In reading the obscure rock songs thread, Grestarian mentioned the song When the Bullet Hits the Bone by Golden Earring.
Not being a huge Golden Earring fan, I figured he was referring to the song, Twilight Zone, which has the line “Soon you will come to know / When the bullet hits the bone.” Nope different song completely.
In the song Fonder and Blonder, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers refer back to their song (when known as The Refreshments), Down Together, with the line “Cars break down and people break down / And other things break down too”
What other bands recycle lyrics for completely unrelated songs?
The very end of the song 1985 (at least, it did on my old 45) has a snippet of Band on the Run. Maybe not quite what you’re looking for.
Didn’t Sting do something solo with some older Police song? Not the unplugged Roxanne, but some tongue in cheek stuff.
In “The Punk and the Godfather” by the Who, the lyrics go: “I’m the punk with the stutter. My my my my my mmmm my my my GGGGG-g-g-g-g generation.” It is, of course, a reference to their “My Generation.”
Could you be thinking of him singing “every breath you take” (along with “every move you make” and “every cake you bake”) at the end of “Love Is the Seventh Wave” (from his first solo album)?
The Police song “Oh My God” reuses the lyric “It’s a big enough umbrella, but it’s always me who ends up getting wet” from the earlier “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.” (Hope I’m remembering that right.)
Jethro Tull’s “Cross-Eyed Mary” mentions the the “Aqualung” character, which preceded it on the Aqualung album.
One of my favorite references to a previous lyric is Veruca Salt’s “Volcano Girls” who addressed questions about their previous hit “The Seether” with the verse:
I told you 'bout the Seether before You know, the one that’s neither or nor Well, here’s another clue if you please The Seether’s Louise ( last name Post, Veruca Salt guitarist and vocalist)
which of course is a play on The Beatles’ song “Glass Onion” which contains the verse:
I told you about the walrus and me, man You know that we’re as close as can be, man Well, here’s another clue for you all The walrus was Paul
which refers to “I am the Walrus” (Koo Koo Ka Choo!)
“Glass Onion” also refers to “Strawberry Fields Forever”, “There’s A Place”, “Within You Without You”, “I’m Looking Through You”, “Lady Madonna”, “The Fool on the Hill” and “Fixing a Hole”.
How about Dire Straits, Romeo and Juliet:
Juliet says, “Hey, it’s Romeo, you nearly gave me a heart attack”
He’s underneath the window, she’s singing
“Hey, la, my boyfriend’s back”
Blue Oyster Cult had two different songs with identical lyrics.
Seriously, their song “I’m On the Lamb, But I Ain’t No Sheep” has exactly the same lyrics (all about the Canadian Mounties) as “Heavy Metal: The Red and the Black,” but the two songs have different music.
Roger Clyne is a fantastic (comedic) lyricist, even funnier is the reference included in the aforementioned “Down Together”
*We could all wear ripped up clothes
And pretend that we were Dead Hot Workshop
*
which was poking fun at another local band they toured with as an opening act and whose guitarist Steve Larson ended up playing with Clyne from 1998-2009 when he retooled the group as Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers.
Rush’s Prince By-tor (“By-tor and the Snow Dog”) reappears in “The Necromancer Part III: Return of the Prince” but as a hero rather than the evil knight from the previous song.
