Start the 885 Greatest Cover Songs countdown with your top 10
Your votes will determine the ultimate playlist of reimagined classics
This year, for WXPN’s annual listener-voted countdown, we’re building the definitive list of The 885 Greatest Cover Songs. Vote for your top 10 covers that moved you or defined a moment, then tune in as we broadcast the full countdown chosen by YOU!
What makes a cover a cover? Where do you draw the line? Our “Cover Commandments” below outline the basics we’ve settled on after much heated discussion. So pick your favorites, make your case, and join the argument.
When you cast your vote, you’ll be automatically entered to win TWO tickets to ONE WXPN WELCOMES concert per week in 2025! Plus! One WXPN member’s list will be chosen for an on-air feature — if you ever wanted to be a DJ for a day, now is the time!
How we’re defining a cover
A cover is when an artist performs or records a song created and released by someone else. Full stop.
The word cover comes from the early days of pop radio, when labels would race to “cover” a new hit with their own version and ride its momentum up the charts. These days, it simply describes any version that comes after the first official release, whether it mirrors the original or reinvents it completely.
The Cover Commandments
Samples and Remixes Are Not Covers
Samples use actual audio snippets from the original recording. This is not a cover because it uses the original audio rather than creating a new performance (and the end result is a different song).
- “Funky Drummer” groove laid down by James Brown’s Clyde Stubblefield has been sampled over 2000 times – but the resulting songs by Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, Sinead O’Connor, New Order are new songs using a sample.
- “Paper Planes” by M.I.A. samples Straight To Hell by The Clash – not a cover.
Remixes and Remasters re-edit the original recording, add new vocals to existing instrumentals, or create karaoke versions. These modify existing recordings rather than creating entirely new performances.
Artists Cannot Cover Themselves
Re-recordings, live versions, or remakes by the same artist don’t count as covers, even years later.
- Taylor Swift releasing ‘Taylor’s version’ = not a cover
- Paul McCartney live “The Long and Winding Road” = not a cover
- Noel Gallagher solo performing an Oasis song = not a cover
- Dave Mason re-cutting Traffic’s “Feelin’ Alright” = not a cover
- BUT Joe Cocker doing “Feelin’ Alright” = COVER!
Collaborations with Original Artists Don’t Count
If the original artist appears as a featured guest or co-lead performer, it’s not a cover—it’s a collaborative remake.
- George Michael featuring Elton John, “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” = not a cover
- Run D.M.C. featuring Aerosmith, “Walk This Way” = not a cover
- Bonnie Raitt featuring John Prine, “Angel from Montgomery” = not a cover
- BUT Bonnie Raitt’s version on Streetlights (1974), no Prine feature = COVER
First Official Release Determines the Original
When multiple versions emerge around the same time, the earliest official commercial release establishes the original.
- Bob Dylan’s “The Mighty Quinn” (demo 1967, Manfred Mann hit 1968, Dylan release 1975) = in context, neither is a cover
- Dylan releases “All Along the Watchtower” (1967), Jimi Hendrix (1968) = COVER
Has this been Released? Does it matter?
Official live sessions (ie. Triple J’s Like A Version), TV performances, and concert recordings can count as covers. But they need to have been released through official channels.
- Unreleased bootlegs / demos = NOT ELIGIBLE
- World Cafe, XPN session, live recordings on Tiny Desk or YouTube = ELIGIBLE
Traditional Songs and Standards?
Folk songs, hymns, holiday songs, and public domain compositions are eligible as covers. For original attribution, we use the earliest widely released or culturally defining recording.
- Sharon Jones doing “This Land Is Your Land” = COVER
- Old Crow Medicine Show taking a scrap of a Dylan lyric to create “Wagon Wheel” = not a cover… but Darius Rucker’s version of Wagon Wheel = COVER
Following Another Cover’s Arrangement
If your version primarily follows a distinctive arrangement from a previous cover rather than the original, it’s still considered a cover of the original composition.
- “Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley is styled on John Cale’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s song, and inspired dozens (hundreds? thousands?) of further versions – All COVERS.
Things Can (and Will) Change
The world of cover songs is full of exceptions, edge cases, and debate, and that’s part of the fun. XPN’s judges reserve the right to clarify, tweak, or add rules as new situations arise. So pick your favorites, make your case, and join the party. It’s gonna be a fun list!