14/12/2025

ON SUNDAY December 14, 2025 theSunday Special XII

When the imitation became the anthem BY HANNEF ESQUANDER

Hallelujah Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah was initially met with mixed reviews and little com mercial success when released in 1984. +RZHYHU -H̆ %XFNOH\¶V UHQGLWLRQ LV ZLGHO\ UHJDUGHG DV WKH GH¿QLWLYH YHUVLRQ revered for its haunting beauty and emo tional depth. Since then, countless artists have covered the song, but Buckley’s remains the most celebrated. Cover versions can sometimes breathe new life into a song, highlighting its emo tional core in ways the original may not have captured. They serve as a testament to the timeless quality of good songwrit ing, showing how a song’s true potential FDQ EH UHDOLVHG WKURXJK GL̆ HUHQW YRLFHV and interpretations.

The Man Who Sold the World David Bowie wrote and recorded this enig PDWLF VRQJ LQ EXW LW ZDV 1LUYDQD¶V 1993 unplugged performance that intro duced The Man Who Sold the World to a whole new generation. Kurt Cobain’s raw, emotional cover brought a fresh, haunting quality to the song, often regarded as one of the best covers of all time and, among younger audiences, arguably more famous than Bowie’s original. Nothing Compares 2 U Written by Prince and initially performed by The Family, Nothing Compares 2 U was a relatively obscure track until Sinéad 2¶&RQQRU¶V FRYHU 2¶&RQQRU¶V VRXO ful, emotive interpretation, combined with an iconic music video, turned the song into a worldwide hit, overshadowing Prince’s original composition completely.

T HERE is no cookie-cutter formula for writing a hit song. Just like any other work of art, the process of writing a song is delicate and instinctive. A beautiful love song could take ages to complete, but upon release, it fails to capture listeners’ interest. A hit song might take only five minutes to write, become the artist’s signature song, yet be one they loathed performing the most. Yet some singers struck gold with songs that were not even theirs to begin with. Some of the greatest artists of all time, such as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and Jeff Buckley, are known for singing remakes of songs originally performed by other singers. Their versions of these popular songs are just as acknowl edged and coveted as the originals. But what if the cover versions turn out to be even bigger hits than the originals? Some fans and music critics might even go so far as to call these remakes better than the originals. Here are some instances when remakes became more popular and remembered than the originals. Torn Originally performed by Ednaswap in 1995, Torn only gained worldwide rec ognition when American singer Natalie Imbruglia released her version in 1997. Imbruglia’s cover, with its polished pro duction and emotional delivery, struck a chord with listeners and became a global hit, overshadowing the original and propelling her to international stardom.

The Power of Love T KLV VRQJ ZDV ¿UVW UHFRUGHG E\ -HQQLIHU Rush in 1984, achieving moderate suc cess. However, it was Celine Dion’s 1993 rendition that truly catapulted The Power of Love into the global mainstream. Dion’s powerful vocals and heartfelt delivery PDGH WKH VRQJ D GH¿QLQJ ¶ V EDOODG RIWHQ eclipsing the original in both popularity and critical acclaim.

Without You Originally written and performed by the %ULWLVK URFN EDQG %DG¿QJHU :LWKRXW