# Songs That Reference Other Songs
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/678980
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 16, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/678980 "2014-01-16T17:21:17Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/678980/1 "2014-01-16T17:21:17Z")
Kid Rock’s _All Summer Long_ not only samples (if that’s the right word) _Sweet Home Alabama_, but is also largely about singing and listening to that song as a young lad.
What are some other songs that reference other songs? By “reference” I mean that the vocalist specifically mentions or alludes to the other song; I don’t just mean sampling.
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### Author:  [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/678980/2 "2014-01-16T17:24:09Z")
“When You Dream” by Barenaked Ladies specifically mentions Del Shannon’s “Runaway.”
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/678980/3 "2014-01-16T17:25:03Z")
“[Shangri-La](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5qk2c1OuRA)”, by the Electric Light Orchestra:
“My Shangri-La has gone away
Faded like the Beatles on ‘Hey Jude’”
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/678980/4 "2014-01-16T17:27:33Z")
> [@Eutychus](#):
>
> “When You Dream” by Barenaked Ladies specifically mentions Del Shannon’s “Runaway.”
As does Tom Petty’s “[Runnin’ Down a Dream](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1D3a5eDJIs)”:
“Trees went by
Me and Del were singing
Little Runaway
I was flying”
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### Author:  [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/678980/5 "2014-01-16T17:27:46Z")
> [@Eutychus](#):
>
> “When You Dream” by Barenaked Ladies specifically mentions Del Shannon’s “Runaway.”
“Runnin’ Down a Dream” by Tom Petty also mentions “Runaway.”
“Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd references “Southern Man” by Neil Young.
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### Author:  [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/678980/6 "2014-01-16T17:38:29Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#):
>
> “[Shangri-La](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5qk2c1OuRA)”, by the Electric Light Orchestra:
>
> “My Shangri-La has gone away
> Faded like the Beatles on ‘Hey Jude’”
“Hey Jude” is also specifically mentioned in Martina McBride’s “God’s Will.”
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### Author:  [@jrsone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrsone)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/678980/7 "2014-01-16T17:39:35Z")
Rap music does this _a lot_. I’m trying to think of an example off hand. I’ll get back to you.
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### Author:  [@Acewiza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acewiza)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/678980/8 "2014-01-16T17:43:55Z")
Songs referring to other singers?
Lynyrd Skynyrd: “A Southern man don’t need him around…” referring to Neil Young.
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### Author:  [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/678980/9 "2014-01-16T17:45:55Z")
Genesis “Broadway Melody of 1974” mentions “In the Mood.”
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### Author:  [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2014, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/678980/10 "2014-01-16T18:13:51Z")
Don McLean’s American Pie refers to approximately a crapton of other songs: Eight Miles High (the Byrds,) Helter Skelter (Beatles,) Like a Rolling Stone (Dylan,) etc.
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### Author:  [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/678980/11 "2014-01-16T18:28:21Z")
The Reunion’s one-hit wonder song “Life Is A Rock (But The Radio Rolled Me)” mentions the Locomotion, Satisfaction, Gimme Shelter, Good Vibrations, Help Me Rhonda, Surfer Girl, Little Honda, Sugar Sugar, Yummy Yummy, as well as many more names of artists and bands.
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### Author:  [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2014, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/678980/12 "2014-01-16T18:33:07Z")
The French singer Gerard Lenorman recorded a song (Michele) in which the female subjects is described singing _Yesterday_.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2014, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/678980/13 "2014-01-16T18:33:49Z")
The Pogues’ “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda”
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### Author:  [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2014, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/678980/14 "2014-01-16T18:37:10Z")
Sweet Soul Music by Arthur Conley mentions:[ul]
[li]Going To A Go Go by Smokey and the Miracles[/li][li]Love’s A hurtin’ Thing by Lou Rawls[/li][li]Hold On, I’m Comin’ by Sam and Dave[/li][li]Mustang Sally by Wilson Pickett[/li][li]Otis Redding [/li][li]James Brown [/li][/ul]
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### Author:  [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/678980/15 "2014-01-16T18:42:24Z")
Then there’s the Barclay James Harvest song _Titles_, with lyrics mainly based on titles of Beatles songs such as Lady madonna, The long and winding road, Here comes the sun, Let it be, Something and many more.
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### Author:  [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/678980/16 "2014-01-16T18:44:12Z")
Springsteen’s Thunder Road references Roy Orbison singing for the lonely.
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### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/678980/17 "2014-01-16T18:46:19Z")
> [@Spoons](#):
>
> “Hey Jude” is also specifically mentioned in Martina McBride’s “God’s Will.”
Also in Sparks’ “Rockin’ Girls” (“You’re the only girl I ever met who hates ‘Hey Jude’”).
The album \*The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway \*by Genesis is riddled with references to old songs, including “On Broadway,” “In the Mood,” “Runaway,” “It Won’t Be Long,” “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” and “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll” (the last of which was actually a current hit when the album was recorded).
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### Author:  [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2014, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/678980/18 "2014-01-16T18:48:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> The Pogues’ “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda”
Not to forget “A Fairy Tale of Old New York” where they mention the song “Galway Bay.”
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2014, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/678980/19 "2014-01-16T18:48:42Z")
I’ll bet that Kid Rock’s song is a direct reference to Johnny Rivers’ “Summer Rain”
> [@](#):
>
> All summer long we spent dancin’ in the sand
> And the jukebox kept on playin’
> Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-reference-other-songs/678980/20 "2014-01-16T18:53:01Z")
> [@mcgato](#):
>
> Springsteen’s Thunder Road references Roy Orbison singing for the lonely.
And, conversely, the Traveling Wilburys (of which Orbison was a member) did a song, “[Tweeter and the Monkey Man](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tweeter_and_the_Monkey_Man)”, which was an homage to Springsteen. The song’s lyrics contain the names of a bunch of Springsteen songs, including “Thunder Road”, “Jersey Girl”, “Stolen Car”, and “The River”, among others.
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