Which accurately describes how copyright applies to a cover song?

When performing a cover song, you still need to be sure that you have the permission of the songwriter or composer.
This is protected by fair use, so you don’t need permission from the original content creator.
A cover song is considered a transformative work, so you don’t need permission from the original content creator.
You may want to change some of the lyrics in your cover song, so you would avoid copyright issues.

The correct answer is:

When performing a cover song, you still need to be sure that you have the permission of the songwriter or composer.