Cover Songs That Could Have Only Happened in the Year 2000

On Friday, we published a massive list of the 50 best cover songs from the year 2000. Some were emblematic of that year’s musical trends, but most could just as easily have come out yesterday.

So today, a postscript: Covers that came out that year that just scream “2000.” If you were paying attention to music then, you will recognize many of these trends. There’s the ska revival. There’s rap-rock. There are, of course, boy bands.

Smash Mouth and Aaron Carter both make appearances. So do the Vengaboys. Madonna covers “American Pie”; Fred Durst covers Public Enemy. Someone sings a ska cover of “Take On Me” while sitting on the toilet. It was just that sort of year.

To be fair, these covers are not all terrible…but most are. Many were also among the year’s biggest hits, proving that people in the year 2000 exhibited no better taste in music than they did picking a president. And a few you probably didn’t even know were covers in the first place.

Relive your most traumatic memories of music back then below. Bonus hall-of-shame points if the cover has a music video featuring bleached tips or JNCOs.

Aaron Carter – I Want Candy (Bow Wow Wow cover)

ATC – Around the World (La La La La La) (Ruki Vverh! cover)

Atomic Kitten – Daydream Believer (The Monkees cover)

Baha Men – Who Let the Dogs Out (Anslem Douglas cover)

Britney Spears – [I Can’t Get No] Satisfaction (Rolling Stones cover)

B☆Witched – Play That Funky Music (Wild Cherry cover)

Dynamite Hack – Boyz In The Hood (Eazy E cover)

Everclear – Brown-Eyed Girl (Van Morrison cover)

Guano Apes – Big in Japan (Alphaville cover)

Gwyneth Paltrow with Babyface – Just My Imagination (The Temptations cover)

Janez Detd. – Take on Me (A-Ha cover)

Madonna – American Pie (Don McLean cover)

NSYNC – Just Got Paid (Johnny Kemp cover)

Rednex – The Devil Went Down to Georgia (Charlie Daniels Band cover)

Rollergirl – Eternal Flame (The Bangles cover)

Smash Mouth – Do It Again (Steely Dan cover)

Staind ft Fred Durst – Bring the Noise (Public Enemy cover)

Twiztid – People Are Strange (The Doors cover)

Vengaboys – Sha-La-La-La-La (Walkers cover)

Wyclef Jean – Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd cover)

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