# Same song
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-song/618823
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [April 15, 2012, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-song/618823 "2012-04-15T05:11:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2012, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-song/618823/1 "2012-04-15T05:11:03Z")
I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck, but tonight I realized that “It Don’t Come Easy” by Ringo Starr and “Let It Rain” by Eric Clapton are essentially the same song.
I also know that “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” is a send up of “More Than a Feeling” by Boston.
And, of course, you have the whole “I Want a New Drug”-“Ghostbusters” thing. Then you have the George Harrison’s problem with the Chiffons.
In rock, it’s a common problem with the omniscient chord structure. And there are a lot of intentional copies, such as Vanilla Ice and Queenl.
I’m just wondering though, what other songs are the same that you’ve noticed?
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### Author:  [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2012, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-song/618823/2 "2012-04-15T05:23:34Z")
The first time I heard Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way”, I honestly thought someone had done a song that sampled Madonna’s “Express Yourself”.
Of course, “Express Yourself” bears a more than coincidental resemblance to The Staples Singers’ “Respect Yourself”.
While they don’t sound much alike, David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” and Elton John’s “Rocketman” are telling basically the same story.
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### Author:  [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2012, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-song/618823/3 "2012-04-15T05:39:58Z")
U Can’t Touch This Superfreak
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### Author:  [@pythonzzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pythonzzz)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2012, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-song/618823/4 "2012-04-15T05:46:06Z")
“The Drugs Don’t Work” from Ben Harper and “Better Be Home Soon” from Crowded House:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKRwGp8hUM4)
The ultimate song about the same 4 chord songs:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOlDewpCfZQ)
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2012, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-song/618823/5 "2012-04-15T06:17:16Z")
My Sweet Lord and He’s So Fine
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### Author:  [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2012, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-song/618823/6 "2012-04-15T07:12:52Z")
[The Pachelbel Canon in D](http://youtu.be/JdxkVQy7QLM) chord changes have been used many times for many types of songs.
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### Author:  [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2012, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-song/618823/7 "2012-04-15T07:14:37Z")
Part of “Centerfold” by the J Geils Band sounds exactly the same as a Korean song whose name I don’t recall. Namely, the first six notes of the “Da, DA, da da da da” chorus. I don’t know if that’s enough to make it a ripoff.
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### Author:  [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2012, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-song/618823/8 "2012-04-15T07:26:43Z")
Another eerily similar pair, melodically, is “Music of the Night” from _Phantom of the Opera_ and “Come to Me, Bend to Me” from _Brigadoon_.
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### Author:  [@Rubixcube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubixcube)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2012, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-song/618823/9 "2012-04-15T11:49:40Z")
Speaking of _Phantom of the Opera_ there’s always the infamous [alledged plagiarism](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S3fpgrZ9ys)between portions of _Phantom_ and Pink Floyd’s Echoes.
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-song/618823/10 "2012-04-15T18:46:01Z")
> [@pythonzzz](#):
>
> “The Drugs Don’t Work” from Ben Harper
That’s The Verve’s song.
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### Author:  [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-song/618823/11 "2012-04-15T21:21:40Z")
> [@oliversarmy](#):
>
> I also know that “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” is a send up of “More Than a Feeling” by Boston.
Weird Al’s “Smells Like Nirvana” is also suspiciously similar.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-song/618823/12 "2012-04-15T21:30:56Z")
Also, the opening of Smells Like Teen Spirit sounds like a riff on the opening of Godzilla by Blue Oyster Cult.
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### Author:  [@Themenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Themenin)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2012, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-song/618823/13 "2012-04-15T22:15:38Z")
I Want You - Elvis Costello vs I Want You (She’s so Heavy) - Beatles
It’s almost like he _wanted_ to get caught 🙂
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### Author:  [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2012, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-song/618823/14 "2012-04-15T22:35:43Z")
> [@oliversarmy](#):
>
> I also know that “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” is a send up of “More Than a Feeling” by Boston.
Is that what you thought when you first heard “Smells Like Teen Spirit?” When I first heard “More Than A Feeling” I thought "Hey, this is [‘Tend My Garden’ by the James Gang!"](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usjXOZvg9Dc&feature=youtube_gdata_player)
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2012, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-song/618823/15 "2012-04-16T01:48:23Z")
There is a bland top 40 song by a band whose name I’ve never committed to memory that ripped off [one of the ending themes of the popular Japanese animated series _Urusei Yatsura_.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-aZwDtVScM&feature=related) (If you listen from 1:15 to 1:35 it may sound familiar.)
Whenever I hear this song on the radio, I think “What a random thing to rip off for an American pop song!”
The English portion of the lyrics remain the same, but for some reason I didn’t have much luck googling “‘love me’ lyrics” to identify the other song. 😛
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2012, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-song/618823/16 "2012-04-16T12:27:03Z")
The “Shire” tune from Lord of the Rings starts the same way as the hymn “This Is My Father’s World”, which according to Wikipedia is by Franklin L. Sheppard, but is based on a “traditional English melody.”
“Make 'Em Laugh” from the movie _Singing in the Rain_ is by Alan Freed, but is so close to Cole Porter’s “Be a Clown” that Freed was worried about a lawsuit. So he showed up at Porter’s one day “with a checkbook in one hand and a job offer in the other” IIRC, both of which Porter needed at the time.
Yesterday I heard a piece of classical music on the radio. I didn’t catch its title, but it sounded almost exactly like the pop tune “Alone Again, Naturally.”
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### Author:  [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-song/618823/17 "2012-04-16T15:43:31Z")
“Purple Haze” is basically Rufus Thomas’ [“Walking the Dog”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6AZNywvF-s) on acid.
Dylan’s [“4th Time Around”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4th_Time_Around) is not exactly the same as “Norwegian Wood”, but is considered to be either a parody or homage.
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### Author:  [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-song/618823/18 "2012-04-16T19:47:48Z")
Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” & Zevon’s “Werewolves of London”
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-song/618823/19 "2012-04-16T20:01:13Z")
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> My Sweet Lord and He’s So Fine
Mentioned in the OP. (George Harrison’s problem with the Chiffons.)
> [@Mixolydian](#):
>
> Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” & Zevon’s “Werewolves of London”
Was this before or after the [Kid Rock song?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzjfqNkNd2U&sns=em) 😃
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### Author:  [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-song/618823/20 "2012-04-16T20:23:19Z")
John Fogerty’s “Run Through the Jungle” and “The Old Man Down the Road”, the latter of which resulted in him being sued for copying himself (he prevailed, details in [this article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fogerty_v._Fantasy) about a subsequent Supreme Court case regarding the award of attorney’s fees).
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