# A List of "Answer" Songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 20, 2010, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116 "2010-05-20T12:30:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116/41 "2010-05-20T18:11:28Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > I never knew until now that Pure Prairie League had recorded this. It was originally by Big Brother & the Holding Company (post-Janis), and released in 1970, when the song they were answering was still relatively current. Thanks for this. I remembered the title, but not the artist, and PPL came up first in a quick Google search. But somehow, that didn’t seem right to me. Your cite fixes it for me. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116/42 "2010-05-20T18:11:36Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > Although the OP didn’t actually provide a definition of “answer songs”, what’s generally meant by that term is when a song is deliberately written as a response to some other specific song. I don’t think any of these qualifies, although in each case, I’m sufficiently unfamiliar with the lyrics to at least one of the songs that I’m unable to say with certainty. Ooops. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116/43 "2010-05-20T18:14:53Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > Parody. > > Note that “My Guy” was released first. “My Girl” doesn’t really “answer” it in any way. There’s no relationship between the lyrics of the two songs beyond the basic theme of loving your SO – the theme of tens of thousands of songs. > > Again, “Up on the Roof” came first, and that title is quoted at the beginning of “Under the Boardwalk,” but there’s otherwise no specific relationship between the two songs. To me, the criteria for a true “” are stronger than this (e.g., similar plot lines, characters in common, etc.). > > Yes…this pair definitely qualifies! Okay, I’m officially discouraged from participating. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116/44 "2010-05-20T18:27:16Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Hank THompson’s Fifties country hit “The Wild Side of Life” inspired an answer song by Kitty Wells: “It Wasn’t Gos Who Made Honky Tonk Angels.” > > Thompson’s song laments a cheating woman, while Wells’ song suggests that, when a woman strays, it’s probably some man’s fault. The one I came in to mention. links: [The Wild Side of Life](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDz6T19linY&feature=related) - Hank Thompson [It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU_q2bSySJ4&feature=related) - Kitty Wells and here’s another: [Talkin’ Bout a Revolution](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKYWOwWAguk) - Tracy Chapman answered by: [Right Here Right Now](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z6dxQVhE8o) - Jesus Jones _A woman on the radio talks about revolution but it’s already passed her by_ ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116/45 "2010-05-20T18:29:57Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Okay, I’m officially discouraged from participating. Sorry. Not my intent, but I fall down on the anal side of things like this. And there are people, believe it or not, who are even worse than I am! ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116/46 "2010-05-20T18:38:26Z")
Oh, and this one was mentioned in another thread: [Imagine](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okd3hLlvvLw) - John Lennon answered by: [Not Everybody Has to Imagine](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zP0xYv0sZk&feature=PlayList&p=71C424140A2CD54D&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=2) - Mitch Benn ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116/47 "2010-05-20T19:05:30Z")
> [@descamisado](#): > > _All the Single Ladies_ (Beyoncé) > _Mrs. Robinson_ (The Beatles) Mrs.Robinson(Simon & Garfunkel),but you knew that. > [@astorian](#): > > It’s hard to be sure, but several of John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s Seventies songs seemed to be aimed at each other, and replying to perceived insults from the other (real or not). > > Rightly or wrongly, Lennon THOUGHT McCartney’s “Too Many People” was a slap at him, and that helped inspire Lennon’s “How Do You Sleep?” > > “Silly Love Songs” may have been a reply to Lennon’s quip in that song that McCartney’s tunes were “Muzak to my ears.” George threw in_Sue Me,Sue You Blues_ ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116/48 "2010-05-20T19:43:53Z")
Serve Somebody-- Bob Dylan [Serve Yourself](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUaZ2gYQPnk)– John Lennon ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116/49 "2010-05-20T20:12:21Z")
Deborah Coleman recorded “I’m a Woman,” a direct answer to Muddy Waters’s “Mannish Boy.” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116/50 "2010-05-20T20:32:57Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > Sorry. Not my intent, but I fall down on the anal side of things like this. And there are people, believe it or not, who are even worse than I am! Would you accept: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, the fizzy-pop version by Sedaka, and Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, the sad (and giant leaps better) ballad by the same? ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116/51 "2010-05-20T21:10:37Z")
“Major Tom (Coming Home)” by Peter Schilling: answer to “Space Oddity” by David Bowie ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116/52 "2010-05-20T22:14:45Z")
> [@MadTheSwine](#): > > Mrs.Robinson(Simon & Garfunkel),but you knew that. Looks like I should have just stuck with the _Sounds of Silence_ in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![drillrod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@drillrod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drillrod)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116/53 "2010-05-21T00:55:11Z")
I’ve always heard that Sting was so shocked by the widespread misinterpreting of **Every Breath You Take** as a romantic song, that he wrote **If you Love Somebody (Set Them Free)**. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116/54 "2010-05-21T02:04:48Z")
Roger Miller’s \*King of the Road \*was answered by Jody Miller’s (no relation) _Queen of the House_. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116/55 "2010-05-21T03:50:32Z")
It goes back a long way: Sir Walter Raleigh wrote “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd” in response to Marlowe’s “The Passionate Shepherd, to his Love”. OK, both were originally poems, but they’ve since been set to music. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116/56 "2010-05-21T04:12:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It goes back a long way: Sir Walter Raleigh wrote “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd” in response to Marlowe’s “The Passionate Shepherd, to his Love”. OK, both were originally poems, but they’ve since been set to music. Also, Jessie Pope’s “Who’s For The Game” and Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce Et Decorum Est,” and Alfred Edward Housman’s “Epitaph On An Army of Mercenaries” and Hugh McDiarmid’s “Another Epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries”. Also also, Salt N’ Pepa’s “Push It” and L’Trimm’s “Grab It.” ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116/57 "2010-05-21T04:34:47Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Would you accept: > > Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, the fizzy-pop version by Sedaka, and > Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, the sad (and giant leaps better) ballad by the same? Well… Since they’re both the same song, it’s hard to argue that one “answers” the other. It’s really just a remake with a new arrangement, made that much more unusual because the remake is by the same artist who did the original! I’m guessing that this is in fact the most successful instance of an original song and remake by the same artist charting twice. The original “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” made it to #1 in 1962; Sedaka’s remake charted at #8 in 1975-76. Warning…still more anality follows! When an artist records or performs his/her/their version of a song first released by another artist, it’s commonly called a “cover.” Indeed, bands will often distinguish between “originals” (songs one or more members wrote themselves) and “covers” (songs written by other artists) in their repertoires. However, when speaking of the chart performance of records, “cover” has a different meaning. In this case, it means a record that was recorded and released _contemporaneously_ with the original recording, in an attempt to “cash in” on the original song’s popularity of the moment (or perhaps even steal its thunder). This practice is rare nowadays, but was common in the first few years of rock ‘n’ roll. The most famous (or infamous) examples were Pat Boone’s sanitized versions of rock ‘n’ roll or R&B songs originally recorded by black artists (e.g., “Ain’t That a Shame,” “Tutti Frutti,” “Long Tall Sally,” etc.). The McGuire Sisters’ version of The Moonglows’ “Sincerely” is another example. In these instances and many others, the white, sanitized covers sold more records than the superior originals – and that was the idea. Back to definitions – if an artist records his/her/their version of a song that was originally a hit for another artist sometime after the fact – that is, after the original version has run its course and can no longer be considered a contemporary hit – then this is properly called a “remake” rather than a cover. Examples would be Earth, Wind and Fire’s version of The Beatles’ “Got to Get You Into My Life,” Diana Ross’s version of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” and (more recently) Counting Crows’ version of Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi.” Remakes all. Finally, this is strictly subjective, but I personally would not accept that Neil Sedaka’s ballad remake of his own “Breakin’ Up Is Hard to Do” is “giant leaps better” than the original. I feel quite the opposite. But that’s just me! ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116/58 "2010-05-21T13:36:50Z")
Neil Sedanka’s “Oh Carol!” about his high school girlfriend Carol Klein, who later changed her name to Carol Kin and recorded “Oh Neil!” Leslie Gore’S "It’s My Party (and I’ll cry if I want to} and “Now it’s Judy’s turn to cry.” Tom Paxton’s marvelous trilogy “Has Annie Been In Tonight?” “Annie’s Gonna Sing Her Song” and “When Annie Took My Home” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116/59 "2010-05-21T14:32:26Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > Well… > > Since they’re both the same song, it’s hard to argue that one “answers” the other. It’s really just a remake with a new arrangement, made that much more unusual because the remake is by the same artist who did the original! It’s an existential thing. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116/60 "2010-05-21T15:44:23Z")
What about Harry Chapin’s “Taxi” and “Sequel”? “Sequel” does follow along as a continuation of the story in “Taxi,” but it also answers the question of what happened to Harry and Sue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-answer-songs/540116.md?page=4)