SecondHandSongs: The Ultimate Database for Cover Versions and Musical Lineage
In the modern age of streaming, we often take for granted that a song belongs to the person singing it. But if you have ever heard a famous track and thought, “Wait, this sounds like a different era,” or “Isn’t this originally by someone else?”—you have stumbled into the fascinating world of cover versions. Enter SecondHandSongs. This unique, community-driven database is the Internet’s definitive guide to who covered whom, creating a vast musical family tree that spans over a century of recorded sound.
Cover songs have been around since the early days of music. In the 1920s and 1930s, artists like Bing Crosby and Billie Holiday recorded cover versions of popular songs to introduce them to new audiences. The 1950s and 1960s saw a surge in cover songs, with artists like Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, and The Beatles recording their own versions of existing songs.
- Straight Cover (faithful rendition)
- Arrangement (changed style/instrumentation)
- Translation (lyrics changed to another language)
- Medley (part of a mix)
- Sample (short segment reused)
- Live Only (no studio release)
The platform maintains a strict and useful distinction between performers:
itself as an evolving entity. By cataloging over 76,000 covers and original versions, the platform allows researchers to trace how a single melody—such as Julie London's 1955 "Cry Me a River"—can be reimagined by hundreds of artists across generations. ResearchGate Preserving Musical Lineage
SecondHandSongs vs. Other Databases
How does it stack up against competitors?
3. For the Curious Listener
Perhaps the most common user is the person who hears a song on a commercial or in a movie and says, “That’s not the original, but I don’t know who did it.” For example, many millennials first heard “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston, not Dolly Parton. A quick search on SecondHandSongs reveals the truth, and then opens a rabbit hole: "Wait, Dolly also wrote 'Jolene' – how many people covered that?"