7 Hit Songs Reimagined in a Different Genre
- Kristen Petronio
- 8 hours ago
- 6 min read
There are so many factors that go into a song to convey its message. The tone of the vocals can make a song feel like a love song or a breakup song depending on how it’s sung. An upbeat song can mean a happy song, while a slower ballad can signal it’s going to be sad. Yet there are plenty of happy sounding songs with sad lyrics. A rapid drumbeat can be found in a song of anger, of joy, and even sadness. It all depends on the tone.
When we hear how a song is played, we catch onto its meaning based on all these factors. What’s even more interesting is when a song is taken and reimagined in a new genre or interpreted in a new way that makes you look at the song in a completely different light. Covers aren’t anything new, and artists will continue to cover music from other artists with songs that impacted them. The most interesting of those covers is when the artist chooses to do something different with their interpretation, making it its own variation entirely. Can you think of any? Here are a few genre re-imaginings that we want to uplift and share – because they’re awesome!
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” - Shaboozey
While Shaboozey’s song “Tipsy” isn’t a cover in the standard sense, it does sample lyrics and the hook from J-Kwon's “Tipsy.” It may not even seem obvious at first that the songs share lyrics because the country version that Shaboozey released feels so different from J-Kwon's version. Reviewer Chris Molanphy of Slate perfectly explains why Shaboozey’s rendition is so popular, surpassing the popularity of the 2004 rap song: "-[it] fuses the kid-friendly counting lyrics from J-Kwon’s original rap hit ... with more adult concerns that reflect our current national malaise.” Because of the subject matter of the lyrics changing from a party atmosphere to a person drinking to cope with how expensive it is to live, they feel like two very different songs. Fun fact: “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” tied “Old Town Road” as the longest-running-number-one song of all time on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Billie Jean” - Chris Cornell
Sometimes, a song that is high-energy fun can be performed in such a different way that it makes you look at the lyrics differently. This is what happened for many after Chris Cornell released his stripped-down version of the Michael Jackson hit “Billie Jean.” It wasn’t even that Cornell changed the lyrics. It was that by slowing the song down, people saw the lyrics in a new light that suddenly felt very depressing. That also plays into the way that Cornell imbued so much emotion and angst into his rendition. His grunge, acoustic version feels so different from Jackson’s original, but both versions hold your attention.
“Hurt” - Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash’s rendition of “Hurt” is one that etches into your very being after hearing it. In fact, I didn’t realize this version was even a cover until I began research because this version was played more often on radio stations than the Nine Inch Nails original. “Hurt” at its core is about self-loathing, a feeling of abandonment. Cash’s version takes it from a young man’s POV and becomes a song from an older man looking back on his life. What’s interesting is that when Cash recorded this cover, he’d fallen from grace, dropped from his label and was in recovery from a relapse among other health issues. Def Jams cofounder Rick Rubin approached him, giving him an opportunity to record “any song you want. Just you and the guitar” (Source).
The accompanying music video features archival footage and other clips from Cash’s life, serving as a mini-biography. Regret from a POV when you have your whole life ahead of you versus looking back on a full life lived with regret are two different levels of harshness. At his older age, his voice is weakened from his peak, but it’s still able to convey so much emotion and absolutely destroy the listener. Less than a year after the album this is featured on released, Cash passed away. If you haven’t seen the music video yet, do yourself a favor and check it out.
“Zombie” - Bad Wolves
This is such a cool reimagining because originally, Bad Wolves was going to have Dolores O’Riordan of The Cranberries reprise her vocals on their cover of the song. Sadly, the day she was supposed to come in to record, she passed away. So, they decided in her memory to donate proceeds from the song to O’Riordan’s children. The Cranberries version has an indie feel to it while Bad Wolves reimagines it in rock/metal. “Zombie” is a protest song about The Troubles, a 30-year ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland. The song calls out the brutal way innocent children are brought into conflict. Bad Wolves took the subject matter and looked at it from a modern lens where war and conflict continue to rage worldwide. They even change the lyric, “it’s the same old theme since 1916” to “it’s the same old theme in two thousand eighteen” when the song was released. Tommy Vext of Bad Wolves said of O’Riordan and the song, “Her lyrics, confronting the collateral damage of political unrest capture the same sentiment we wanted to express a quarter century later.”
“Hey Ya” - Sleep Token
Anyone who’s ever looked deeper into the lyrics of “Hey Ya” will know that despite its very upbeat, dance vibe, it’s a pretty dark song about staying in a relationship even when you aren’t happy out of fear of being alone. So, the slow, melancholic, acoustic version by Sleep Token isn’t too off base when you think about it. Yet this version makes you sit in the lyrics more and understand just how depressing this song is. You can feel the pain behind the lyrics more than ever. While Outkast’s version is a little more subtle, especially when Andre 3000 calls out his listeners with the line, “Ya’ll don’t wanna hear me. You just wanna dance”, Sleep Token’s version lays the heartbreaking elements of the lyrics bare for the audience to take in. There’s no room for misinterpretation for what the song is trying to convey.
“Satisfaction” - Britney Spears
Did you ever expect the Rolling Stones hit “Satisfaction” to get a pop star re-imagining by Britney Spears? While both songs talk about growing tired of being expected to stick to the status quo, one is a lot more sexually charged in nature (and it’s not Britney’s version). Spears changes the lyrics to better fit her with lyrics changing from “a man comes on and tells me/How white my shirts can be/But he can't be a man 'cause he doesn't smoke/The same cigarettes as me” to “that girl comes on and tells me/How tight my skirts should be/She can't tell me who to be/'Cause I've got my own identity.” Reimagining the song into the pop space makes you look at the lyrics and interpret it from a pop star’s point of view. “Can’t Go No Satisfaction” is less about being bored with what society is expecting you to care about and more about the expectations and pressures put on a pop star. There are theories that Spears was inspired to cover this song not by the Rolling Stones version but by the jazz funk version released by Otis Redding since she danced to his version in a video on Instagram. That iteration also changed the song to have a different vibe that’s worth checking out.
“Call Me Maybe” - Jpegmafia
Here’s another instance of an artist taking an upbeat pop song and slowing it down, forcing people to sit with the lyrics and see their meaning in a new light. On the surface, “Call Me Maybe” is a funny song about a girl really into a boy she just met and wants to hook up with. When jpegmafia covers it, singing slowly with a low-fi beat behind it, suddenly it can be interpreted a few ways. In one, it’s about desperation for a person, latching onto the first person who they saw out of loneliness. In another, it’s from a creepy dude who is fixated on a woman who has no interest in him. You can make your own interpretation, but his version takes Carly Rae Jepsen’s song and reimagines it into a completely different vibe.
The way a song can hold a different meaning depending on how it’s presented is such a fascinating phenomenon. A song like “Hey Ya” can be a club dance hit or a melancholic ballad. A song like “Hurt” can be a look at what little has come from life thus far or a look back at what little has come from life. Which of these genre reimaginings had you never heard of before this blog? What’s your favorite song reimagining? Let me know in the comments!
Thanks to the following resources for helping me put this blog together...
Written by Kristen Petronio
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