Crazy

So when is your cover of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" going to hit YouTube? Dude, you're already way behind. So far, according to this article in Slate, the song has been covered by everybody from the Raconteurs to Nelly Furtado to The Twilight Singers to...Bryan Adams. That's 80s pop idol B-ryan Adams, not alt country balladeer and frequent cover song artist Ryan Adams.

I like the Ray Lamontagne version, here in mp3 myself.

But the best cover might be Gnarls Barkley's own, this mellowed out version, which puts Cee-Lo's vocals (he was right, by the way: Cee-Lo Green really is the Soul Machine -- and you should check out that album if you like Gnarls Barkley but could use a little more southern fried rap around Cee-Lo's soul) from the Conana O' Brien show.

So what makes a great cover song? How come everybody is covering Crazy? What is it about U2's One that makes it sound great no matter who covers it (I prefer the Johnny Cash version, actually, to the U2)?

And finally, what song are you surprised isn't covered more often. I know every time I see an even vaguely hard band, I think, "Wouldn't it be cool if they came out and did Back in Black for the very first song?" Haven't seen it happen yet, and the closest I've seen is Dash Rip Rock open a set at the N.O. Jazzfest with "Highway to Hell."

So what cover song should everybody be doing? My vote: "Back in Black," "Peter Piper," or "Thunder Road."