# Songs that "steal" from other songs (not sampled) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 22, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-steal-from-other-songs-not-sampled/622727 "2012-05-22T15:55:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-steal-from-other-songs-not-sampled/622727/1 "2012-05-22T15:55:14Z")
In David Bowie’s “Young Americans” he clearly riffs on the Beatles “A Day in the Life” with the line “I read the news today, oh boy”. In fact it isn’t even a riff on it, it is almost exact homage. What other songs have lines from other songs sung in the same style as the original (not samples)? ---
**Author:** ![statij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@statij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statij)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-steal-from-other-songs-not-sampled/622727/2 "2012-05-22T16:06:40Z")
In Drive by Blind Melon they play a riff from Jimi’s Manic Depression right after singing “Jimi we need to borrow this for a minute” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-steal-from-other-songs-not-sampled/622727/3 "2012-05-22T16:08:53Z")
If you want a sampled or borrowed piece of music, Sugarloaf’s “Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You” uses the main guitar riff fro mthe Beatles’ “I Feel Fine.” If you just want snippets of borrowed lyrics, Aerosmith paid tribute to their idols, the Yadbirds, in the song “Living on the Edge,” in which they copied the line, “If you can tell a wise man by the color of his skin, Mister, you’re a better man than I.” ---
**Author:** ![President\_Johnny\_Gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@President\_Johnny\_Gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/President_Johnny_Gentle)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-steal-from-other-songs-not-sampled/622727/4 "2012-05-22T16:09:26Z")
[“John Allyn Smith Sails”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOK7ownE3Hg) by Okkervil River uses the Beach Boys’ version of “Sloop John B” in detailing the life and death of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet John Berryman. The homage begins in earnest at about 2:27 and is taken a step further at 3:08. ---
**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:** [May 22, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-steal-from-other-songs-not-sampled/622727/5 "2012-05-22T16:15:20Z")
In the chorus of Eddy Money’s “Take Me Home Tonight” you hear “Be My Little Baby” from the Ronette’s song “Be My Baby.” In fact it’s Ronnie Spector herself singing it. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-steal-from-other-songs-not-sampled/622727/6 "2012-05-22T16:17:51Z")
During the fade-out of T-Rex’s _Bang a Gong (Get It On)_, Marc Bolan exclaims “And meanwhile, I’m still thinking…” borrowed from Chuck Berry’s _Little Queenie_. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-steal-from-other-songs-not-sampled/622727/7 "2012-05-22T16:20:40Z")
The Electric Light Orchestra’s albums are FILLED with little BEatle tributes. Many songs lift a fragment of Beatle msuic or lyrics. I think of the song “Shangri La,” which features both a few piano notes lifted from “A Day in the Life,” and lyrics that say: _My Shangri La has gone away, Faded like the Beatles on "“Hey Jude” (Judy baby!)_ ---
**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:** [May 22, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-steal-from-other-songs-not-sampled/622727/8 "2012-05-22T16:23:19Z")
The Beatles did it to themselves on “All You Need is Love” with Paul singing “She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah. She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah.” near the fade-out. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-steal-from-other-songs-not-sampled/622727/9 "2012-05-22T16:25:39Z")
Weird Al’s _[Amish Paradise](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOfZLb33uCg)_ [At 1:42](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=lOfZLb33uCg#t=102s) “There’s no phone, no lights, no motorcars, not a single luxury Like Robonson Crusoe, it’s as primitive as can be.” ---
**Author:** ![MickNickMaggies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/59ef9b/32.png) [@MickNickMaggies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MickNickMaggies)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-steal-from-other-songs-not-sampled/622727/10 "2012-05-22T16:36:24Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > In David Bowie’s “Young Americans” he clearly riffs on the Beatles “A Day in the Life” with the line “I read the news today, oh boy”. In fact it isn’t even a riff on it, it is almost exact homage. > > What other songs have lines from other songs sung in the same style as the original (not samples)? Your example reminded me of Bowie’s cover of ‘Sorrow’. Originally by the McCoys, the Beatles used ‘your long blonde hair and your eyes of blue’ in ‘It’s All Too Much’. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-steal-from-other-songs-not-sampled/622727/11 "2012-05-22T16:37:28Z")
Matthew Fisher, organist for Procol Harum, did a solo album which included “[Going for a Song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhJgmb1osm0),” about being sick and tired of playing the same song over and over again. He quotes from “A Whiter Shade of Pale.” ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-steal-from-other-songs-not-sampled/622727/12 "2012-05-22T17:24:02Z")
My favourite band, The Gaslight Anthem, is strongly influenced by Bruce Springsteen. Their song “High Lonesome” has the line “…at night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet”, same line as in Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire.” ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-steal-from-other-songs-not-sampled/622727/13 "2012-05-22T17:24:40Z")
Thought of another Chuck Berry homage. In _Centerfield_, John Fogerty sings “Roundin’ third and headed for home, it’s a brown-eyed handsome man…” ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-steal-from-other-songs-not-sampled/622727/14 "2012-05-22T17:28:14Z")
It’s not a line, but “Can’t Touch This” has parts that are exactly the same as “Supperfreak”. I believe there was a lawsuit? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-steal-from-other-songs-not-sampled/622727/15 "2012-05-22T17:35:16Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > It’s not a line, but “Can’t Touch This” has parts that are exactly the same as “Supperfreak”. I believe there was a lawsuit? That OP specifies musical or lyrical lines that are not samples. “U Can’t Touch This” heavily samples from Rick James’s “Superfreak.” ---
**Author:** ![sco3tt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@sco3tt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sco3tt)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-steal-from-other-songs-not-sampled/622727/16 "2012-05-22T17:40:45Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > During the fade-out of T-Rex’s _Bang a Gong (Get It On)_, Marc Bolan exclaims “And meanwhile, I’m still thinking…” borrowed from Chuck Berry’s _Little Queenie_. And Queen uses the same song’s refrain “Go, go, go, Little Queenie” in [the fadeout of _Now I’m Here_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDhTumGxB2w&feature=player_detailpage#t=230s). ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-steal-from-other-songs-not-sampled/622727/17 "2012-05-22T17:45:46Z")
Lynryd Synyrd - Sweet Home Alabama - the reference is here “Well I heard mister Young sing about her Well, I heard ole Neil put her down Well, I hope Neil Young will remember A Southern man don’t need him around anyhow” This related to the Neil Young song ‘Southern Man’ ---
**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:** [May 22, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-steal-from-other-songs-not-sampled/622727/18 "2012-05-22T17:50:55Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > Lynryd Synyrd - Sweet Home Alabama - the reference is here > > “Well I heard mister Young sing about her > Well, I heard ole Neil put her down > Well, I hope Neil Young will remember > A Southern man don’t need him around anyhow” > > This related to the Neil Young song ‘Southern Man’ Um. I don’t think you understood the OP. Or I don’t understand your response. One or the other. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-steal-from-other-songs-not-sampled/622727/19 "2012-05-22T17:51:37Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > Thought of another Chuck Berry homage. In _Centerfield_, John Fogerty sings “Roundin’ third and headed for home, it’s a brown-eyed handsome man…” There seem to be a lot of Chuck Berry homages out there… there’s also John Lennon’s paraphrase of “Here come old flat top” from Berry’s “Thirty Days”. “Trash”, by the New York Dolls, has the same chord structure as “Love Is Strange” by Mickey and Sylvia, and they acknowledge this when Johansen yells, “How do you call your lover boy!!?” ---
**Author:** ![sco3tt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@sco3tt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sco3tt)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-steal-from-other-songs-not-sampled/622727/20 "2012-05-22T18:42:48Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > There seem to be a lot of Chuck Berry homages out there… there’s also John Lennon’s paraphrase of “Here come old flat top” from Berry’s “Thirty Days”. That was actually from [_You Can’t Catch Me_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyhkoi4I4Q8&feature=player_detailpage#t=50s). Lennon [later covered it in full](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8g70Pzfcq0) and gave it an overall “Come Together” treatment. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-steal-from-other-songs-not-sampled/622727.md?page=2)