# Old Melody, New Lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 21, 2010, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-melody-new-lyrics/540257 "2010-05-21T14:36:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-melody-new-lyrics/540257/1 "2010-05-21T14:36:35Z")
This is sort of a tangent to the “Answer Songs” thread. What I’m asking for here is examples of songs that are simply new lyrics to an old melody. To narrow it down, here are some criteria: 1. The melodies have to be exactly the same. This rules out instances where one song uses part of the melody of another but also has some new content (e.g., “My Sweet Lord”, which uses everything but the bridge of “He’s So Fine” and also adds a bit of new melody). 2. The lyrics have to be really different. This rules out instances where someone has basically claimed someone else’s song as their own (e.g., “Whole Lotta Love”). 3. I’m not looking for songs that are obviously just parodies. (I would also suggest avoiding the blues, or other genres where repetition of melodies is common, but it’s kind of hard to make this a real solid criterion.) Here are some examples: “Surfin’ U.S.A.” – Brian Wilson wrote new lyrics to Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen”. “Sidewalk Surfin’” – Jan & Dean rewrote the Beach Boys’ “Catch A Wave” as a tongue-in-cheek paean to skateboarding. (This one comes close to being a parody, but I consider it a genuine song in its own right.) “Everybody’s Everything” – this Santana hit is actually a rewrite of an extremely obscure song called “Karate” by the Five Emperor’s (sic). “Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die” – classic antiwar song by Country Joe & the Fish, written to the melody of “Muskrat Ramble” (sometimes known as “Muskat Ramble”). “Can’t Help Falling in Love”, a hit for Elvis Presley, supposedly uses the melody of “Plaisir d’Amour”, written in 1780 by Jean Paul Egide Martini. However, as I haven’t heard the original, I can’t say if the melodies are exactly the same. (I also like to argue that “Purple Haze” is simply a rewrite of “Walkin’ the Dog”, but that doesn’t really qualify because it uses only part of the melody.) ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-melody-new-lyrics/540257/2 "2010-05-21T14:43:14Z")
It’s now or never - O solo mio. And I leave it you to find what [this one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paZK95k6DoY)’s English cousin is. Until I head this on the radio I never knew that it the original wasn’t the first version of this melody. (I suppose translations do not count, but these are not actually translated from the Italian, they just took the melody and put some English words to it) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-melody-new-lyrics/540257/3 "2010-05-21T14:47:36Z")
Barney the Purple Dinosaur’s _I Love You_ is _This Old Man_. Isn’t the US national anthem originally a British folk song? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-melody-new-lyrics/540257/4 "2010-05-21T14:49:00Z")
_Honey Hush_ sounds like a reworking of _The Train Kept A-Rollin’._ ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-melody-new-lyrics/540257/5 "2010-05-21T14:57:08Z")
That’s to say, \*\*Foghat’\*\*s version of _Honey Hush._ Not sure about early versions. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-melody-new-lyrics/540257/6 "2010-05-21T15:15:04Z")
“My Way” is a classic example, in which Paul Anka took a recent French song and wrote new, unrelated lyrics for it and gave it to Frank Sinatra. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-melody-new-lyrics/540257/7 "2010-05-21T15:17:48Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > _Honey Hush_ sounds like a reworking of _The Train Kept A-Rollin’._ That reminds me – Big Joe Turner (who wrote “Honey Hush”) also had a song called “Flip, Flop and Fly” that was simply a new set of lyrics to his own “Shake, Rattle and Roll”. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-melody-new-lyrics/540257/8 "2010-05-21T15:29:40Z")
“Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” has the same melody as when you sing the alphabet. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-melody-new-lyrics/540257/9 "2010-05-21T15:40:38Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” has the same melody as when you sing the alphabet. Also “Baa Baa Black Sheep.” They all use the melody to the 18th century French song, “Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman.” Which was famously used by Mozart in his _Twelve Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman.”_ Sting’s “The Secret Marriage” (from _Nothing Like the Sun_) uses the melody of “To My Little Radio” by Hanns Eisler. Elvis’s famous “Love Me, Tender” uses the tune of “Aura Lee.” ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-melody-new-lyrics/540257/10 "2010-05-21T15:49:00Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Isn’t the US national anthem originally a British folk song? Not quite. [To Anacreon in Heaven](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anacreontic_Song) can’t really be called a folk song, since it was composed for The Anacreontic Society, but it is British, and it is the source of the melody for the Star Spangled Banner. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-melody-new-lyrics/540257/11 "2010-05-21T15:51:09Z")
Here’s a classic case: [What Child is This?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqKxoyeeUQ4) (Christmas hymn) uses the tune to [Greensleeves](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRrzpHpwkm0), which dates back at least to the Elizabethan period. (Per Wikipedia, it probably _wasn’t_ composed by Henry VIII, as commonly believed. Dunno.) ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-melody-new-lyrics/540257/12 "2010-05-21T15:51:39Z")
“Beyond the Sea”, recorded by Bobby Darin and others, uses the melody from “La Mer” by Charles Trenet. The lyrics aren’t really related at all, in spite of the similarities of the titles. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-melody-new-lyrics/540257/13 "2010-05-21T15:53:48Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Isn’t the US national anthem originally a British folk song? And then there’s “America” (more widely known as “My Country 'Tis of Thee”), which was written to the melody of “God Save the King”. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-melody-new-lyrics/540257/14 "2010-05-21T16:02:04Z")
“Love Me Tender” (by Elvis) is sung to the tune of the folk song “Aura Lee”. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-melody-new-lyrics/540257/15 "2010-05-21T16:03:51Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > “Love Me Tender” (by Elvis) is sung to the tune of the folk song “Aura Lee”. Your lyrics sound [strangely familiar](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12481580&postcount=9) themselves… ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-melody-new-lyrics/540257/16 "2010-05-21T16:12:26Z")
Neil Young’s “Mother Earth” and U2’s “Van Diemen’s land” have both new lyrics with the tune of the folk traditional “The Water is Wide”. ---
**Author:** ![Rain\_Soaked](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@Rain\_Soaked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rain_Soaked)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-melody-new-lyrics/540257/17 "2010-05-21T16:14:22Z")
Elton John’s English Rose sung to the tune of “Candle In the Wind” was the first thing I thought of. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-melody-new-lyrics/540257/18 "2010-05-21T16:19:27Z")
[Every blessed hymn Charles Wesley ever wrote](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wesley#Best-known_hymns). ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-melody-new-lyrics/540257/19 "2010-05-21T16:20:33Z")
I still like The Offsprings’ _(Why Don’t You) Get a Job_ which is sung to the tune of the Beatles’ _Ob-la-de Ob-la-da_. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-melody-new-lyrics/540257/20 "2010-05-21T16:28:04Z")
Cliff motherfucking Richard with the fucking goddamned Millenium fucking Prayer. [Watch if you dare](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA5QJS3paAo) but don’t sue me if your intestines leap out of your body and strangle you to stop the horror. (It’s the Lord’s Prayer set to the tune of Auld Lang Syne, with a helping of vomitous obsequiousness. It got to No. 1 in the UK.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-melody-new-lyrics/540257.md?page=2)