Songs That Reference Other Songs

Indeed,and, as The Master told us, in one of his more sublime revelations, “The Joker” refers not only to several of Miller’s own songs, but also to “The Letter” by the Medallions (and The Clovers’ “Lovey Dovey”).

The principal of my daughter’s high school, when she started there, was named, and liked to be known as, Steve Miller. When I first heard of this I asked her “Do some people call him the space cowboy?” Of course, she didn’t get it. :frowning:

“The Devil Went Down To Georgia” refernces several folks songs, per Wikipedia:

The Beatles’ Glass Onion makes reference to a number of their own songs: Strawberry Fields, I Am the Walrus, Lady Madonna, The Fool on the Hill, Fixing a Hole

Don McLean’s American Pie has a few.

Pretty much everything Steve Miller’s done references earlier songs, yes.

Leonard Cohen’s “[URL=“http://www.lyricsfreak.com/l/leonard+cohen/famous+blue+raincoat_20082860.html”]Famous Blue Raincoat” mentions “Lili Marlene”.

Paul McCartney’s “Silly Love Songs” references … well, most of the rest of his output, really. :stuck_out_tongue:

Probably a few more here.
mmm

Ke$ha (a big Bob Dylan fan) mentions “The Times They are A-Changin’” in “Warrior.”

Eminem brings up the urban legend about Phil Collins’s “In the Air Tonight” in “Stan.”

P Diddy’s “Coming Home” mentions “Tears of a Clown,” “A House is Not a Home,” and “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now.” He says he hates the first two but loves the last one. “Everytime it comes on it makes me feel strong.”

Some of my contributions from the previous thread:

“Unseen Power of The Picket Fence” by Pavement is about REM. It mentions the albums Chronic Town and Reckoning and the songs “So. Central Rain”, “Dont Go Back To Rockville”, “Harbourcoat”, “Pretty Persuasion”, “Camera” and “Time After Time”.


A few from Drive-By-Truckers album, Southern Rock Opera.
“Days of Graduation”:
Everyone said that when the ambulance came
The paramedics could hear “Free Bird” still playing on the stereo
You know it’s a very long song

“Ronnie and Neil”:
And out in California, a rock star from Canada writes a couple of great songs about the bad shit that went down
“Southern Man” and “Alabama” certainly told some truth
But there were a lot of good folks down here and Neil Young wasn’t around

Skynyrd was a bunch of Neil Young fans and Neil he loved that song
So he wrote “Powderfinger” for Skynyrd to record
But Ronnie ended up singing “Sweet Home Alabama” to the Lord

“Let There Be Rock”:
And I never saw Lynyrd Skynyrd but I sure saw Molly Hatchet
And the band that I was in played “The Boys Are Back in Town”

And I never saw Lynyrd Skynyrd but I sure saw AC/DC
With Bon Scott singing “Let There Be Rock” tour
With Bon Scott singing “Let There Be Rock!”


“Play It All Night Long”-Warren Zevon
Sweet Home Alabama
Play that dead band’s song
Turn those speakers up full blast
Play it all night long

Regina Spektor’s “On the Radio” has lines about “We heard November Rain/That solo’s really long/But it’s a pretty song”.
In a totally different genre, Moe Bandy’s I Just Started Hated Cheating Songs Today is pretty much a list of famous cheating songs. I count references to songs by Barbara Mandrell, Conway Twitty, Webb Pierce, Merle Haggard, and many lesser known acts.

The Ojays’ “Backstabbers”

(referencing The Tempations’ “Smiling Faces Sometimes”.)

While I’d say the Pogues’ version is the definitive version, it’s a cover. The song was written and originally recorded by Eric Bogle.

Dirty Old Town is a cover, too.

The Clash’s 2nd UK single Remote Control is referenced in the opening line of their 3rd, Complete Control

“They said, release Remote Control, but we didn’t want it on the label.”

Their 5th, White Man In Hammersmith Palais Opens with the words “Midnight To Six Man

Half Man Half Biscuits Bastard Son Of Dean Friedman ends with:

“And You Can Thank Your Lucky Stars that you’re not the bastard son of Dean Friedman”

Actually, according to your link, the first recording was by one John Currie in 1975. The June Tabor version I mentioned upthread was from 1976. Bogle didn’t record his first album, which included his own version, until 1980.

The ALABAMA song If you’re gonna play in Texas references three different songs.

*f you’re gonna play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band
That lead guitar is hot but not for “Louisiana Man”
So rosin up that bow for “Faded Love” and let’s all dance
If you’re gonna play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band

I remember down in Houston we were puttin’ on a show
When a cowboy in the back stood up and yelled, “Cotton-Eyed Joe”!*

In the prologue to the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s version of Jerry Jeff Walker’s Mr. Bojangles (YouTube), Teddy sings part of “The Old Rugged Cross.”

I had a kid working for me a couple summers ago named Steve Miller. I made a Space Cowboy joke one day and he just looked at me funny. Too young to get it… :smack:

Little River Band’s “Reminiscing” mentions Cole Porter’s “Night and Day”.

Cat Stevens’s song “I Never Wanted To Be A Star” references his songs “Matthew and Son”, “I’m Gonna Get Me a Gun”, and “I Think I See The Light”.

They Might Be Giant’s Why Must I Be Sad? refences a lot of Alice Cooper songs:
No More Mr. Nice Guy, I Love The Dead, Welcome To My Nightmare, Dead Babies, Raped and Freezing, Elected, Generation Landslide, Under My Wheels, Muscle Of Love, School’s Out, Only Women Bleed and Billion Dollar Babies.

I mentioned this in a previous thread a long time ago, but Bob Seger’s Night Moves has the lyrics

On a radio call-in show, with Bob Seger as a guest where people could ask him questions, someone asked him which song that was, and he said it was Be My Baby.
(It’s actually from 1963, but 1962 rhymes better.)