post thirteen.

Some songs/artists just need to be left alone.
For example, we listened to Piece of My Heart in class today. We listened to the Janis version, which was so full of raw emotion and feelings. She meant what she was singing, she was ANGRY.
Then we listened to the Faith Hill version. Just alone, it's hard to imitate Janis's emotions and it's hard to put the same feeling into the song, but when you add a cheesy 90s music video and a soft, country voice, it's almost laughable. The song should be left alone, because no one can sing it like Janis.

Another example is Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". I've never been a big fan of Nirvana, but I think that song should go untouched. It's too good to try to be imitated. Observe the version above by Miley Cyrus.
Covers are great in some cases, for example, The Byrds did a fantastic cover of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man". The Beatles did plenty of covers, and they were all good. Some songs, however, should remain untouched in my opinion, because they just have too much emotion that can't be imitated.