# Song merging **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-merging/210650 "2003-10-31T15:29:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-merging/210650/1 "2003-10-31T15:29:50Z")
Sometimes I’ll merge two songs, using the tune and lyrics to one song, and then switching to lyrics of another song. For example, _Get Me To The Church On Time_ merged with _Safety Dance_ (using the tune of the former) becomes: _I’m getting married in the morning, Ding-dong the bells are going to chime, As long as we abuse it, never gonna lose it Everything’ll work out right_ Anyone else do this? ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-merging/210650/2 "2003-10-31T18:29:39Z")
Yep. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-merging/210650/3 "2003-10-31T19:11:39Z")
From the hit rock opera, **Carol Brady Superstar:** _Here’s a story_ _Of a lovely lady_ _Who was bringing up 3 very lovely girls_ _Like the filth from Rome who rape our country_ _And have terrorized our people for so long_ The Brady Bunch…the Brady Bunch… ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-merging/210650/4 "2003-10-31T19:14:11Z")
And, to the tune of **Green Acres:** _Speeeeed Racer always wins the race_ _Caaaaar racin’ is the life for him!_ ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-merging/210650/5 "2003-10-31T19:58:46Z")
Do you like Pina Coladas, gettin’ caught in the rain? We’ll split the difference, go to Coconut Cove! ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-merging/210650/6 "2003-10-31T21:02:43Z")
- - - Been there, downloaded that. … - We here are all fine, upstanding members of the law-abiding online comunity, but if we weren’t, we might fire up a P2P client and search for _mashes_. * * * - A mash is a remixed song with the vocals fron one song and the instruments/music of another. Seems to have come out of Britain first; there was a now-famous local/underground album titled “Girls On Top” that contained all unauthorized mashes, so you might search for that too. First you (ideally) need an a’capella version of a song, that is, without any instruments used at all. Then you pick another song that uses the same lyric structure (beats per line, lines per verse, ect) and you run it through a vocal eliminator filter to reduce the regular lead vocals. Then you take the a’capella track and mix it with the other instrumental track, adjusting speeds as needed. Most pop songs of the last few decades stick to a basic structure, and the reason most mashes use female vocals is that female singers more often record a’capella versions of their songs. ~ ---
**Author:** ![CakeOrDeath666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CakeOrDeath666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CakeOrDeath666)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-merging/210650/7 "2003-10-31T21:16:53Z")
I have lots of them. the best ones are Rammstein vs Eminem vs South Park, or Eminem vs Green Day. Any Elvis mix is usually worth a shot, too. just type ‘vs’ into the search bar. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-merging/210650/8 "2003-10-31T21:42:25Z")
Some of my favorites include Christina Aguilera’s “Genie In a Bottle” vocals over a Strokes song, Eminem’s “Without Me” rap over the Smiths’ “This Charming Man” music, and Destiny’s Child’s “Bootylicious” vocals over Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-merging/210650/9 "2003-10-31T22:16:56Z")
Actually, I was wondering if people did this themselves – “in their own head” – rather than the commercial things people are mentioning. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-merging/210650/10 "2003-11-01T05:12:04Z")
Mr Aspy and I are continually adding to a long-running list of “songs that can be sung to the tune of _Gilligan’s Island_” The story so far: - Amazing Grace House of the Rising Sun _The Australian National Anthem_ The Wild Colonial Boy Oh Little Town of Bethlehem \* …and a number of others that I can’t quite remember at the moment. But we never switch lyrics in midstream ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-merging/210650/11 "2003-11-01T05:24:18Z")
Oh, I do this all the darn time. And I’m usually halfway through song #2 before I realize I’ve done it. And of course, I can’t think of a single example of this right now, but now that I know what this thread is about, I’ll come back next time I do it and tell you about it. ---
**Author:** ![Dizzy\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dizzy\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dizzy_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-merging/210650/12 "2003-11-01T05:34:09Z")
Freude, schoner Gotterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium, Thou art lost and gone forever, Oh my darling Clementine. ---
**Author:** ![Spacegirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Spacegirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spacegirl)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-merging/210650/13 "2003-11-01T07:13:04Z")
I do that all the time, I drive myself nuts! I’ll be thinking along to one song, and then be unable to continue thinking about it because it turns into another one. Does that make sense?? I know what the OP means. ---
**Author:** ![Dizzy\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dizzy\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dizzy_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-merging/210650/14 "2003-11-01T07:29:11Z")
And, of course: Frosty the snowman Had a very shiny nose. . . ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-merging/210650/15 "2003-11-01T13:07:32Z")
I don’t do this too often but I may have to give it a try since one of my favorite songs is Leon Russell singing Dylan’s “Masters of War” to “The Star Spangled Banner”. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-merging/210650/16 "2003-11-01T19:51:41Z")
Then there was the absolute classic: [Stairway to Gilligan’s Isle](http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~pennywiz/Funhouse/gilliganE.html) The theme song from _Gilligan’s Island_ to the tune of _Stairway to Heaven_. One of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![gaba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@gaba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaba)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-merging/210650/17 "2003-11-01T20:15:17Z")
I once accidently created a moral atrocity by putting Tori Amos’ “Me and a Gun” (which she sings a capella) over Peter Gabriel’s “Big Time”. All I thought of at the moment was that they were in the same key and… _(Five A.M…)_ I’m on my way to making it _(…friday morning. Thursday night…)_ I’m gonna make it show, yeah _(…far from sleep. I’m still…)_ So much larger than life _(…up and driving, can’t go home…)_ I’m gonna watch it growing. _(…obviously)._ Aaaah. (it was me and a gun and a man on my back and I sang holy holy, holy holy, holy holy.) **Yayks.** ---
**Author:** ![gaba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@gaba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaba)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-merging/210650/18 "2003-11-01T20:18:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dizzy Fingers \* > \*\*Freude, schoner Gotterfunken, > Tochter aus Elysium, > Thou art lost and gone forever, > Oh my darling Clementine. \*\* _collapses with laughter_ Reminds me of a time when me and my sister were learning Scarlatti’s Ariettas and one was about pansies. We promptly reworked it into a song about panties, until mum banned the activity in fear that we might accidently switch the lyrics in concert, undr pressure. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-merging/210650/19 "2003-11-01T20:19:25Z")
**Dizzy Fingers** , that’s hilarious. (The _Ode to Clementine_, that is.)