It's rarely if ever that I feature bands from the sixties, but I'm going to make an exception for this one, because in order to demonstrate the differences in the versions of this song I have to refer to the original. Released by Herman's Hermits in 1966 the song was a big hit, and has been covered since of course, but the version I want to put side-by-side with the original here is one I heard on one of my favourite TV shows, “Sons of Anarchy”. It's performed by Joshua James and the Forest Rangers (whom I have to assume is the same JJ from the Runaway Trains, if I'm wrong let me know), and though it retains the downbeat pessimism and fatalism of the original, it's played in a downbeat way, whereas the original is played like a pop song, happy, uptempo, light and breezy, belying the lyric.
James changes the song into an ominous, depressed piece of introspection --- yeah, I know: my favourite word. Don't you know any others? --- with a vocal that's almost mumbled, and a great guitar breakout to end the song. Though sticking to the original theme and idea of the song, I believe he does a great job updating it and interpreting the song in his own unique way.
Anyway, as ever here are the two versions for you to compare, original first followed by Joshua's cover.