Our site is far from comprehensive and doesn't claim to be.

March 24, 2022 11:39 AM

Second Hand Songs is a project that collects information about covers of recorded music. They also have a radio show featuring curated covers.

(There are many previous links, but they all seem to be references to specific songs rather than the site itself. Apologies if this counts as a duplicate.)

posted by eotvos (22 comments total)

This is amazing!

I don't really understand how they do it, but the "Versions" tab for a song like "Streets of Laredo" (tracing it back through St. James Infirmary and The Unfortunate Rake, back to The Bard of Armagh in 1847) is a treasure. I absolutely do not have time for this, but thank you!
posted by The Bellman at 11:55 AM on March 24, 2022

Well I just found out that Me and My Uncle was originally recorded by Judy Collins and that Bob Weir somehow made it his own. I guess repeated playing in concert. Ah, Bob and his cowboy songs...
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:59 AM on March 24, 2022 [2 favorites]

This is really interesting. It will be my latest time suck. Thanks for posting.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:00 PM on March 24, 2022

Well I just found out that Me and My Uncle was originally recorded by Judy Collins and that Bob Weir somehow made it his own. I guess repeated playing in concert. Ah, Bob and his cowboy songs...

And written by John Phillips, of the Mamas and Papas, who apparently was so drunk that he had no memory of the song the next day.

Before Weir got a hold of it, Joni Mitchell did a version as well ...

Also, awesome site - thanks!
posted by chbrooks at 12:29 PM on March 24, 2022 [1 favorite]

When I stumbled upon this site, my first search was for Melody in A Major / It's All in the Game. Finding 141 results and something like fifty audio tracks made me fall in love with this beautiful obsession.

(Keeping to a similar style, their "Nature Boy" entry is pretty disappointing. I fear I'm going to have to make an account and add to it.)
posted by eotvos at 12:59 PM on March 24, 2022 [1 favorite]

MetaFilter: is pretty disappointing. I fear I'm going to have to make an account and add to it.
posted by hippybear at 1:02 PM on March 24, 2022 [8 favorites]

Oh. Oh God.

My left eye is twitching.

I now feel compelled to discover new cover horrors beyond those I already mentioned (in another thread).

Note: most of the time I just ignore covers. Some are good, some are bad, some are execrable and deserve calumny. I don’t have an encyclopedic knowledge of music, just an Apple account and free time.

And a severe mistrust of anyone doing covers of 80’s music.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 2:24 PM on March 24, 2022

I do regard studio produced covers as being in a different league of seriousness from concert covers.
posted by hippybear at 2:27 PM on March 24, 2022 [2 favorites]

This is a great website and I look at it all the time. Glad to see it on MeFi!
posted by josher71 at 2:31 PM on March 24, 2022

So. Many. Muppets. Covers.
posted by ikahime at 3:25 PM on March 24, 2022 [2 favorites]

I love covers! "Discover the originals" is great - I had no idea about most of the originals I just found.
posted by bendy at 5:15 PM on March 24, 2022

Wicked Game by Tangerine Dream. Don't bother.
posted by ovvl at 5:57 PM on March 24, 2022

This is amazing, and what I didn't know I needed until now. Thanks!
posted by cgg at 5:58 PM on March 24, 2022

Just the other day I was looking up "What a Fool Believes", which was written by Kenny Loggins (!) and Michael McDonald. Loggins recorded it first, not a great rendering, and then of course McDonald recorded his take with the Doobies a few months later and hit #1.

But....is that a cover when you wrote it? Hmm.
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:22 PM on March 24, 2022

What an amazing site!

Cry Me A River: 588 versions!

And they list the cover of Calvary Cross recorded by The Potato Eaters, one of the bands on the tiny little indie record label I ran 20 years ago, suggesting to me that it's pretty darn comprehensive.

And oh wow: This Could Be the Start of Something has been covered by both Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye?

Actually, the Database Statistics page is fascinating. The "Exclude Christmas songs" checkbox is a nice touch. OH - the most covered authors page is amazing.

For those who would enjoy an enthusiast's guided tour to some cool covers, may I point you to a couple of episodes of the Strong Songs podcast: Strong Covers Volume 1 and Strong Covers volume 2?

This is a wonderful thing, and I'm so glad to know it exists (and how did I not already know it exists? there are SO MANY THINGS on the internet!).

Thank you so much for posting this, eotvos!
posted by kristi at 6:44 PM on March 24, 2022 [3 favorites]

Pleased to see Florence + the Machine’s cover of “Addicted to Love” as an Editor’s Pick here. It sounds like Raphael’s cherubim getting into a brawl at a saloon. 👩‍🍳💋
posted by armeowda at 8:20 PM on March 24, 2022

Wow, this is very cool. I was unsurprised to find that "Tom Sawyer" is seemingly Rush's most-covered song, but "Limelight" being a not-distant second was somehow a little unexpected to me.
posted by DoctorFedora at 10:35 PM on March 24, 2022

Answer songs are even more interesting. Here's a good place to start investigating them.
posted by Paul Slade at 1:42 AM on March 25, 2022 [3 favorites]

As of 2013, Dave Hirsh had identified 325 recordings of Stagger Lee. It seems safe to assume there'd be well over 400 by now.
posted by Paul Slade at 10:47 AM on March 25, 2022

Wow, just from the front page, I've discovered Scary Pockets.

Thanks for this eotvos!!
posted by storybored at 10:48 AM on March 25, 2022

Oh, fabulous!
posted by rmd1023 at 2:24 PM on March 25, 2022

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Coverville. Database isn't as nice, but the podcast is great.
posted by KingCake at 9:02 PM on March 25, 2022 [1 favorite]