The second (or third -- or fourth) time around

I was listening this morning to the Smash Mouth version of "I'm a Believer."  There's no way around it:  this is just better than the Monkees version.

I know a lot of people with  bias for performances by the original songwriter or performer.  This makes sense, since they wrote it, the original writer* would be more tuned in to the meaning and emotion behind a song, which would  make their version more authentic. And better.  Except...

Well, there is Bob Dylan.  Bob Dylan is one of the greatest American songwriters of the second half of the 20th century.  His voice is also the aural equivalent of nails on a chalkboard.  There are very few Dylan songs that I can stand to hear him sing, let alone prefer to hear him sing.  (The only exceptions that come to mind is "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,"  and "The Times They Are A'Changin," either of which I cannot imagine anyone else singing.)  The Birds made their name, at least early on, by covering Dylan's work.  Their versions of "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "My Back Pages" are poppier, more intelligible than Dylan's. (I know for a lot of people that's not a feature but a bug.)  You can hear them without cringing.  And many performers have made lovely versions of "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right."  (My two favorite may be Johnny Cash's and Eddie From Ohio's.)  And of course, Jimi Hendrix's version of "All Along the Watchtower" is iconic.

I also have a preference for the Bangles' version of "A Hazy Shade of Winter."  It contains an edge that is only hinted at in the Simon & Garfunkel original.  It's not simply a matter of "pretty" either:  Johnny Cash's version of "Hurt" and Willie Nelson's cover of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" are not pretty, but they are evocative and beautiful.

Then there is my all-time favorite "cover": Eric Clapton's Unplugged version of "Layla."  It fascinates me that an artist can come up with two such different versions of the same song, with such different nuances:  the original was a young man's song, full of passion and desire.  He is going to die if he does not get this woman, and he thinks he means it.  The newer version sounds like a man who has been around the block more than once: yes, he finds this woman desirable, but if she rejects him, he won't die, he'll probably just hit on the next pretty face at the party.

Actually, I am wrong.  My really all-time favorite cover is the Benzedrine Monks reimagining of  "Smells Like Teen Spirit": Nirvana performed in the style of Gregorian Chant.**  I loved it, because aside from the amusement value, it was the first time I had clearly heard the lyrics of the song.

So, what do you think? What songs are better when they've been recycled?

*It should be noted that "I'm a Believer" was written by Neil Diamond.  I have never heard a version of the song done by him, so I can't know if it is better than Smash Mouth's or not.

**There is also Luther Wright and the Wrongs bluegrass version of Pink Floyd's The Wall, but the less said about that the better.