Different versions of the same song may carry the same lyrics or even the same music, but the style and character of whoever is performing is apparent. Maggie's Farm by Bob Dylan is extremely a Bob Dylan song; Maggie's Farm by Rage Against The Machine sounds exactly like a Rage Against The Machine song.
I'm smart and cultured enough to have a favourite symphony but not smart and cultured enough to name more than a handful, and I need some help to decipher the titles of each movement that state the pace (in Italian), the key, and the chronology among the composer's work.
I have a few versions Tchaikovsky's 6th symphony, and despite the composition being established and written down, you can hear the conductor's style clearly in every performance. My preferred recording is by the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein (no, I will not accept that my preferred version being from New York as totally fucking obvious) because Bernstein's interpretation of 'Adagio' (slow) feels good. Mravinsky with the Leningrad Philharmonic was the version originally recommended to me, but it's far too lively. It almost feels rushed.
I think I'm moments away from listening to every recording I can find, trying to find that perfectly paced performance.