# Songs recorded with alternate lyrics to the original but not for humor or satire **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [October 13, 2022, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199 "2022-10-13T17:21:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199/41 "2022-10-13T21:08:52Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Elvis’ “Love Me Tender” has the same tune as a hymn we used to sing in church. Haven’t been in any church in years, but I generally heard Love Me Tender as coming from Aura Lee - a civil war tune IIRC. > [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > This was common in the early days of blues and country music. Yeah - a slight variant on the question of why fiddle tunes have titles? So you can tell 'em apart! The example I was going to offer was Red Wing/Union Maid. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199/42 "2022-10-13T21:11:41Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > “Meet the Flintstones” with different lyrics and a disco beat: Eh…that’s quite a stretch. I hear more “Roll Out the Barrel” or something like that in there. ---
**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:** [October 13, 2022, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199/43 "2022-10-13T21:14:41Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Eh…that’s quite a stretch. Compare the intros: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/hA5C_S6bW-w/maxresdefault.jpg "'The Flintstones' Theme Song - Postmodern Jukebox") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA5C_S6bW-w) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199/44 "2022-10-13T21:22:21Z")
For me, it’s really pushing it. I can hear it, but it’s faint. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199/45 "2022-10-13T21:30:52Z")
There’s a tiny bit that sounds similar to “Flintstones , meet the Flintstones” but that’s it ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199/46 "2022-10-13T21:31:45Z")
I hear them as being fairly similar as well. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199/47 "2022-10-13T21:39:16Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > The original Japanese lyrics to _Sukiyaki_ by Kyu Sakamoto, which hit #1 in one U.S. in 1963, were about a condemned prisoner. The [lyrics](https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/3555413/Sukiyaki+%28I+Look+up+When+I+Walk%29) to “I Look Up When I Walk” were vague enough they could be about anything. > Let’s look up as we walk, so that the [tears](https://www.definitions.net/definition/tears) don’t spill > Remembering that [spring](https://www.definitions.net/definition/spring) day, that [lonely](https://www.definitions.net/definition/lonely) night. > Let’s look up as we walk, [count](https://www.definitions.net/definition/count) the [blurry](https://www.definitions.net/definition/blurry) stars > Remembering that [summer](https://www.definitions.net/definition/summer) day, that [lonely](https://www.definitions.net/definition/lonely) night. When A Taste of Honey did it’s [cover](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukiyaki_(song)#A_Taste_of_Honey_version), to writer Janice-Marie Johnson, > it seemed the song’s original lyrics had 3 possible interpretations: as the mindset of a man facing execution; as someone trying to be optimistic despite life’s trials; or as the story of an ended love affair. Johnson decided: “me being the hopeless romantic that I am, I decided to write about a love gone bad.”[ ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199/48 "2022-10-13T21:42:04Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > “Since I’ve Been Loving You” by Led Zeppelin is a re-write of “Death Valley Blues” by Black Cat Bones. I’d never heard that before. Very interesting. I would stop short of calling it a re-write. For me, the most recognizable feature of SIBLY is the four-bar chord progression (D7 Dbmaj7) at the end of each chorus, and “Death Valley Blues” does not have this. So LZ did add something of considerable value. Both songs owe a lot to the ambiance of “The Thrill is Gone”. What I find most striking is how much Page’s solo sounds like the solo in DVB. It’s not note-for-note, but several brief passages are. Despite this, I consider Page’s solo on SIBLY possibly the greatest rock guitar solo ever. Everybody stands on the shoulders of others. But Led Zeppelin were no boy scouts when it came to outright theft. They didn’t just steal from decades-old material (which lots of rock and folk musicians did did) they stole from contemporaries (e.g., Dazed and Confused). ---
**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:** [October 13, 2022, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199/49 "2022-10-13T21:51:33Z")
“Wabash Cannonball” repurposed as a tribute to [the father of railroading in northern Norway:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ole_Tobias_Olsen) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/OtXtnXXg4Zs/maxresdefault.jpg "Ole Tobias Olsen") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtXtnXXg4Zs) ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199/50 "2022-10-13T22:00:10Z")
You Give Love a Bad Name by Bon Jovi comes from a Bonnie Tyler song If You Were a Woman (And I was a Man) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/AqQF4z-wVaI/maxresdefault.jpg "If You Were a Woman (And I Was a Man)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqQF4z-wVaI) ---
**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:** [October 13, 2022, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199/51 "2022-10-13T22:02:37Z")
Three examples: Aretha Franklin rewrote the Otis Redding song “Respect” from a plea of an obviously cuckolded husband to be treated fair to a hymn demanding respect for (black) women’s rights. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/rEgKSj1VHZ0/maxresdefault.jpg "Respect") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEgKSj1VHZ0) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/9iayJ8u4Qew/maxresdefault.jpg "Respect") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iayJ8u4Qew) Bob Dylan in a way never finished one of his greatest songs, “Tangled Up In Blue”. He used to exchange pronouns and rewrite the stanzas for years after the release on “Blood On The Tracks”, and there are several different versions which were officially released. Here’s the original compared to the 1984 live version from “Real Live”: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/QKcNyMBw818/maxresdefault.jpg "Bob Dylan - Tangled up in Blue (Official Audio)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKcNyMBw818) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/NJjyU1mhg2A/maxresdefault.jpg "Tangled up in Blue (Live at Wembley Stadium, London, UK - July 1984)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJjyU1mhg2A) And in good old folk tradition, the Stone Roses used the tune of “Scarborough Fair” for their little ditty “Elizabeth My Dear” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/t7Xi1Jt9lXM/maxresdefault.jpg "The Stone Roses - Elizabeth My Dear (Audio)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7Xi1Jt9lXM) ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199/52 "2022-10-13T22:24:39Z")
Guns N Roses - Don’t Cry Guns N Roses - Don’t Cry (alt lyrics) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MYUmZMfVLE4/maxresdefault.jpg "Don't Cry (Original)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYUmZMfVLE4) [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dFWUOAWFn78/hqdefault.jpg "Don't Cry Alt Lyrics by Guns N' Roses.wmv") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFWUOAWFn78) Same song, different verses. ---
**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:** [October 13, 2022, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199/53 "2022-10-13T22:33:55Z")
Latto’s “Big Energy”, which took the music from Tom Tom Club’s “Genius of Love” and put completely different lyrics to it. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/T8GpG8C0YzA/maxresdefault.jpg "Latto - Big Energy (Official Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8GpG8C0YzA) ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199/54 "2022-10-13T23:08:45Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > There’s a tiny bit that sounds similar to “Flintstones , meet the Flintstones” but that’s it Yeah. There’s a place in each where it hops up an octave, then descends except skipping the 7th, so 8, 6, 5, 4. You can’t copyright an interval or the basics of a descending scale. The previous phrases don’t descend by the same intervals (Paloma Blanca goes down a third; Flintstones goes down a fifth). Rhythms don’t match at all. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199/55 "2022-10-13T23:15:08Z")
Beatles **“Revolution”** Single version, recorded a few weeks after the White Album version, but released first as B side of “Hey Jude”: _But when you talk about destruction_ _Don’t you know that you can count me out_ White Album version, recorded before, but released after, the single: _But when you talk about destruction_ _Don’t you know that you can count me out (in)_ I don’t remember (or much care) what John’s waffling was about. Probably couldn’t decide which bandwagon to jump onto. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199/56 "2022-10-13T23:19:55Z")
And of course, there’s Nena’s “99 Luftballons” in German, and later English and hybrid versions. “God Gave Rock & Roll To You” is not originally by KISS, or even Petra. It was originally written and recorded by Argent; when the Christian band Petra wanted to record it, they wanted to change several of the words, which Argent allowed, but the KISS version is a direct remake. The two consecutive versions of “The Twist” also have slightly different lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199/57 "2022-10-13T23:22:26Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Bob Dylan in a way never finished one of his greatest songs, “Tangled Up In Blue”. He used to exchange pronouns and rewrite the stanzas for years after the release on “Blood On The Tracks”, and there are several different versions which were officially released. Here’s the original compared to the 1984 live version from “Real Live”: Do listen to those! Changing it from first person to third person and changing the storyline was brilliant! [Studio](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKcNyMBw818)/[Live](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJjyU1mhg2A) Studio Version: _She was married when we first met_ _Soon to be divorced_ _I helped her out of a jam, I guess_ _But I used a little too much force_ Live Version: _She was married when they first met_ _To a man four times her age_ _He left her penniless in a state of regret_ _It was time to bust out of the cage_ And my favorite throwaway stanza, just because of the way Bob surprised us with the last line (he had a smile at that point, he knew we’d be going “Huh?”)… Studio Version: _So I drifted down to New Orleans_ _Where I’s lucky for to be employed_ _Working for a while on a fishing boat_ _Right outside of Delacroix…_ Live Version: _And he drifted down to New Orleans_ _Where they treated him like a boy_ _He nearly went mad in Baton Rouge,_ _He nearly drowned in Delacroix_ I heard Dylan live, and so many of his songs were changed around. I remember one lounge-style bass-and-saxophone tune that was just beautiful, and it wasn’t until a long (tasty) instrumental and two verses had gone by that we looked at each other and said “Tom Thumb’s Blues?!?” Oh, and we got yet another version of _Tangled Up In Blue._ ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199/58 "2022-10-13T23:35:30Z")
And here’s the official music video, courtesy of Classic Arts Showcase. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/v_oBX-Cz2fg/hqdefault.jpg "Comedian Harmonists - Wochenend und Sonnenschein - Happy Days are Here Again") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_oBX-Cz2fg) ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199/59 "2022-10-13T23:50:54Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Elvis’ “Love Me Tender” has the same tune as a hymn we used to sing in church. Both of them would’ve come from this Civil War song… > **[Aura Lea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aura_Lea)** > > "Aura Lea" (sometimes spelled "Aura Lee") is an American Civil War song about a maiden. It was written by W. W. Fosdick (lyrics) and George R. Poulton (music). The melody was used in Elvis Presley's 1956 hit song "Love Me Tender". > Aura Lea was published by Poulton, an Englishman who had come to America with his family as a boy in 1838, and Fosdick in 1861. It was a sentimental ballad at a time when upbeat and cheerful songs were more popular in the music halls. It became popular as a minstrel so... ---
**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:** [October 13, 2022, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199/60 "2022-10-13T23:52:02Z")
Jim Weatherly wrote a song called _Midnight Plane to Houston_. Weatherly was a friend of actor Lee Majors. One night he called Majors’ house and his then-wife Farrah Fawcett the phone. She said Majors wasn’t home, and she couldn’t talk, either, because she was taking a plane to Houston to visit her mother. Weatherly wrote the song about the conversation. Later, when Gladys Knight asked to record the song, Weatherly rewrote the lyrics into _Midnight Train to Georgia_, which became a huge hit for Gladys Knight and the Pips. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VZ1pNHHYzTg/hqdefault.jpg "Midnight Plane To Houston~Jim Weatherly") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ1pNHHYzTg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-recorded-with-alternate-lyrics-to-the-original-but-not-for-humor-or-satire/973199.md?page=4)