Cool cover song of the week...

I've been a huge fan of Queen for as long as I can remember. There wasn't a camp tournament or event that didn't involve some chanting of We Will Rock You or playing We Are the Champions, and once the ill-fated film version of Flash Gordon was released, you can bet I didn't stop singing "Flash—ah, ah...savior of the universe" for quite some time.

I first saw the movie Highlander in the mid-1980s, and I remember hearing (and liking) the song Who Wants to Live Forever, but I don't know if I realized that Queen sang it until years later. It's so haunting, the lyrics are really poetic and poignant, and Freddie Mercury was in fantastic voice for this song.

The hard rock band Breaking Benjamin covered the song in 2005 for a Queen tribute album called Killer Queen. While I wasn't honestly wowed by a lot of the songs on the album, their version of Who Wants to Live Forever stood out for me, both for its harder-edged treatment and lead singer Benjamin Burnley's vocals. It's still fairly faithful to the original without being quite as haunting.

Here's Breaking Benjamin's version:


And for a trip down memory lane, here's Queen's official video for the song:


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