Multiple Versions of the Same Song

Each of these posts focuses on one great song that has been recorded/performed in many different ways by the original artist(s) and others.

Playlist: Personal Jesus

"Personal Jesus" is Depeche Mode's 23rd UK single, released on 29 August 1989, and the first single from the album Violator. The single reached No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was the first single to make the US Top 40 for the band since their 1984 single "People Are People" and was their first gold-certified single in the US (quickly followed by the band's subsequent single, "Enjoy the Silence"). Since its release, the song has been covered by numerous artists including Gravity Kills, Marilyn Manson, Jerry Williams, Lollipop Lust Kill, Nina Hagen, and Johnny Cash. [Wikipedia]

Space Oddity

"Space Oddity" is a song written and performed by David Bowie and released as a music single in 1969. It is about the launch of Major Tom, a fictional astronaut; its title alludes to the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. The lyrics have also been seen to lampoon the failed British space programme.The song appears on the album David Bowie (also known as Space Oddity). The song was awarded the 1969 Ivor Novello Award, together with Peter Sarstedt's "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?". "Space Oddity" became so well known that Bowie's second album, originally released as David Bowie in the UK (like his first album), was renamed after the track for its 1972 reissue by RCA Records, and has since become known by this name. "Space Oddity" gained in popularity after it was covered by astronaut Chris Hadfield, who performed the song while aboard the International Space Station in 2013. Bowie would later revisit his Major Tom character in the songs "Ashes to Ashes" and "Hallo Spaceboy". German singer Peter Schilling's 1983 hit "Major Tom (Coming Home)" is written as a retelling of the song. [Wikipedia]