You might be surprised to read this: the original version of “Respect” was by Otis Redding, not Aretha Franklin. But even Redding realized what had happened moments after he heard Aretha’s version. As he put it at the time, “She just took that song away from me.” And so she did.

Every once in a while, a great cover, or a great use of a song, simply transforms it from one thing to another: “Respect” went from being an Otis Redding song to an Aretha Franklin song; …; and “The Final Countdown” went from being a relatively forgotten 80′s anthem (from the band “Europe”) to the theme song of Gob Bluth’s magic shows.

Another version of this phenomenon occurred on June 10, 2007, during the final moments of the final episode of The Sopranos. For anybody who’s seen it, Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” will never be quite the same song again. If you’ve seen it, watch it again below. But if you haven’t (lucky you!) start with episode 1.

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