# Songs that are actually two songs in one **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 19, 2018, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-actually-two-songs-in-one/812734 "2018-04-19T20:41:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-actually-two-songs-in-one/812734/41 "2018-04-21T11:24:17Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Irving Berlin was famous for his contrapuntal songs, where one person would sing a song, another would sing another, and they’d then sing simultaneously. > > “[You’re Just In Love.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGBbfAkzZvM)” > > “[An Old Fashioned Wedding](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ3IyCa8bG4)” Interesting. I first heard this trick in the _Godspell_ vaudeville-style song “All for the Best.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-actually-two-songs-in-one/812734/42 "2018-04-21T11:36:57Z")
Meatloaf’s “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” is three songs and a spoken interlude. You start with the “barely 17 and barely dressed” part, then the baseball, then “Stop right there!”, then “Praying for the End of Time”. And I’m not even sure how many songs Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” is. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-actually-two-songs-in-one/812734/43 "2018-04-21T11:44:27Z")
Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go by Soft Cell is one song, but maybe the split name means it doesn’t count. I came to mention Band on the Run, but was ninja’ed, so I had to think of something else! ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-actually-two-songs-in-one/812734/44 "2018-04-21T13:21:20Z")
What about Simon & Garfunkel’s “Scarborough Fair”/“Canticle”? The “The Side of a Hill” bits could just be there to harmonize with and expand on “Scarborough Fair,” but the effect seems to be of two folk songs going on _at once._ ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-actually-two-songs-in-one/812734/45 "2018-04-21T15:12:39Z")
It’s not quite what the OP had in mind, but the best mashup of two songs into one fabulous version is [“I Heard It Round And Round The Grapevine”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57SNPbxi0r0). ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-actually-two-songs-in-one/812734/46 "2018-04-21T15:37:45Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > Led Zeppelin’s Heartbreaker… And also their obscure album track, I think it’s called “Makes Me Wonder”? I heard it once at sleep-away camp dance. What? ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-actually-two-songs-in-one/812734/47 "2018-04-21T16:43:06Z")
I can’t believe no one has mentioned “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.” I’ve heard that it was originally two different songs. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-actually-two-songs-in-one/812734/48 "2018-04-21T20:52:33Z")
Rolling Stones - “Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’” ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-actually-two-songs-in-one/812734/49 "2018-04-21T21:03:47Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > Paul McCartney’s “Uncle Albert” is three different songs in one. Different tempos, different melodies, different voice inflections. But that’s nothing new for Paul, of course. > [@RTFirefly](#): > > Ditto “Band on the Run.” There’s the intro, then the “if we ever get out of here” part, then the main part of the song. I immediately thought of both those examples when I saw the thread title. > [@RTFirefly](#): > > Like you say, it’s something Paul does. Yeah it is. And he did it again on the Venus and Mars album._“Listen to what the man Said”_ beomes _“Treat her Gently”_ which is 2 songs with _“Lonely old People”_. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2018, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-actually-two-songs-in-one/812734/50 "2018-04-21T22:20:32Z")
More than 24 hours and no one’s mentioned[MacArthur Park](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRwYQgk05DY)? An overwrought ballad about a lost love that swings inexplicably into a 1960’s Swinging London discotheque go-go dance song. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-actually-two-songs-in-one/812734/51 "2018-04-21T22:39:05Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > What about Simon & Garfunkel’s “Scarborough Fair”/“Canticle”? The “The Side of a Hill” bits could just be there to harmonize with and expand on “Scarborough Fair,” but the effect seems to be of two folk songs going on _at once._ It is two songs at once. _Side of the Hill_ was an earlier song by Paul Simon which, IIRC, he tweaked a bit to make _Canticle_, while \*Scarborough Fair \*is a traditional folk song. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2018, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-actually-two-songs-in-one/812734/52 "2018-04-22T05:22:02Z")
Peter Gabriel, “Sledgehammer.” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2018, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-actually-two-songs-in-one/812734/53 "2018-04-22T06:05:38Z")
The [Vals de Astráin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWngUrXjkr0), AKA Riau-riau is one of the best-known songs linked to Sanfermines. It switches from waltz to jota and back several times; most people think it’s actually two songs which for some reason get played chained. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2018, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-actually-two-songs-in-one/812734/54 "2018-04-22T07:26:24Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And I’m not even sure how many songs Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” is. Neither am I, but I do know that Genesis’ “Supper’s Ready” has seven distinct movements packed into 23 minutes: everything from gentle acoustic guitars to progressive synthesizers to hard rock. One movement is even in 9/8 time. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2018, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-actually-two-songs-in-one/812734/55 "2018-04-22T22:29:42Z")
Green Day’s Jesus of Suburbia has 5 distinct movements: I. “Jesus of Suburbia” II. “City of the Damned” III. “I Don’t Care” IV. “Dearly Beloved” V. “Tales of Another Broken Home” ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-actually-two-songs-in-one/812734/56 "2018-04-23T01:51:25Z")
Grand Funk Railroad’s I’m Your Captain/Closer to Home ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-actually-two-songs-in-one/812734/57 "2018-04-23T02:21:31Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go by Soft Cell is one song, but maybe the split name means it doesn’t count. > > I came to mention Band on the Run, but was ninja’ed, so I had to think of something else! I’d call that two songs, since _Where Did Our Love Go?_ had already been a hit for The Supremes in the ‘60s. The J Geils Band did a great cover of it in the ‘70s, too. I like all three versions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-actually-two-songs-in-one/812734.md?page=2)