The La's "There She Goes,"
performed by The Boo Radleys

The La's "There She Goes" became ubiquitous in the early '90s, aided in no small part by the prominent role the song played in Mike Meyers' film, So I Married and Axe Murderer.

But besides its tendency to get overplayed, there was little to argue against the song. Its shimmery layered guitars matched Lee Maver's scratchy voice exceptionally well, making "There She Goes" an effortless, perfect pop song.

But then The Boo Radleys — who also did "Boo! Faith," a terrific take on New Order's "True Faith" — took the song a step further and made it, unbelievably, perfect. The Boos shortened the song by about 30 seconds, substituted horns for the opening guitars and added handclaps throughout the melody, with a lilting vocal carrying the tune throughout.

It's hard to screw up a good song, so the band couldn’t have done that badly with already great material — Sixpence None The Richer also covered the song, receiving much more airplay in the United States than either The Boos or The La's version. And while Sixpence's version was fine, it's the weakest of the three.

But The Boo Radleys outdid a gem of a song, easily earning a place on our list.

— Stephanie Kuenn (smkuenn at gmail dot com)