In his 4-decade career, Nick Cave has covered literally dozens of famous songs, either as a solo artist or with the Bad Seeds, the Boys Next Door, or the Birthday Party. A few well-known versions aside (“Stagger Lee,” “Mack the Knife,” “Mother Mother,” etc.), many of Cave’s covers hadn’t reached my ears… until digging through YouTube over the weekend that is. Lo and behold: they’re all quite good.
Hear a collection of 28 renditions found online of songs by the likes of Neil Young, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Roy Orbison, Nina Simone, Pulp, Nancy Sinatra, and more below.
“Helpless” (Neil Young)
“500 Miles” (Hedy West)
“Mack the Knife” (Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht)
“I’m Your Man” (Leonard Cohen)
“Death Is Not The End” (Bob Dylan) w/Kylie Minogue
“Wanted Man” (Bob Dylan)
“What a Wonderful World” (Louis Armstrong)
“Plain Old Ring” (Nina Simone)
“Running Scared” (Roy Orbison)
“Sunday Morning” (The Velvet Underground) w/Chris Coco
“John the Revelator” (Traditional/Blind Willie Johnson)
“Je T’Aime… Moi Non Plus” (Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin)
“Disco 2000” (Pulp)
“Loose” (The Stooges) w/The Birthday Party
“Stagger Lee” (Traditional)
“Let It Be” (The Beatles)
“I Put A Spell On You” (Screamin’ Jay Hawkins)
“Tower of Song” (Leonard Cohen)
“I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” (Hank Williams) w/Johnny Cash
“These Boots Are Made For Walking” (Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood)
“Rainy Night In Soho” (The Pogues)
“Black Betty” (Leadbelly)
“Blitzkrieg Bop” (Ramones) w/The Boys Next Door
“Cat Man” (Gene Vincent)
“The Carnival Is Over” (The Seekers)
“Cindy, Cindy” (Traditional)
“In the Ghetto” (Mac Davis)
“Here Comes The Sun” (The Beatles)