# Songs That Reference Other Songs (Not Sampling) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 30, 2020, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234 "2020-01-30T18:14:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234/21 "2020-01-31T01:19:57Z")
It’s not sampling if you take the exact same tune for a totally different song (non-parody), is it? Kitty Wells sings “_The tune about the wild side of life_” in “ **It wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels** ”, which references “ **The Wild Side of Life** ” by Hank Thompson, which contains the lyric “_I didn’t know God made Honky Tonk angels_”. So, both a reference and a pre-reference between them? Actually, I think country music has a long history of “reply” songs, so that should make it a rich source of songs called out in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234/22 "2020-01-31T01:46:25Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Lynryd Skynyrd’s “[Sweet Home Alabama](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye5BuYf8q4o),” which includes the lyric “I hope Neil Young will remember, a Southern man don’t need him around,” presumably a reference to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s _Southern Man_. Nothing “presumably” about it: It was a direct answer to Neil Young’s _Southern Man_ and _Alabama_. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234/23 "2020-01-31T01:57:34Z")
I thought some of these answers sounded familiar. [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=813683](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=813683) ---
**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:** [January 31, 2020, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234/24 "2020-01-31T02:03:11Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > I thought some of these answers sounded familiar. > > [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=813683](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=813683) Dang, I posted exactly the same examples this time like three years ago without remembering :smack:. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234/25 "2020-01-31T02:42:15Z")
^ Ha! 🙂 I notice others did the same. Not mentioned in either thread: Kenny Chesney’s “I Go Back” directly names or references “Jack and Diane”, “American Pie” “Rock’n Me”, and “Only The Good Die Young.” I wonder how long the longest string one could find can be. I’ve got: “I Go Back” to “American Pie” “American Pie” to [a bunch of songs] I’m up to two. 😃 Another thread: > **[Songs that mention the title of other songs](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=477022)** > > Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long” mentions “Sweet Home Alabama” in the lyrics. Another example is “Summer Rain” by Johnny Rivers: “All summer long we spent dancing in the sand/And the jukebox kept on playing ‘Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.’”... You didn’t participate in that one, EinsteinsHund. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234/26 "2020-01-31T02:55:16Z")
songs on Tommy and Quadrophenia by the Who include lyrics from other songs on the same album. Also their song Good Looking Boy has lyrics from Can’t Help falling in Love and the writers of that song are credited as cowriters of Good Looking Boy. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234/27 "2020-01-31T02:56:14Z")
Apparently this song was never big in the US, but Anne-Marie’s [2002](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il-an3K9pjg) is the absolute poster child for this thread. She gets up to [six](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_(song)) in a row ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234/28 "2020-01-31T03:14:49Z")
Adam’s song by blink 182 has the lyric I took my time, I hurried up, the choice was mine, I didn’t think enough Which is a reference to the lyric in Nirvana’s come as you are Take your time, hurry up, the choice is yours, don’t be late ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234/29 "2020-01-31T03:27:09Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Apparently this song was never big in the US, but Anne-Marie’s [2002](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il-an3K9pjg) is the absolute poster child for this thread. She gets up to [six](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_(song)) in a row I’d give that title to “American Pie.” Not only because it references more songs, but because it’s stood the test of time and known internationally. > [@Songs About Other Songs](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-other-songs/774633/11): > > “American Pie” directly references “That’ll Be the Day”, “The Book of Love”, “The Bible Tells Me So”, “A White Sport Coat (and a Pink Carnation)”, “Like a Rolling Stone”, “Helter Skelter”, “Eight Miles High”, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”, and indirectly references “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” & “Sympathy for the Devil”. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234/30 "2020-01-31T04:54:35Z")
[Amazing Grace Used To Be Her Favorite Song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se07eaAZucA) by Amazing Rhythm Aces, 1975. > [@](#): > > Amazing Grace used to be her favorite song. > Lord, where has my good girl gone? ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234/31 "2020-01-31T05:00:28Z")
A couple of verses from Dream Theater’s “Octavarium:” Sailing on the seven seize the day tripper diem’s ready Jack the ripper Owens Wilson Phillips and my supper’s ready Lucy in the sky with diamond Dave’s not here I come to save the Day for nightmare cinema show me the way to get back home again […] Flying off the handle be careful with That axe Eugene gene the dance machine Messiah light my fire gabba gabba Hey hey my my generation’s home again ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234/32 "2020-01-31T05:23:32Z")
Not sure if this is what the OP is looking for but from wiki: - “Chantilly Lace” inspired an answer song performed by Jayne Mansfield, titled "That Makes It”, hypothetically based on what the girl may have been saying at the other end of the line\* > **[Chantilly Lace (song)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chantilly_Lace_(song))** > > "Chantilly Lace" is a 1958 rock and roll song by The Big Bopper. It was produced by Jerry Kennedy, and reached No. 6 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song was also covered by Jerry Lee Lewis in 1972. > Originally cut for Pappy Daily's D label, the recording was purchased by Mercury Records and reissued in the summer of 1958, just over six months after Chuck Berry released "Sweet Little Sixteen", which uses the same chord progression. The song was originally released as the flip side to "The Purple... and if you read down, lots of bits were sampled and mentioned. Interesting anyway “answer songs”. ---
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234/33 "2020-01-31T05:37:44Z")
Alannah Myles references _White Lightning_, _Mama’s Baby,_ and _Love Me Tender_ in her song _Black Velvet._ But for those clues, I never would have figured out who or what that song was about. Bon Jovi recalls the couple from _Livin’ on a Prayer_ in his later recording _It’s My Life_: _This is for the ones who stood their ground For Tommy and Gina, who never backed down_ This last one maybe doesn’t quite fit, as it’s less of a clear reference and more of a rejoinder, but I believe Joni Mitchell wrote _The Circle Game_ in response to Neil Young’s _Sugar Mountain._ ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234/34 "2020-01-31T05:44:07Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > A couple of verses from Dream Theater’s “Octavarium:” > > Sailing on the seven seize the day tripper diem’s ready > Jack the ripper Owens Wilson Phillips and my supper’s ready > Lucy in the sky with diamond Dave’s not here I come to save the > Day for nightmare cinema show me the way to get back home again > > […] > > Flying off the handle be careful with > That axe Eugene gene the dance machine > Messiah light my fire gabba gabba > Hey hey my my generation’s home again That’s an interesting stream of consciousness, connective writing style. I like it. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234/35 "2020-01-31T11:33:51Z")
Life Is A Rock (But The Radio Rolled Me) by Reunion references many songs. Select lines from the song include: > [@](#): > > Take it easy, take me higher, liar liar, house on fire > Locomotion, Poco, Passion, Deeper Purple, Satisfaction > Baby baby gotta gotta gimme gimme gettin’ hotter > > Shimmy shimmy ko-ko bop and Fats is back and Finger Poppin’ > > Gotta go Sir, gotta swelter, Leon Russell, Gimme Shelter > > Good Vibrations, Help Me Rhonda, Surfer Girl and Little Honda > Tighter, tighter, honey, honey, sugar, sugar, yummy, yummy among others ---
**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:** [January 31, 2020, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234/36 "2020-01-31T12:24:05Z")
I thought Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire would have a lot. But it only mentions Rock Around the Clock. One of the few country artists I like is Sawyer Brown. They have a song called Smoking in the Rockies which mentions the Oak Ridge Boys singing Elvira. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234/37 "2020-01-31T14:09:41Z")
As is to be expected, Tom Paxton’s _Phil_ references a couple of Och’s songs: The paper was shaking The phone started ringing. I shook every time I heard it ring. What was my reaction? I put the phone down. That was the only news that was fit to sing. I remember there but for fortune There but for fortune you and I would go. And on a lighter note, there’s Paxton’s \* Jesus Christ SRO\* Jesus, you’re the biggest star on Broadway And what a proper Superstar you look. A golden oldie, a blast from the past. It’s great to see you’ve come back at last And someday I just have to read…the book. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234/38 "2020-01-31T16:06:46Z")
The Commodores’ “Nightshift” namechecks both Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?” and Jackie Wilson’s “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher”: \*Marvin, he was a friend of mine And he could sing a song His heart in every line Marvin sang of the joy and pain He opened up our minds And I still can hear him say Aw talk to me so you can see What’s going on … Jackie (Jackie), hey what’you doing now It seems like yesterday When we were working out Jackie (Jackie, oh) you set The world on fire You came and gifted us Your love it lifted us Higher and higher\* Wilson’s “Baby Work Out” and Maze’s “Joy and Pain” are also referenced. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234/39 "2020-01-31T16:18:50Z")
“Out On That Road” by Paul Revere and The Raiders name-checks four other songs by the band: _Don’t Take It So Hard_, _Cinderella Sunshine_, _Hungry_ and _Kicks_. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234/40 "2020-01-31T16:19:07Z")
Tom Petty “Running Down a Dream” – me and del singing little runaway – reference to Del Shannon “Runaway” Bruce Springsteen “Thunder Road” – Roy Orbison singing for the lonely – reference to Roy Orbison “Only the Lonely” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs-not-sampling/847234.md?page=3)