# Songs that reference other songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2010, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622 "2010-02-27T05:19:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622/21 "2010-02-27T23:22:38Z")
Richard Thompson - _Al Bowlly’s In Heaven_: Well we were heroes then, and the girls were all pretty And a uniform was a lucky charm, bought you the key to the city We used to dance, Al Bowlley would sing _“Love is the Sweetest Thing”_ Al Bowlly’s in heaven and I’m in limbo now… Video [here](http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/music/watch/v867398GMKRzZaT) Other versions reference _The Very Thought of You_ as the Al Bowlley song. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622/22 "2010-02-27T23:28:59Z")
In “Adam’s Song” by Blink 182, there’s a line that says, “I took my time, hurried up, the choice was mine,” which is from Nirvana’s “Come As You Are.” ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622/23 "2010-02-27T23:31:41Z")
_In the Springtime of His Voodoo_ by Tori Amos starts off with the line, “Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona and I’m quite sure I’m in the wrong song” which is a pretty clear reference to _Take It Easy_ by the Eagles. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622/24 "2010-02-28T02:55:39Z")
HTR was a huge Monsoon (Sheila Chandra) fan when she was a teenager and years later [referenced](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUuDjAnJdq8) a lyric line from Monsoon’s song [“Ever So Lonely”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW_alnUe6TQ) (link is audio-only of the Extended mix). They otherwise have nothing in common. Don’t know if these count, but she named a song [“Life On Mars”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkeYfBFm-pA) as a tip of the hat to Bowie, but it’s not one of her [Bowie](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSCf15tBGqE) [covers](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yskdR9deHrE). In [this self-cover](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGaSu_ul1F8), she references Kate Bush (“Running Up That Hill”), David Bowie (“Starman”) and Yes (“Long Distance Runaround”). ---
**Author:** ![Coalcracker0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b38774/32.png) [@Coalcracker0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coalcracker0)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622/25 "2010-02-28T03:35:11Z")
Golden Earring’s Radar Love mentions “Brenda Lee’s Comin’ on Strong”. ---
**Author:** ![Baggins111](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@Baggins111](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baggins111)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622/26 "2010-02-28T03:49:19Z")
Regina Spektor’s _On the Radio_ mentions Guns and Roses’ song _November Rain_. > [@](#): > > On the radio > We heard, ‘November Rain’ > That solo’s really long > But it’s a pretty song > We listened to it twice > 'Cause the DJ was asleep ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622/27 "2010-02-28T04:29:35Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > _Seven Days_ has lyrics from _Every Little Thing She Does_ If you’re referring to “It’s a big enough umbrella, But it’s always me that ends up getting wet”, those lyrics were also in the song _O My God_ from the album _Synchronicity_. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622/28 "2010-02-28T05:44:28Z")
A friend of mine wrote a song for his band **Magic Juan** called _Possessed by the Devil_. It’s a song about a cracker who kills a black man and is trying to excuse his actions by claiming that he was possessed. Somehow John managed to work in a **Black Sabbath** tribute: I can do many things, I’m possessed by the devil Satan laughing spreads his wings, I’m possessed by the devil I’ll never forget hearing this song in their rehearsals and making them stop to ask him if he had really said that. I was laughing so hard they had to take a break and get in tune again, ya know what I’m sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![wedgehed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8edcca/32.png) [@wedgehed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wedgehed)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622/29 "2010-02-28T06:03:28Z")
The _Dire Straits_ song “Walk of Life” references “I Got a Woman”, “Be-Bop-A-Lula”, “What’d I Say”, and “Mack the Knife”. ---
**Author:** ![MitzeKatze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@MitzeKatze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MitzeKatze)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622/30 "2010-02-28T06:06:44Z")
Jude Cole’s [_Start the Car_](http://www.metrolyrics.com/start-the-car-lyrics-jude-cole.html) ends with the line “Maybelline why can’t you be true?” thrown into the ending chorus. It is an obvious reference to and line from [_Maybelline_](http://www.kbapps.com/lyrics/jam/maybel.html) by Chuck Berry. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622/31 "2010-02-28T18:28:52Z")
Don McLean’s [American Pie](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/908/what-is-don-mcleans-song-american-pie-all-about) has a few ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622/32 "2010-02-28T18:40:18Z")
Elvis Costello, American without Tears: _In Revlon and Crimpelene they captured my heart To the strain of a piano and a cocktail murderess She was singing that ‘ **It’s Too Late** ’, I agreed with that part For two English girls that had changed their address_ ---
**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:** [February 28, 2010, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622/33 "2010-02-28T19:18:38Z")
A couple of verses from Dream Theater’s “Octavarium”: Sailing on the seven seize the day tripper Diem’s ready Jack the Ripper Owen 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 Hand With careful with That axe Eugene Gene the dance machine messiah Light my Fire gabba, gabba Hey hey my my Generations home again Spock’s Beard also references an earlier song of theirs in “June”: And the crowd kept goin’ singin’ Waste Away but it just didn’t feel right ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622/34 "2010-02-28T20:18:01Z")
Bob Seger’s _Night Moves_: > [@](#): > > I woke last night to the sound of thunder > How far off I sat and wondered > Started humming a song from 1962 > Ain’t it funny how the night moves On a radio call-in show where he was a guest, someone asked, and he said the song was “Be my Baby”. (OK, it was really released in [1963](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_My_Baby), but that doesn’t rhyme.) ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622/35 "2010-02-28T21:36:36Z")
Spandau Ballet—On their hit song “True” they sing the line “listenin’ to Marvin all night long” referencing Marvin Gaye’s “Anna’s Song”. “True” was actually written while Marvin Gaye was still alive; I had always thought it was written as a tribute after his death. (he was of course shot and killed by his father) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622/36 "2010-02-28T22:01:25Z")
The Traveling Wilburies’ “End of the Line” includes a tribute to Jimi Hendrix:: \*Maybe somewhere down the road a ways, You’ll think of me and wonder where I am these days. Maybe somewhere down the road when somebody plays **"Purple Haze."** \* Deep Purple’s “Hungry Daze” alludes to their earlier hit “Smoke on the Water.” _We all came out to Montreux… but that’s another song._ In “Sara,” Bob Dylan mentions an earlier song he’d written for his wife: \*I can still hear the sounds of those Methodist bells, I had taken the cure and had just gotten through Staying up for days in the Chelsea Hotel, Writing \*\*“Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” \*\*for you. \* ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622/37 "2010-02-28T23:30:13Z")
ELO, “Shangri-la”: > [@](#): > > My Shangri-La has gone away, > Faded like the Beatles on _Hey Jude_. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622/38 "2010-03-01T01:59:46Z")
“Slide Show” by Scottish band Travis references Beck’s “Devil’s Haircut” and Oasis’s “Wonderwall.” “There’s no devil’s haircut in my mind. There is not a wonderwall to climb or step around.” ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622/39 "2010-03-01T03:23:37Z")
Wikipedia says Queen’s “Bring Back that Leroy Brown” was supposedly a tribute to Jim Croce, who of course wrote Bad Bad Leroy Brown and had died the previous year. But there’s not much in the lyrics or the style of the song that reminds me of Croce or BBLB. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622/40 "2010-03-01T03:47:33Z")
_More Money for You and Me_, a novelty song by the Four Preps(1960). Parodies of “I’m Mr. Blue” by the Fleetwoods, “Alley Oop” by the Hollywood Argyles, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” by the Platters, “In this Whole Wide World” by the Four Freshmen, “It Takes a Worried Man” and “Tom Dooley” by the Kingston Trio, “Teenager in Love” by Dion and the Belmonts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/530622.md?page=3)