I don't know if surpassing the original is what we should be looking at here. If an artist does something different with the song, I don't believe it's "better" as much as it is just "different". "All along the Watch Tower" as performed by Dylan, Henrix, or Michael Hedges is equally great in all of these recorded versions. It's the covers which only mimic the originals that I don't appreciate. Metallica's recent cover of Bob Segar's "Turn the Page" for example. Just my opinion....