# Songs About Other Songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 13, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633 "2016-12-13T18:53:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633/21 "2016-12-13T20:35:43Z")
[“Just like Ronnie said, ‘Be my little baby.’”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufN_vLL1oNE) Dammit, ninja’d ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633/22 "2016-12-13T20:37:59Z")
Country band Old Dominion has a song called “Song for Another Time” in which almost the entirety of the lyrics is titles of other songs. The chorus of Katy Perry’s “Roar” is a bunch of song titles - “Eye of the Tiger”, “Through the Fire” and “We are the Champions”, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633/23 "2016-12-13T20:45:20Z")
> [@purplehearingaid](#): > > Didn’t another singer made a song about Eric Clapton song ‘Tears in heaven’? Eminem’s “Who Knew” makes a brief allusion to it: _But don’t blame me when lil’ Eric jumps off of the terrace You shoulda been watchin him - apparently you ain’t parents_ ---
**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:** [December 13, 2016, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633/24 "2016-12-13T20:48:43Z")
In the spirit of the time of year: [“And then he sang a song, the ‘Rare Old Mountain Dew’…The boys of the NYPD choir were singing ‘Galway Bay’”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9jbdgZidu8) ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633/25 "2016-12-13T20:49:08Z")
“All The Young Dudes” by Mott the Hoople mentions The Beatles’ “Revolution”. There are a lot of songs that mention David Bowie’s Major Tom, including his songs “Space Oddity”, “Ashes to Ashes”, and “Hello Spaceboy”; Peter Schilling’s “Major Tom”, KIA’s “Mrs. Major Tom”, and Elton John’s “Rocket Man” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633/26 "2016-12-13T20:51:16Z")
Mott the Hoople referenced one of their older songs in _Driving Sister_: “Eight track machine playing 'Half Moon Bay.” The Who references “My Generation” in “The Punk and the Godfather” from _Quadrophenia_: "I’m the punk with the stutter My my my my my my Generation (generation, generation) " “Creeque Alley” by the Mamas and the Papas": “And California Dreaming is becoming a reality.” Matthew Fisher’s “[Going for a Song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhJgmb1osm0)” is clearly refering to “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” not by words, but by playing the familiar organ riff (at 2:54). ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633/27 "2016-12-13T20:54:03Z")
“Do You Know You are My Sunshine?” by the Statler Brothers. Waylon Jennings’ “Wurlitzer Prize” makes an oblique reference to Neil Diamond’s “Song Sung Blue.” ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633/28 "2016-12-13T21:13:11Z")
Todd Snider’s _My Generation, Pt. II_ repeats lines from the Who’s original. Oh, my generation My generation My generation God, I hope I die before I get old. John Fogerty’s _Centerfield_ quotes Chuck Berry’s _Brown-Eyed Handsome Man_. “Just a-roundin’ third, and headed for home, it’s a brown-eyed handsome man.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633/29 "2016-12-13T21:16:22Z")
Randy Newman’s “My Old Kentucky Home” quotes from the Stephen Foster version. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633/30 "2016-12-13T21:21:31Z")
“It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” is an answer to “The Wild Side of Life.” ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633/31 "2016-12-13T21:23:07Z")
The Who also references T Rex in “You Better You Bet” Train’s “Soul Sister” references “Mister Mister” And the eleventy thousand billion songs that references David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633/32 "2016-12-13T21:28:46Z")
In Springsteen’s “Thunder Road” there’s a line “Roy Orbison’s singing for the lonely” referencing “Only The Lonely”. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633/33 "2016-12-13T21:47:21Z")
Tom Petty - Running Down A Dream “I had the radio on, I was drivin’ Trees flew by, me and Del were singin’ little Runaway” ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633/34 "2016-12-13T21:51:17Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > American Pie - Lots of songs Beat you by six posts. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633/35 "2016-12-13T22:03:59Z")
The Guess Who alluded to their early days in the song “When The Band Was Singing ‘Shakin’ All Over’” In “Sara,” Bob Dylan recalls how he wrote “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” for his ex-wife Sara Lowndes. In “Love That Never Dies,” the Byrds allude to their first big hit, saying “Throw a dime to the tambourine man and kiss all the horses goodbye.” In “Shangri La,” ELO sings “My Shangri La has gone away, faded like the Beatles on ‘Hey Jude.’” In “Shooting Star,” Bad Company sings, “Johnny was a schoolboy when he heard his first Beatles song- ‘Love Me Do’ I think it was.’” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633/36 "2016-12-13T22:10:17Z")
Neil Young’s “Long May You Run” speculates whether his old car now belongs to the Beach Boys, and then mentions “Caroline, No.” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633/37 "2016-12-13T22:35:47Z")
In Tom T. Hall’s\* Grandma Whistle\*d, she was whistling _What a Friend We Have in Jesus_. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633/38 "2016-12-13T22:38:05Z")
From ‘Keep it Warm’ by Flo & Eddie: Gracie Slick is losing her door mouse My woodie’s broken down by the beach now And TM’s gotten far out of reach now Tell the Mahareesh to keep it warm (he’s picking up good vibrations) And George is suing Paul, suing Ringo and immigration wants John and Yoko All they need is love, to keep them warm ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633/39 "2016-12-13T22:42:21Z")
From Neil Young’s ‘Long May You Run’: Maybe The Beach Boys have got you now With those waves singing “Caroline No” Rollin’ down that empty ocean road Gettin’ to the surf on time. mmm ---
**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:** [December 13, 2016, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633/40 "2016-12-13T22:55:29Z")
:smack: Don’ know how I could forget about this one: [Van Morrison - Jackie Wilson Said (I’m In Heaven When You Smile)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffCaPkqE6m8): “Jackie Wilson said It was ‘Reet Petite’ Kinda love you got Knock me off my feet” I just yesterday finished a book about the making of Van’s classic album \*St. Dominic’s Preview \* and learned the astonishing fact that this recording was a first take, with only a second take tried but cut early. It’s a miracle IMHO. Morrison does this all the time, referencing other singers and their songs (also authors and their books). Another that comes to mind is [“Cleaning Windows”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0uFt2kVb6Q). “Muddy Waters singing ‘I’m A Rolling Stone’” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633.md?page=3)