Covers that are better than the original

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

Any Scott Walker cover of a Jaques Brel song. Scott Walker is the finest of any living vocalist IMO. He adds depth to any cover and Brel's songs were so well composed and lyrically imbibed.

What?!

Sorry, I hate to do this but I have to object simply because covering Brel means 99% of the work is done. The rest is simply subject to the cover artists tone and ability to hold a tune.

I know you could say this about 99% of all other covers but Brel is that 1% where the context of a song is absolutely Brel, so to cover Brel is simply to mimick Brel and to deviate from that only diminishes the overall quality of the song.