Oh one more, the alma mater of The University of Texas at Austin, “The Eyes of Texas,” is the same tune as “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” and has similar lyrics (“'Til Gabriel blows his horn” compared to “Dinah, blow your horn”).
Gilbert & Sullivan’s song I’ve Got A Little List from The Mikado was humorous and satirical to begin with. There have been any number of versions with updated lyrics with contemporary references.
original : (or near enough, changes one word)
One of many updated versions
And the best updated version
I honestly don’t know whether it fulfills the “not for humor” condition or not, but it’s so great it deserves mention in this thread either way: the songs of Sgt. Pepper rewritten as Princess Leia’s Stolen Death Star Plans.
Ah…the Star Spangled banner?
This NPR article discusses the original drinking song it’s based on, far better than I could, so here is the linky…
Not alternate lyrics, as the original was an instrumental, but the British patriotic ditty Land of Hope and Glory is just words added to Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance
Elvis Costello - Less Than Zero
Originally written about Oswald Mosely, Americans heard “Oswald” and assumed “Lee Harvey”, so EC rewrote the lyrics to refer to that instead.
Is the OP talking about using the music of previous songs and crediting the original writer, or outright rip offs?
Thanks to Cecil I guess we all know about the My Sweet Lord/He’s So Fine lawsuit and the Ghostbusters/I Want a New Drug settlement.
In a 2020 Last Waltz tribute show, Early James changed lyrics of The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down to be clearly critical of the Confederacy and slavery. He changed the first verse from “a time I remember oh so well” to “a time to bid farewell”. The major rewrite is the final verse:
“Unlike my father before me, who I will never understand
Unlike the others below me, who took a rebel stand
Depraved and powered to enslave
I think it’s time we laid hate in its grave
I swear by the mud below my feet
That monument won’t stand, no matter how much concrete”
I’ve always heard the central message of the song as how brutal war is on the common man, in this case a farmer just trying to survive the winter, lamenting the death of his brother. Virgil Caine seems at least as angry at the South’s leadership as the North. But the song has very much been co-opted by groups glorifying the Confederacy, along the lines of the South will rise again. What a shame for such a beautiful soulful piece of art by such an amazing group.
That’s known as the “Dallas Version”, and as far as I know they only played it at live shows. There are a few different recordings of it; I think by far the best one was at the Capitiol Theater in 1978.. The audio quality is excellent, and the Attractions were playing particularly tight.
I just heard in an interview with Kieth Richards that Honky Tonk Women was a re-write. Although released later, Country Tonk was written and recorded before HYW, and was how it was originally supposed to be. CT was the last song Brian Jones played on.
God, I love song backstories like this.
Slight nitpick: it’s Country Honk, underscored by the sound of a car horn honking at the beginning and end of the version on Let It Bleed.
I didn’t know that about it being the last song Brian Jones played on. It’s also one of (if not the) first songs Mick Taylor contributed to.
Post 9/11, Hank Williams Jr. recorded a version of “A Country Boy Can Survive” renamed “America Will Survive”.
Joy to the World
gets changed to Jeremiah was a prophet, was a good friend of God etc.
I remember singing this version in Youth Choir and during Youth Activities events that our Church offered.
I’m sure it’s appeared on various Christian rock albums.
Link https://youtu.be/CA5-5OEvCfI?si=YFiekymqGQQDaYM9
Disclaimer: I didn’t read the whole thread.
Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah falls squarely into the OP’s description. The simple, chant-like melody lends itself easily to everybody and their dog slapping all kinds of lyrics on top of it with umpty-zillion verses. The multiple-multiple iterations of the title word make it readily accessible to group singalongs. Blech.
I’m a tired of hearing it.
I’m with you there. Never again would still be too soon.
We’ve had one by Kirsty MacColl, and here’s another: There’s A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis. The line doesn’t work so well in the US, so there’s an American version, There’s A Guy Works Down The Truck Stop Swears He’s Elvis. That works - but not in Swedish:
Norwegian singer Elisabeth Andreasson covered the song on her 1981 country album Angel of the Morning, with lyrics in Swedish by Hasse Olsson as “Killen ner’ på Konsum svär att han är Elvis” (“The guy down Konsum swears he’s Elvis”)
(source)
I’d like to think that there are dozens of cover versions out there, with local references substituted.
Plus: another bowdlerization. Musical Youth’s Pass The Dutchie (Musical Youth being a band made up of children; and a Dutchie being a cooking pot).
The song was the band’s first release on a major label. Following a shouted intro taken from U Roy’s “Rule the Nation” with words slightly altered, the track combined two songs: “Gimme the Music” by U Brown, and “Pass the Kouchie” by Mighty Diamonds, which deals with the recreational use of cannabis (kouchie being slang for a cannabis pipe)
j
ETA: Re: I’d like to think that there are dozens of cover versions out there, with local references substituted.
Not dozens, but some:
Und der Weihnachtsmann behauptet er ist Elvis
Guy at the Quick Shop by The Morells
How about “My Country Tis of Thee” from “God Save The Queen”?
I think there’s a bunch of patriotic American songs from British songs but I’m blanking on others at the moment.
The national anthem, for a start.
I posted this in a very similar thread, but “Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer” uses the melody from a German song:
The first. And, according to Keith, the reason why Country Honk morphed into HTW.