# Different songs, same melody **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 11, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981 "2011-04-11T18:27:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![AmethystGmd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@AmethystGmd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmethystGmd)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981/121 "2017-10-10T01:21:39Z")
Already gone by Kelly Clarkson and Halo by Beyonce ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981/122 "2017-10-10T03:36:44Z")
(…arise, zombie minion…) There’s a distinct similarity between [Jimmy Reed’s “Big Boss Man”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na4E0Vy5J-A), [ELP’s “Tiger in a Spotlight”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5zuU7MFK7Q), and [the Sesame Street theme song.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvBU1a1HBUg) ---
**Author:** ![Jamesaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecd19e/32.png) [@Jamesaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamesaz)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981/123 "2017-12-02T05:26:05Z")
Back on the chain gang…Pretenders Fotos y recuerdos…Selena ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981/124 "2017-12-02T08:46:57Z")
Escape Club’s “Wild, Wild West” (1988) seems to borrow heavily from Elvis Costello’s “Pump It Up” (1978). ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981/125 "2017-12-02T19:55:26Z")
Sung to the tune of The Ballad of Gilligan’s Island, but not mentioned in #66 or #81 Amazing Grace ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981/126 "2017-12-02T20:00:11Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > . . . which is from the French song “Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman.” …which was written by Mozart ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981/127 "2017-12-02T20:13:13Z")
In addition to the other bits of classical music made into standard show songs, Nat King Cole’s “Nature Boy” is based on a phrase from a Dvorak piano trio - bit whether it was a conscious lift or not, I don’t know. Likewise, the Carlos Gardel tango song “Por Una Cabeza” (the tango in Scent of a Woman) opens with a phrase that occurs several times in at least one Mozart piece and I think another composer also used it. Oh yes, and there was a big “wall of sound” disco number whose name I forget that uses the “big tune” from the Saint-Saens Organ Symphony. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981/128 "2017-12-02T23:31:50Z")
The theme song for “[Where On Earth Is Carmen Sandiego](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGufyFt6zQc)” (probably one of the best time-travelling detective shows based on a computer game ever) is based on “[Die Entführung aus dem Serail](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqTuy9trijw).” Of course, it would be perfectly in character for Carmen Sandiego to steal Mozart’s music just so she could have a theme song. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2017, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981/129 "2017-12-03T00:29:44Z")
In 1961 the Don Shirley Trio had a minor hit with an instrumental version of the folk song Water Boy. [There’s a section](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR9d1l6oOxI) where the melody is nearly identical to the 1971 song [Put Your Hand in the Hand](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulh5Y71Qwk0), here performed by Ocean. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981/130 "2017-12-04T05:21:49Z")
> [@CelticKnot](#): > > …which was written by Mozart He wrote a set of variations on the tune. The tune itself was first published 20 years before his composition. > **[Ah! vous dirai-je, maman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ah!_vous_dirai-je,_maman)** > > "Ah! vous dirai-je, maman" (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}French: \[a vu diʁeʒ(ə) mamɑ̃\], English: Oh! Shall I tell you, Mama) is a popular children's song in France. Since its composition in the 18th century, the melody has been applied to numerous lyrics in multiple languages – the English-language song "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little S... ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981/131 "2017-12-04T18:31:39Z")
Frank Sinatra’s My Way uses the same tune as Claude Francois’s Comme d’Habitude The lyrics are completely different (beyond being in different languages). The French song, if I understand it correctly, is about a couple who have fallen out of love, but continue their day to day routines (comme d’habitude) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981/132 "2017-12-05T11:22:17Z")
> [@Jamesaz](#): > > Back on the chain gang…Pretenders > > Fotos y recuerdos…Selena I’ll Stand by You…Pretenders Estoy Aquí…Shakira Clearly the Pretenders enjoyed an ongoing musical dialogue with Latina female pop stars. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981/133 "2017-12-05T11:48:31Z")
Not precisely the same, but the Cal and UCLA fight songs are pretty darn close. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981/134 "2017-12-05T14:58:24Z")
> [@Kizarvexius](#): > > With the exception of the last two measures or so, the jingle for Slinky (It walks down stairs / alone or in pairs) is almost identical to the introduction of “If you want a receipt” from Gilbert and Sullivan’s _Patience_. Not exactly coincidental, but the old Slinky jingle sounds just like Ren and Stimpy’s [Log commercial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fQGPZTECYs). “What rolls down stairs alone or in pairs, and over your neighbor’s dog? What’s great for a snack, And fits on your back? It’s log, log, log It’s Lo-og, it’s Lo-og, it’s big, it’s heavy, it’s wood It’s Lo-og, it’s Lo-og, It’s better than bad, it’s good” ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981/135 "2017-12-05T16:01:35Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > …Nat King Cole’s “Nature Boy” is based on a phrase from a Dvorak piano trio… Isn’t that the second movement of the Piano [Quintet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SInKlybxgQw) no. 2? I had a listen to “Nature Boy” because the title sounded familiar. Yep, that’s the one, but I think it’s the first time I’ve seen the [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq0XJCJ1Srw). Captivating performance, I have to say. Nat looks like he’s about to melt (or _something_), and Oscar Moore’s playing is brilliant. Internet sez Moore laid bricks and ran a gas station in his later years. Died in Las Vegas in 1981, at 66 years of age. Damn. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981/136 "2017-12-05T16:12:22Z")
The tune for Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” and Adele’s “Rolling in the deep” are exactly the same, you can mash them together [perfectly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAdIjJR2BOM). ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981/137 "2017-12-05T18:11:32Z")
> [@jerez](#): > > Isn’t that the second movement of the Piano [Quintet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SInKlybxgQw) no. 2? I stand corrected and beg its pardon. ---
**Author:** ![CSHasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@CSHasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CSHasty)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981/138 "2018-10-26T08:39:57Z")
The beats sound really similar. May just be because Gavin wanted to do a riff on Igor’s stuff since Spider-Man 2018 and Sunset Overdrive were published by the same people, but still. ---
**Author:** ![bizerta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@bizerta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizerta)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981/139 "2018-10-30T00:04:23Z")
ABBA released two songs with the same melody: Happy Hawaii & Why Did it Have to be Me? ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981/140 "2018-10-30T15:25:32Z")
I was going to make a joke about the band Train playing “Heart and Soul” during their beginner’s piano lesson and changing the words to make [Play That Song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5qWnG5RQTk), but when I looked it up I see that they gave Hoagy Carmichael writing credits so it probably sorta happened that way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981.md?page=8)