r/Music • u/Louis049 • 10h ago
discussion Favorite non-musician cover
I've been thinking for a hot minute about non-musician covers of songs, now I don't mean purpose-written songs a la Friend Like Me - Robin Williams (non-musician), but moreso something along the lines of my absolute favorite song of all time Won't Back Down - Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers as covered by Sam Elliot in Barnyard: The Original Party Animals. I assume most answers will end up coming from TV or movies, since that's where we get non-musicians being musical most often. What is your favorite case of someone who doesn't often use their musical prowess knocking your socks off?
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u/Madarakita 10h ago
Always liked Jim Carrey's cover of "I Am The Walrus". Like, if you're gonna get Jim Carrey to do a Beatles song, you have him do the one where he can get away with be outrageous and weird.
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u/snappychappers 9h ago
William Shatner covering Rocket Man by Elton John, it wasnt great but its fun and memorable. He wasnt a musician at the time, cause now at ~95 he has a metal band.
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u/DarthVerus 8h ago
Obligatory Common People by Shatner mention as well. Just a great version. I know he was sort of “established” as a musician by that time but still…
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u/the12ofSpades 8h ago
So much of Shatners musical repertoire is memorable just because his delivery is so bizarre. For some reason when I think of the song “Common People” my mind always goes to his cover.
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u/colorblind-and 7h ago
My buddy and I used to play that song all of the time on touchtunes to the point where we are pretty sure we got it banned lol
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u/dctrhu 9h ago
I think Chris Hadfield covering Bowie in space was pretty sick.
He made a decent fist of the song, but I think Bowie would have loved to know that his music made it to space, just months before he would pass away.
And also getting to take your guitar into the ISS is just awesome - Hadfield is such a cool guy, and I think it was a fitting tribute to David
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u/GreatGooglyMoogly 8h ago
For a second i thought you meant Chris covered this https://youtu.be/g8f_XCH3zmM
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u/InkyTheHooloovoo 6h ago
Hadfield's cover came out in 2013 a few years before Bowie passed in 2016. I can't find any direct quotes from Bowie, but it seems he greatly appreciated Hadfield's lyrical updates and performance.
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u/nuclearspacezombie 1h ago
I think it was even removed from Youtube for copyright and Bowie made them put it back
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u/nhSnork 9h ago
Probably Ewan McGregor's take on Your Song.
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u/SemiFormalJesus 9h ago
Definitely. I didn’t know Obi had it like that.
This was my sister’s favorite movie, and one of four vhs we had along with Aladdin, The Sandlot, and The Count of Monte Cristo.
I’d go through all of them when I stayed home sick from school.
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u/classphoto92 8h ago
In A Life Less Ordinary there's a brief scene where he's walking outside and singing with abandon. In just a few lines, you could tell the dude has pipes. The only thing I don't like about Moulin Rouge is Nicole Kidman. It's not that she sings badly, but poor girl can't hold a candle to Ewan.
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u/Lostrefugee 5h ago
I have always wanted a full version of We've Only Just Begun by Carl Weathers. Rest in peace, he had a beautiful voice.
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u/emotionalfescue 5h ago
Eric Idle - Here comes the sun
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u/ozone_one 38m ago
This was my very first thought. It never fails to make me smile, even on the worst days.
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u/Gutcake 8h ago
Patrick Warburton does such a goofy cover of Hurt that I can't help but love it. It reminds me of Shatner's Rocket Man cover but with a bit more competence
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u/God_of_Shenanagins 3h ago
You should really check out Goddess of the rain! He sings lead vocals and it's really good!
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u/lamalamapusspuss 7h ago
Paul Newman singing Plastic Jesus in Cool Hand Luke https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG9tuuznL1Y
In the scene, Luke has just learned his mother has died. He fills that song with all the feels.
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u/thebigveet 9h ago
I still haven’t seen Marriage Story but that clip of Adam Driver singing Being Alive goes pretty hard
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u/VictorBlimpmuscle 9h ago
Bill Murray’s karaoke version of Roxy Music’s ‘More Than This’ in Lost in Translation
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u/eyegazer444 8h ago
Judi Dench performing "Send In The Clowns". She can't really sing, and delivers it more like a spoken monologue. But she absolutely captures the emotion. Just goes to show you don't have to be a singer to nail a song.
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u/sususl1k 8h ago
I genuinely almost prefer William Shatner’s cover of Common People to the original
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u/Borge_Luis_Jorges 41m ago
I've heard that before, and it's valid, but that version has a bit of a mistake.
In the original, the last time the chorus repeats, it changes from telling her she will never be like comon people, to actually advising, pleading her not to even try:
Never live like common people Never do what common people do Never fail like common people Never watch your life slide out of view And then dance and drink and screw Because there's nothing else to do.
Shatner's version misses that twist, which I feel is the most potent part of the song and it's message.
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u/Borge_Luis_Jorges 34m ago
Kristen Wiig covering space oddity in the life of Walter Mitty. It might not be a great performance, but within the film it's the sweetest thing.
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u/CobraCornelius 8h ago
In the movie Southland Tales (2006), Sarah Michelle Gellar is an adult film star/pop icon named Krysta Now and she has a very catchy song called "Teen Horniness Is Not A Crime".
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u/MagicBandAid 8h ago
And that is a cover of whom?
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u/CobraCornelius 7h ago
Forgive me, I am dyslexic and I missed that. The song I mentioned is more of a satire of "Hit Me Baby One More Time"
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u/echosolstice 8h ago
Brie Larson’s cover of Black Sheep https://youtu.be/1xcSDYy3Dl4