# Different songs, same melody

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981>\
**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:** 2\
**Page:** 9

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**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\
**Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981/161 "2024-02-29T00:14:44Z")

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This may have already been mentioned, but -

A lot of songs can be sung to the tune of “House of the Rising Sun” including “Amazing Grace” and this Bob Rivers classic: [O Little Town of Bethlehem - Bob Rivers (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Cbk8f7f5OI)

Any tune with the meter 8 6 8 6 (including hundreds of hymns) can share this melody.

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**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\
**Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-songs-same-melody/577981/162 "2024-02-29T14:35:02Z")

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This doesn’t exactly fit the OP, but I think it’s interesting enough to be worth mentioning. Early in the recording sessions for Cream’s “Disraeli Gears” album, they recorded a couple different versions of a song called “Lawdy Mama”. Producer Felix Pappalardi took one of the versions and wrote a whole new set of lyrics, and the song became “Strange Brew”. It’s not the same melody, but it is the exact same backing track on both songs.

[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/39lPj0Y97bM/hqdefault.jpg "Cream - Lawdy Mama") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39lPj0Y97bM)

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