Cool cover song of the week...

There was a time in the mid-2000s that you couldn't escape hearing Gnarls Barkley's Crazy on the radio. Between the frequent refrain of "Does that make me crazy" and Cee-Lo Green's soaring falsetto, the song was a huge hit, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and topping the charts in countries including the United Kingdom, Denmark, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand. Rolling Stone named the song the best song of 2006 (as well as the #1 song on its list of the 100 top songs of the decade), and it won a Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance in 2007.

I first heard of Ray Lamontagne when I worked at Barnes & Noble in 2004-2005 while personal cheffing. Lamontagne's soulful growl, in full effect on his debut CD Trouble, was heard quite often at the bookstore, as it was a CD in heavy rotation for a while. (I was lucky enough to be able to get my hands on the preview CD once it left the store's rotation, and played the heck out of it for some time.) His rendition of Crazy brings his full vocal arsenal to bear, bringing something completely different to the song. And as much as I love the original, I'm a big fan of Lamontagne's version.

Here's Ray Lamontagne's rendition:

Here's Violent Femmes' cover version, repaying Gnarls Barkley for their cover of Gone Daddy Gone:

And here's the original:

Check out my previous Cool Cover Songs of the Week:

Borderline by The Counting Crows

How Deep Is Your Love by The Bird and The Bee

Life in a Northern Town by Sugarland, Little Big Town, and Jake Owen

I Don't Want to Talk About It by The Indigo Girls

Only You by Joshua Radin

Pure Imagination by Maroon 5

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by Blake Stratton

What a Fool Believes by Neri Per Caso

Poker Face by Daughtry

Back to Black by Ronnie Spector

I Will Survive by Cake

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by The Stereophonics

Rolling in the Deep by John Legend

Go Your Own Way by Lissie

Winner Takes it All by McFly

What a Wonderful World by Joey Ramone

Careless Whisper by Seether

I Walk the Line by Live

Dear Prudence by Siouxsie and The Banshees

Smooth Criminal by Alien Ant Farm

Who Wants to Live Forever by Breaking Benjamin

Redemption Song by Chris Cornell and Audioslave

Love Me Tender by Chris Isaak and Brandi Carlile

All You Need is Love by The Flaming Lips

Lovesong by Adele

I Love It by Robin Thicke

Billie Jean by The Civil Wars

Across the Universe by The Scorpions

Can't Hold Us by Pentatonix

Wicked Game by James Vincent McMorrow

Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) by The Postal Service

Jolene by The White Stripes

Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) by Justin Timberlake

More Than This by Norah Jones

Royals by Mayer Hawthorne

I Can't Go for That (No Can Do) by The Bird and The Bee

Ain't No Sunshine by Silent Rider