Covers as good as (or perhaps even better than?) the original

Well, fine. That would still depend on your taste. It's one thing to sing a karaoke version of a great song, and it's an entirely different thing for musicians to make a refreshing version without listeners thinking 1) they're creatively drained, 2) they have absolutely zero talent, 3) and they're just riding on a legendary musician's popularity. 

After listening to these covers, I hope you agree they did justice to the original hits. And here is where I have to say kudos to artists who still manage to serve us something unexpected in the golden age of formulaic pop and unprecedented piracy. 

DISCLAIMER: I'm a bit of a new wave junkie, so pardon me if some of the songs here may be a decade older than you. Listen and enjoy. :) 

1) The Ghost In You

The Psychedelic Furs to Duncan Sheik

Listen to the original song here

The Ghost In You is one of my favorite new wave tracks so I never thought any cover would be good enough; it always had to be The Psychedelic Furs for me. Written by Richard and Tim Butler, the song earned spots in the U.S. and U.K. pop charts in 1984. By the '90s, the Counting Crows covered the song in grungy acoustic fashion for the film Clueless (1995) which brought Alicia Silverstone, then an unknown teenage actress, international success. Almost a decade later, singer/producer Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray made a version with arrangement and vocals heavily enhanced by I-don't-know-what-you-call-em (technology that makes that buzzing sound) for the comedy film 50 First Dates (2004) which starred Adam Sandler as the love-struck marine biologist in desperate pursuit of Drew Barrymore, an art teacher inflicted with anterograde amnesia (yes, I had to Google that). Another Ghost In You rendition was recorded by a lad named Matthew Puckett (good lord, I wouldn't have heard this version if I didn't do all this surfing!); his haunting vocals and raw acoustic guitar matched the theme for the North American TV horror series Being Human (2011). 

Needless to say, a lot of covers have been made and it's only a matter of time until somebody finally records a version that throws old and new listeners off their seats. And yes, I believe the best version was recorded by Duncan Sheik (and I have to say that Puckett guy gets 2nd place for his eerie cover). 

Released in 2009, The Ghost In You is the last track in the album Whisper House. Though the album did not receive as much acclaim as other Sheik albums, the cover is most definitely an unexpected gem out of 10 tracks. This song is quiet as a windy summer afternoon by a still lake, a pond, (or a stagnant creek, will you?). It's the kind of sound you hear when you look out the classroom window to daydream about that someone. Hear the whispering vocals, the piano’s rhythm delicate as glass crystals, and the guitar's gentle acoustic strums as it stirs lives "inside you", whilst "the time moves..." as if you knew what Duncan Sheik meant by "ghosts" and why they won't fade.

Listen here