because really, it's only a minor obsession.

In a small handful of words, here are my top 10 favorite cover songs. Until further notice.

1.) Love Will Tear Us Apart - The Cure [original: Joy Division]

When the routine bites hard and ambitions are low,
And the resentment rides high but emotions won't grow,
And we're changing our ways, taking different roads
Then love, love will tear us apart again...

More driving than the original. It shifts from the hollow, self-loathing voice of Joy Division and moves to an angrier, less resigned version by the Cure. In the same genre of sound, yet still genius.



2.) Heaven [Candlelight mix] - DJ Sammy [original: Bryan Adams]

Now, nothing can take you away from me
We've been down that road before, but thats over now,
You keep me coming back for more...

Gentle. It takes away from the 80s rock edge and spins this song into the 21st century, into a pleading ballad, a true love song in every sense of the idea.



3.) Over the Rainbow - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole [original: Judy Garland]

Someday I wish upon a star,
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where troubles melt like lemondrops, high above the chimney tops
That's where you'll find me
Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly
And the dreams that you dare to,
Why, oh why can't I?

A Hawaiian spin, yet contemporary. A complete 180 from the original and almost all copies of the original. You'll feel like you're relaxing on aquamarine waves under a pink and blue sky.



4.) Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley [original: Leonard Cohen]

Well, maybe I've been here before, I've seen this room and I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you
And I've seen your flag on the marble arch, and love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah...

Of all the covers of this offbeat classic, this is the most recognizable and the most haunting. It will break your heart.



5.) Hurt - Johnny Cash [original: Nine Inch Nails]

What have I become, my sweetest friend?
Everyone I know goes away in the end
And you could have it all, my empire of dirt
I will let you down ... I will make you hurt.

Only the Man in Black could successfully cover Nine Inch Nails and make it sound more tortured than the original. In the last year of his life, this could have been his self-written eulogy.



6.) Time After Time - Eva Cassidy [original: Cyndi Lauper]

Sometimes you picture me, I'm walking too far ahead
You're calling to me, I can't hear what you've said
Then you say, go slow, I fall behind
The second hand unwinds...

The original is a piece of 80s pop fluff perfection, but Eva Cassidy has a knack for molding popular songs and turning them on her ear. You'll never think "1987 prom" when you hear this.



7.) Jolene - the White Stripes [original: Dolly Parton]

Your beauty is beyond compare, with flaming locks of auburn hair,
With ivory skin and eyes of emerald green
Your smile is like a breath of spring and your voice is soft like summer rain,
And I cannot compete with you, Jolene.

In a clever twist of gender-bending, Jack White is utterly and completely convincing as someone who is worried about a woman named Jolene stealing his man. I don't think any other rock star could really pull that off.



8.) When the Stars Go Blue - Tim McGraw [original: Ryan Adams]

Where do you go when you're lonely?
Where do you go when you're blue?
Where do you go when you're lonely? I'll follow you... when the stars go blue.

The sole country cover on the list, though it doesn't sound like it. Ryan Adams' version is more romantic and wistful, but this works on another level completely.



9.) Wonderwall - Ryan Adams [original: Oasis]

And all the roads we have to walk are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
And there are many things that I would like to say to you, but I don't know how
Because maybe you're gonna be the one that saves me,
And after all, you're my wonderwall.

Less rock and more folky, more earthy. The kind of song you'd slow dance to in a small room.



10.) Comfortably Numb - Dar Williams and Ani DiFranco [original: Pink Floyd]

There is no pain, you are receding,
A distant ships smoke on the horizon
You are only coming through in waves,
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying.
When I was a child I had a fever,
My hands felt just like two balloons
Now I've got that feeling once again,
I can't explain, you would not understand, this is not how I am.
I have become comfortably numb.

A female touch on one of the best classic rock songs ever written. It has its own strengths without taking away from the idea of the original.