# Songs that mention other bands **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 13, 2003, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-other-bands/148253 "2003-01-13T05:21:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-other-bands/148253/1 "2003-01-13T05:21:30Z")
apologies if this double posts…damn hamsters… We’ve done songs that mention other songs. How about songs that mention other bands? Counting Crows, “Monkey” _Got Ben Folds on my radio right now_ Ben Folds, “Rockin’ The Suburbs” _I’m rockin’ the suburbs, just like Micheal Jackson did … I’m rockin’ the suburbs, just like Quiet Riot did … you’d better look out, because I’m gonna say ‘fuck’ just like Jon Bon Jovi did_ Mott the Hoople, “All the Young Dudes” _Oh man I need TV when I got T. Rex_ R.E.M., “The Wake Up Bomb” _Practice my T. Rex moves and make the scene get drunk and sing along to Queen_ Harvey Danger, “Flagpole Sitta” _I wanna publish zines, and Rage Against Machines_ Bloodhound Gang, “Boom” _Like a Kenny Loggins record, no one’s ever gonna hear ya_ Bloodhound Gang, “Lift your head up high and blow your brains out” _Or did you own a record by Stryper?_ And then of course there’s the allegory that is “American Pie”… ---
**Author:** ![Philosophocles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Philosophocles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philosophocles)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-other-bands/148253/2 "2003-01-13T05:28:56Z")
XTC: Catherine Wheel in “Then She Appeared” The Mamas and the Papas: One of their songs mentioned the names of a bunch of other people in counterculture late 60s folk music…McGuinn and McGuire yadda yadda yadda gettin’ fat except Mama Cass (don’t recall if they mentioned the band names specifically) The Offspring: “He wanted Ice Cube but he got Vanilla Ice…pretty fly for a white guy.” ---
**Author:** ![BrightEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@BrightEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightEyes)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-other-bands/148253/3 "2003-01-13T05:32:39Z")
I can’t remember the singer or it’s names, _They was like run dmc/ and reverend run/ but one got shot the other two got murdered/ all for the ends/ so now before we go any further i want my ends"_ ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-other-bands/148253/4 "2003-01-13T05:47:33Z")
Genesis, “I Know What I Like” _Over the garden wall, two little lovebirds cuckoo to you_ This was an obscure reference to Peter Gabriel’s first band, named Garden Wall, when he was in high school, which was a forerunner of Genesis. ---
**Author:** ![grendel72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@grendel72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grendel72)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-other-bands/148253/5 "2003-01-13T05:55:33Z")
TMBG _Hi we’re the Replacements/ and we’re playing in a rock n’ roll band/ Hey where’s Tommy/ someone find Tommy/ we’re out on the road…"_ ---
**Author:** ![grendel72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@grendel72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grendel72)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-other-bands/148253/6 "2003-01-13T05:56:34Z")
**Bright Eyes** , that was Everlast. ---
**Author:** ![magog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/fbc32d/32.png) [@magog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magog)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-other-bands/148253/7 "2003-01-13T06:02:22Z")
Obscure reference, but didn’t Black 47 mention the Pogues in Rockin the Bronx? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-other-bands/148253/8 "2003-01-13T06:20:23Z")
**The Beatles** mentioned Bob Dylan in Yer Blues. “Feel so suicidal just like Dylan’s Mr. Jones.” Happy ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-other-bands/148253/9 "2003-01-13T06:22:27Z")
Steely Dan made some reference to the Eagles in a song of theirs, so the Eagles, in Hotel California, put in the line “…they stabbed it with their steely knives but they just couldn’t kill the beast.” ---
**Author:** ![percypercy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-other-bands/148253/10 "2003-01-13T06:23:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Philosophocles \* > \*\* > > The Mamas and the Papas: One of their songs mentioned the names of a bunch of other people in counterculture late 60s folk music…McGuinn and McGuire yadda yadda yadda gettin’ fat except Mama Cass (don’t recall if they mentioned the band names specifically) \*\* That was actually Peter Paul and Mary in I Dig Rock and Roll Music. That song is what totally convinced me my music history teacher was cool. :eek: -Lil ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-other-bands/148253/11 "2003-01-13T06:24:46Z")
Are we counting tributes? If so, **Motorhead’s** _R.A.M.O.N.E.S_ and **Jonathan Richman’s** _Velvet Underground_ song qualify. **Radio Birdman’s** _Do The Pop_: “I saw the Stooges and the MC5” There’s lots more I can’t think of right now (and which may even have turned up in another thread a while ago) ---
**Author:** ![kebbyrd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ee7513/32.png) [@kebbyrd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kebbyrd)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-other-bands/148253/12 "2003-01-13T06:28:34Z")
For indirect references how about _American Pie_ For something more direct **The Clash** _1977_ _No Elvis, Beatles or the Rolling Stones, in 1977_ ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-other-bands/148253/13 "2003-01-13T06:33:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by grendel72 \* > \*\*TMBG _Hi we’re the Replacements/ and we’re playing in a rock n’ roll band/ Hey where’s Tommy/ someone find Tommy/ we’re out on the road…"_ \*\* Other They Might Be Giants songs that mention other bands: Rhythm Section Want Ad: If you dig Menudo, or MDC we salute you the way we know … You guys must be into the Eurythmics Twisting: She doesn’t have to have Her dB’s record back now … She doesn’t have to have Her Young Fresh Fellows tape back now the ENTIRE Why Should I Be Sad song is about Alice Cooper, but I guess it’s against the rules to show the entire lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-other-bands/148253/14 "2003-01-13T06:36:20Z")
**Lynard Skynard** sings about N **eil Young** in _Sweet Home Alabama_ “Well I heard Mr. Young sing about her. Well I heard ol’ Neil put her down. I hope Neil Young will remember, a southern man don’t need him around anyhow.” ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-other-bands/148253/15 "2003-01-13T06:45:43Z")
Wesley Willis has made a career out of it. Some of his song titles include: Urge Overkill Elvis Presley Easy-E Stabbing Westward Jello Biafra Hootie & The Blowfish Kurt Cobain Nirvana The Rolling Stones Mojo Nixon Bolt Thrower Spin Doctors Dave Grohl Foo Fighters Pink Floyd Blues Traveler Fugazi Blackie-O KRS-1 Morbid Angel KMFDM Shonen Knife Liz Phair Courtney Love Jefferson Airplane Black Flagg Megadeth Steve Albini And then (the exremely underappreciated) Heavy Vegetable recorded “Song for Wesley”. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-other-bands/148253/16 "2003-01-13T06:59:02Z")
Deep Purple, “Smoke on the Water” _Frank Zappa and the Mothers were at the best place around_ ---
**Author:** ![Manatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@Manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manatee)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-other-bands/148253/17 "2003-01-13T07:06:57Z")
The Who, “You Better You Bet.” “To the sound of old T. Rex” ---
**Author:** ![LoN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cab0a1/32.png) [@LoN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LoN)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-other-bands/148253/18 "2003-01-13T09:03:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by fusoya \* > \*\*Other They Might Be Giants songs that mention other bands: > > Rhythm Section Want Ad: If you dig Menudo, or MDC we salute you the way we know … You guys must be into the Eurythmics > > Twisting: She doesn’t have to have Her dB’s record back now … She doesn’t have to have Her Young Fresh Fellows tape back now > > the ENTIRE Why Should I Be Sad song is about Alice Cooper, but I guess it’s against the rules to show the entire lyrics. \*\* You forgot one, but its kinda subtle… after all, its just called **XTC Versus Adam Ant**. /sarcasm… **The Barenaked Ladies** have a ton. From _Gordon_, their first album… “Brian Wilson,” their best song (IMHO). Wilson’s not a band, but he was in one, so I guess it counts… “Grade Nine”-- “When I tried out for the football team to prove that I’m a man/I guess I shouldn’t have told them that I liked Duran Duran” “Enid”-- they shout “Styx!” and start going into a rocking chorus of “Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto” “Yoko Ono”-- “Well I may be stepping on pins and needles/but I don’t like all the people slagging her for breaking up the Beatles” “New Kid on the Block”: “I’m a New Kid on the Block/and I may not be Johann Sabastian Bach/so we may not write the songs we sing/look at Elvis he sold his soul and they crowned him king.” Very good lyrics about being a teen idol… “Blame it On Me”: “Milli Vannili said blame it on the rain/but if all else fails you can blame it on me” “The King of Bedside Manor”: “Well he’s not the king of beside manor/ no he’s not the Tom Jones who lives next door” “If I Had a Million Dollars”: “I would buy you some art/like a Picasso or a Garfunkel” And that’s just off the top of my head… thats almost the entire album. The trend seems to have slacked off in their other albums, though other “alternative pop” bands did do the same thing: **Cake** : “Frank Sinatra” **Nine Days:** “Bob Dylan” “If I am only dreaming/then me and Bob are not so far away.” I really like that line… **Weezer** : “Buddy Holly” **Fountains of Wayne** : “Red Dragon Tattoo”: “Now I look just like that guy from Korn” There’s a local folkie named **Anais Mitchell**. I don’t know if she’ll ever be well known, but she has a song called “Made it Up” with these immortal lines: “And we both stopped bitching long enough to hear the music and we danced to Leonard Cohen in the kitchen and we just made it up the way we wanted to nothing easier to do nothing easier to do” There’s also a sad piece of emo by **Something Corporate** called “Konstantine.”: “And its to Jimmy Eat World and those nights in my car/where the first star you see may not be a star” **Kid Rock’s** “American Badass” (i think) mentions alot of bands: “I like AC/DC and ZZTopp” and goes on from there… i’ve blocked most of it out of my memory… **Hedwig and the Angry Inch** contains a song callled “Midnight Radio” that mentions lots of female rockers… i don’t remember all of them, though “Aretha” and “Nico” stick out in my mind… I’m pretty sure **Hot Patootie** from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” mentions some rock band, but I forget exactly… ---
**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:** [January 13, 2003, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-other-bands/148253/19 "2003-01-13T09:05:57Z")
You’re missing the obvious: _Life Is A Rock (But The Radio Rolled Me)_ by Reunion. It almost completely consists of other band names. ---
**Author:** ![LoN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cab0a1/32.png) [@LoN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LoN)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-other-bands/148253/20 "2003-01-13T09:06:37Z")
**The Cranberries:** “I Just Shot John Lennon” \*\*more Barenaked Ladies \*\*: “One Week”: “Speak like LeAnn Rymes/'cause i’m all about value” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-other-bands/148253.md?page=2)