "Bodies" by The Sex Pistols is so much fiercer and more punk because it's an all-female group singing about abortions and a 'screaming bloody mess' in rather sweet voices.
* Neofolk group Death in June covered some songs from a gospel album recorded by [[DrinkingTheKoolAid Jim Jones]]'s People's Temple Choir. [[ItGotWorse It got creepier]].
* The cover band the Bon Bon Club released as part of their first EP an incredibly, incredibly creepy version of the song Dreams that seems to make it about a someone imprisoning their lover.
* One where just the artist name and the song, if you're familiar with the latter, is enough to make clear the change of meaning of the song: Sarah Jane Morris, "[[LesYay Me and Mrs. Jones]]".

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* The Crystals, a 1960s girl band, sung "He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss) in a way that is easily interpreted as sincere. It's worth noting that their producer was convicted murderer Phil Spector. Grizzly Bear covers the song and makes it haunting and tragic. Also, Grizzly Bear's lead singer is male.

* Dynamite Hack's cover of Eazy-E's Boyz in the Hood takes a hardcore rap about drinking, smoking crack, and throwing hoes at their fathers and turned it into a pleasant accoustic guitar song [[LyricalDesonance about the same damn thing]]

* Once upon a time, Sting released a song called "Every Breath You Take" that envisioned unrequited love as jealous stalking. Puff Daddy changed a few words in the chorus and turned it into the rap ballad "I'll Be Missing You," about his slain friend and fellow rap artist Biggie Smalls.

* What happens when the BlackEyedPeas release a song ("My Humps") that [[StealthParody tries to parody]] the mindless materialism and misogyny of crunk rap, and [[ParodyFailure winds up sounding just as stupid as the source material?]] Have AlanisMorissette sing the song [[http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=W91sqAs-_-g exactly as written]] [[LyricalDissonance in her famous angsty style]], turning it into a tongue-in-cheek lament of the same while simultaneously getting the song's original intended message across. This troper is now awaiting her cover of SouljaBoy.

* Save Ferris did a cover of Dexys Midnight Runner's famous (see: [[OneHitWonder only]]) hit Come On Eileen. While the original is a herald to Eileen to stop being fleshcandy and trying to seduce him, while Save Ferris's version seems to be more in the vein of not growing up so quickly and making foolish choices. Of course, [[YourResultsMayVery that's just this troper's opinion]]

* Really, all of this and NO 'I Put a Spell on You', this troper can count on 1 hand the number of times the [[DomesticAbuse original intent of the song]] seems to come out in both the music and the lyrics, it's usually sung almost as a love ballad, leading to some real LyricalDissonance.
* What? No Yael Naim's cover of {{Britney Spears}}' "Toxic"? Her voice makes the song all the more awesome. It's soft, slow, sensual, and truly gives off the air of an addict. Go listen to it [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETh0Kfxk2BY&feature=related NOW.]]

* The song 'Santa Baby' was originally a perfectly reasonable Christmas song about a girl asking for a variety of toys and gifts from the titular gentleman, maybe with a kiss on the cheek. Then... came the {{Madonna}} version. Suddenly, it's about a girl offering ''[[IfYouKnowWhatIMean favors]]'' in exchange for presents.

** The best example has to be "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," which John Lennon originally wrote about his obsession with Yoko Ono. ''Across the Universe'' had it sung by army recruitment officers (who happen to live right in the middle of the UncannyValley) as Max is being drafted. Towards the end of the song, the drafted soldiers are carrying the statue of Liberty as a battering ram through the Vietnamese jungle. It is very symbolic.

* BillBailey, during his ''Part Troll'' routine, suggests as a new British National Anthem: "Zippe-dee-doo-dah" as performed by {{Portishead}}. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WktxIqbGAj0&NR=1 He then goes on to play what he thinks that would sound like]]. Unsurprisingly the song loses some of its upbeat tone.

See also TheVondaShepardTreatment. Can overlap with TheCoverChangesTheGender and RepurposedPopSong. Can also overlap with InTheStyleOf if the cover changes the style of the music to something more appropriate for its choice of meaning.

See also TheVondaShepardTreatment. Can overlap with TheCoverChangesTheGender and RepurposedPopSong.

** He also changed the lines "I wear this crown of shit/Upon my liar's chair" to "I wear this crown of thorns/Upon my liar's chair," drawing a connection to Jesus and (most likely) unintentionally implying that Jesus was a liar and a junkie who committed suicide.

** His cover of Alanis Morissette's [[http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2007/04/19/you-oughta-know/ You Oughta Know]] also changes the context from a woman scorned to a gay man whose lover ''leaves him'' for a woman.

** Ironically, Katy Perry's version is ALREADY a cover, though the original, by Jill Sobule, is not as famous. There's an argument to be made that the meaning was changed enough by having it be covered by a straight singer, as opposed to when performed by Jill Sobule, who is openly bisexual. Is the song a glorification of meaningless GirlOnGirlIsHot or the realistic thoughts of a young girl coming to terms with her sexuality after having her first kiss with another girl? It might depend on which version you hear.
*** The song by Jill Sobule has the same title, but is lyrically and musically a completely different song.

* Hillary Duff's cover of TheWho's "My Generation" actually ''does'' seem to have a theme similar to the original: "older people don't get it." But one word change brought the whole thing crashing down: "Hope I ''don't'' die before I get old." Talk about CompletelyMissingThePoint.

** [[ThatGuyWithTheGlasses The Nostalgia Chick]], on the other hand, changed the meaning of the original recording simply by slowing it down to the speed at which the singers' voices were originally recorded. Juxtaposing it with assorted NightmareFuel clips didn't hurt, either.

* Scissor Sisters' [[LoveItOrHateIt not universally loved]] cover of the PinkFloyd classic "Comfortably Numb" brings out a different facet. The original is overflowing with angst, about someone who can't quite get numb '''enough'''. The remake sounds like someone who really has been medicated into oblivion, to the point of losing both their neuroses and their identity, and is ''loving every minute of it''.

* Shudder To Think covered Atlanta Rhythm Section's southern rock IntercourseWithYou song "So Into You" and somehow simultaneously played the ObsessionSong elements to the hilt ''and'' made it sexier. In particular, Craig Wedren sings the refrain "I am so into you / I can't think of nothing else" as though he means it ''literally''.

* Shudder To Think covered Atlanta Rhythm Section's southern rock IntercourseWithYou song "So Into You" and somehow simultaneously played the ObsessionSong elements to the hilt ''and'' made it sexier.

* Shudder To Think covered Atlanta Rhythm Section's southern rock IntercourseWithYou song "So Into You" and somehow simultaneously added a serious StalkerWithACrush vibe ''and'' made it sexier.