# Similar Sounding Songs
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-sounding-songs/946986
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** music
**Created:** [July 21, 2021, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-sounding-songs/946986 "2021-07-21T16:22:10Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2021, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-sounding-songs/946986/1 "2021-07-21T16:22:10Z")
Not sure whether this is better for Thread Games or Café Society.
The quintessential similar sounding song:
| | “He’s So Fine” | “My Sweet Lord” |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Artist | The Chiffons | George Harrison |
| Album | _He’s So Fine_, 1963 | _All Things Must Pass_, 1970 |
| Video | [The Chiffons - He´s So Fine - YouTube](https://youtu.be/rinz9Avvq6A?t=31) | [George Harrison - My Sweet Lord - YouTube](https://youtu.be/SP9wms6oEMo?t=115) |
~Max
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### Author:  [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2021, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-sounding-songs/946986/2 "2021-07-21T17:01:21Z")
Yeah, and George Harrison got sued for plagiarism and was found guilty of “subconscious plagiarism” and had to pay $1,599,987 of the earnings from “My Sweet Lord”.
[George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” Copyright Infringement Case (performingsongwriter.com)](https://performingsongwriter.com/george-harrison-my-sweet-lord/)
---
### Author:  [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2021, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-sounding-songs/946986/3 "2021-07-21T20:36:32Z")
Another example,
| | “Grazing in the Grass” | “Every Morning” |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Artist/Composer | Hugh Masekela / Philemon Hou | Sugar Ray |
| Album | _The Promise of a Future_, 1968 | _14:59_, 1999 |
| Video | [Hugh Masekela - Grazing In The Grass (1968) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxXZF60EPdM) | [Every Morning - Sugar Ray - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cqU1pFRqYE) |
~Max
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### Author:  [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2021, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-sounding-songs/946986/4 "2021-07-21T21:00:40Z")
That’s not incidental, or plagiarism. _Grazing in the Grass_ was deliberately sampled in _Every Morning._
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### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2021, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-sounding-songs/946986/5 "2021-07-21T21:05:43Z")
You could do one of these for nearly every song Chuck Berry ever recorded; You Can’t Catch Me/Come Together, Sweet Little Sixteen/Surfin’ USA, etc.
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### Author:  [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2021, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-sounding-songs/946986/6 "2021-07-21T21:07:46Z")
Oh? I thought it was coincidence. I didn’t realize it was a sample.
~Max
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### Author:  [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2021, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-sounding-songs/946986/7 "2021-07-21T21:16:16Z")
[Paul McCartney - “Junk”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6XB2STqyKY) (1970)
[John Denver - “Cool and Green and Shady”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSWgV1UVblc) (1974)
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2021, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-sounding-songs/946986/8 "2021-07-21T21:23:26Z")
There is a Pretenders song (ironic band name at that point) that sounds almost exactly like some piece of crap song by Miami Sound Machine.
I hate them both and refuse to look up the names of this ‘music’.
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### Author:  [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2021, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-sounding-songs/946986/9 "2021-07-21T21:23:33Z")
Are you looking for songs that are reminiscent of one another, or direct ripoffs, or it doesn’t matter? It seems that any similarity in pop music compositions leads to litigation, and usually for good reason. For instance, Gordon Lightfoot could have won a lawsuit against the composer of _The Greatest Love of All,_ but he chose not to pursue it.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXRpr_Ggzzg)
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2021, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-sounding-songs/946986/10 "2021-07-21T21:25:59Z")
The chorus of “Kiss From a Rose” by Seal sounds very similar to the chorus to “Hero” by Nickelback.
And both played in the closing credits of superhero movies. Batman Forever for Seal and Spider-man for Nickelback.
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### Author:  [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2021, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-sounding-songs/946986/11 "2021-07-21T21:34:45Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#):
>
> Are you looking for songs that are reminiscent of one another, or direct ripoffs, or it doesn’t matter?
My vision for the thread was songs with strong reminiscence but not an acknowledged cover song or sample.
It doesn’t have to be the whole song that sounds similar, but something prominent.
Also I’m not necessarily accusing anyone of plagiarism, or saying they are less of a composer.
~Max
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### Author:  [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2021, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-sounding-songs/946986/12 "2021-07-21T21:47:43Z")
Yeah, those are definitely similar sounding.
@BlankSlate so are your songs.
~Max
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### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2021, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-sounding-songs/946986/13 "2021-07-21T22:02:44Z")
Wilco’s “Pot Kettle Black” let me think of the Cure’s “In Between Days” after I first heard it:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0IGc1gxXJs)
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scif2vfg1ug)
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2021, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-sounding-songs/946986/14 "2021-07-21T23:21:00Z")
The entire output for Gary Puckett and the Union Gap. As Lilian Roxon said, all their hits were the same song sung sideways.
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### Author:  [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2021, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-sounding-songs/946986/15 "2021-07-21T23:52:17Z")
Queen’s “Under Pressure” and Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby” sound similar but aren’t the same.
“Under Pressure” goes DING DING DING da da DING DING.
“Ice Ice Baby” goes DING DING DING DING da da DING DING.
They aren’t the same; “Ice Ice Baby” has an extra DING.
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### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2021, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-sounding-songs/946986/16 "2021-07-21T23:56:58Z")
One of the eerier coincidences in Rock History is that both Freddie Mercury and David Bowie expressed the same regret on their death beds: “I wish _we_ had added an extra ding.”
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### Author:  [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2021, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-sounding-songs/946986/17 "2021-07-22T01:44:01Z")
Darn, I’m having trouble coming up with a pair of specific songs, which is weird. Because I often get two songs conflated, especially if they came out about the same time, have similar instrumentation or vocals… I was going to add “chord progression”, but that’d be 15/16 of all pop/rock music.
I also do this with actors (I first saw Pacino and DeNiro on the big screen at the same theater, in the same week! Of course I get confused).
Huh, I just realized that my brain has a need to make connections, even where they don’t necessarily exist. Thanks, Dr. SDMB Therapist!
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### Author:  [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2021, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-sounding-songs/946986/18 "2021-07-22T10:40:13Z")
It’s only an extra DING on every second measure, so it averages out to an extra half a DING.
My contribution:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8OtzJtp-EM)
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vlAdMeZSfw)
Not super obvious I guess, but the rhythm is very similar albeit a bit slower on the Heart song. Heart are also big Led Zep fans so I think there was a bit of homage going on there.
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2021, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-sounding-songs/946986/19 "2021-07-22T12:40:26Z")
> According to [Daryl Hall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daryl_Hall) of [Hall & Oates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hall_%26_Oates), Jackson told him he had taken the “Billie Jean” groove from their 1981 track “[I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Can%27t_Go_for_That_(No_Can_Do))”.[[23]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Jean#cite_note-Simpson-23) Hall told him “Oh Michael, what do I care? You did it very differently.”
> [Billie Jean - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Jean#Composition)
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccenFp_3kq8)
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi_XLOBDo_Y)
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### Author:  [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2021, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similar-sounding-songs/946986/20 "2021-07-22T16:36:25Z")
Obladi, oblada, na na, why don’t you get a job?
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH-i8IvYIcg)
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x5WY_jmsko)
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