16. "Blitzkrieg Bop"
At the corner of Bowery and Second in New York, there should be a panel of pure black granite, à la the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. At the top will be inscribed "Si Monumentum Requiris Circumspice" ("If you seek a memorial, look around"), with the names of the bands who should have never covered "Blitzkrieg Bop": Skid Row, Rob Zombie, The Beautiful South, Hanoi Rocks, and untold anonymous groups appearing at a bar near you. May we never forget.
17. "Brown Eyed Girl"
Possibly the only song on this list that's in President Bush's iPod, "Brown Eyed Girl" has, if nothing else, been played to death by your local oldies station. According to BMI, it has been played an astounding 8 million times on radio and TV since debuting 40 years ago. Please, bands, there's no reason to add to that… Not that it's stopped groups like Rockapella, Jimmy Buffett, Everclear, Boyz Night Out, and something called the Caribbean Magic Steelband, who included it on the album Island Favorites. Well, Van Morrison's native Ireland is technically an island…
18. "One"
Harry Nilsson wrote it, Three Dog Night made it famous, and dozens of bands beat the crap out of "One" (a.k.a. "One is the loneliest number") for years thereafter. Aimee Mann reclaimed it for the sane populace with her gentle cover (featured heavily in Magnolia), which erased years of abuse, including a version by Dokken. It would be best for everyone involved if Mann's version provided a bookend to Nilsson's.
19. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"
Two covers of The Rolling Stones' staple have brought incredible new life to this clear classic: Devo's jittery new-wave shot, and Cat Power's deliriously slow, wandering version. Hundreds of others have attempted to recreate the power of Keith Richards' massively recognizable lead and Mick Jagger's pouting about the life of a rocking man. There's no shame in leaving this one to the masters (and karaoke bars).
20. "Wonderwall"
Every time earnest coffeehouse troubadours strike the simple chords of "Wonderwall" and feel its majesty coursing through their veins, an angel dies. Just because a song is easy to play doesn't mean it's easy to play well. Ryan Adams does a suitable version, adding some soulful smoke, but other singer-songwriters haven't had any luck, and there's even a cottage industry of half-serious covers (Radiohead, Robbie Williams, Mike Flowers Pops). Write your own "Wonderwall," coffeehouse crooner.
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