Top Ten Most Covered Songs

Here’s something interesting: a pal posted a link to The Beatles performing Yesterday, and he mentioned that it was the most-covered song ever. Songs are covered (that is, recorded by other artists) because they are good. It’s the purest form of musical flattery; bad, forgettable or just average songs aren’t covered much, because there are so many better choices.

 What I find really cool – and this won’t be a surprise to millions of people – is that, according to WhoSampled.com (759,000 songs and 245,000 artists),  eight out of the top ten most-covered songs are by The Beatles (or John Lennon, solo), and 13 out of the top twenty are Fab Four tunes.

 Here’s the top ten list

  1.  Yesterday by The Beatles

  2. Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles

  3. And I Love Her by The Beatles

  4. Silent Night by John Freeman Young

  5. Michelle by The Beatles (And just for fun, Paulie performs for a real Michelle)

  6. Summertime by Helen Jepson

  7. Blackbird by The Beatles

  8. Here, There and Everywhere by The Beatles

  9. Imagine by John Lennon

  10. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) by The Beatles

 I know, arguments will ensue. There are other lists with different songs in different orders, and how many times have you heard a bar band perform Eleanor Rigby? But the original meaning of ‘covered’ was someone re-recording a hit, not just a live performance of the song (and certainly not a karaoke version). For musicians who actually go through the trouble of recording their version of a good song, this is a pretty comprehensive list. And for those wonder about Hallelujah, it has been covered (re-recorded) by 129 artists, and performed by a zillion others (including brother David at our mother’s funeral).  

 Tom New