# Songs that take a swipe at other artists **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 6, 2015, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810 "2015-11-06T15:26:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/61 "2015-11-06T21:22:53Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > I had read somewhere that John or Paul said they couldn’t use Ringo on some tracks - especially that long multi-track “She Came in through the Bathroom Window” and “Polythene Pam”. I read they said they had to secretly hire a studio musician to do the drumming there because they didn’t want to offend Ringo. Of course, as soon as the album came out, Ringo would have known all about it. Absolute, 100% bunk. Just \*listen \*to the drums on “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window”…those tom fills have Ringo written all over them. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/62 "2015-11-06T21:38:00Z")
Basically the entirety of “Rumours” is Fleetwood Mac taking swipes at _each other_. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/63 "2015-11-06T22:02:57Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > When the White Album came out, it was obvious to everyone I knew. Perhaps we were closer to the Beach Boys music. But I wouldn’t call it a swipe, just an affectionate parody, even funnier during the Cold War. > And Paul played mean drums on it. Yeah, I’d say affectionate as well, similar to “Rocky Raccoon” being a playful Bob Dylan parody. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/64 "2015-11-06T22:56:03Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Absolute, 100% bunk. Just \*listen \*to the drums on “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window”…those tom fills have Ringo written all over them. Gosh! I sure do wish I remember exactly where I saw that or read that. It may have been in George’s film, “Living in the Material World” (2011). > **[George Harrison: Living in the Material World (2011) ⭐ 8.1 | Documentary,...](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1113829/)** > > 3h 28m | Not Rated Does anyone who saw that film remember? It is too long to go through it all in search of this one tiny quote. But, for anyone who ever enjoyed The Beatles, it really is a wonderful movie. [http://rec.music.beatles.narkive.com/9wOWFPAq/did-paul-really-re-record-ringo-s-drum-tracks#post5](http://rec.music.beatles.narkive.com/9wOWFPAq/did-paul-really-re-record-ringo-s-drum-tracks#post5) I found the above link which is more discussion of this controversy. It does not seem to offer any facts. But it may provide some leads or jog someone’s memory so that we might find a factual answer. From what I have read however, this is just one big long (40 years old now) argument between Ringo and Paul. It appears from the above link that Paul claims he did some of the drumming on the White Album but Ringo disagrees and they have come pretty close to calling each other liars. I don’t know the truth, but I sure would like to know. I do recall reading something or seeing something in a film where someone made the claim that Ringo was not able to handle the drumming. I’m very sorry that I raised this incident without having the exact link or cite to prove it was said and I have to apologize for that. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/65 "2015-11-06T23:03:34Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > Gosh! I sure do wish I remember exactly where I saw that or read that. It may have been in George’s film, “Living in the Material World” (2011). > > [George Harrison: Living in the Material World (2011) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1113829) > > Does anyone who saw that film remember? It is too long to go through it all in search of this one tiny quote. But, for anyone who ever enjoyed The Beatles, it really is a wonderful movie. > > [Did Paul really re-record Ringo's drum tracks?](http://rec.music.beatles.narkive.com/9wOWFPAq/did-paul-really-re-record-ringo-s-drum-tracks#post5) > > I found the above link which is more discussion of this controversy. It does not seem to offer any facts. But it may provide some leads or jog someone’s memory so that we might find a factual answer. > > From what I have read however, this is just one big long (40 years old now) argument between Ringo and Paul. It appears from the above link that Paul claims he did some of the drumming on the White Album but Ringo disagrees and they have come pretty close to calling each other liars. > > I don’t know the truth, but I sure would like to know. I do recall reading something or seeing something in a film where someone made the claim that Ringo was not able to handle the drumming. > > I’m very sorry that I raised this incident without having the exact link or cite to prove it was said and I have to apologize for that. Ringo walked out and quit during the white album sessions. They worked on Back in the USSR when he was out. He didn’t play on why dont we do it in the road and maybe another. He didn’t play on ballad of John and Yoko, but he played on virtually everything else. He must have played on the abbey road medley because if he didn’t like wheres the love you make and take come from? That would be ridiculous. His drum solo is on the medley. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/66 "2015-11-06T23:05:45Z")
> **[Did Paul really re-record Ringo's drum tracks?](https://rec.music.beatles.narkive.com/9wOWFPAq/did-paul-really-re-record-ringo-s-drum-tracks)** At the very end of this link, a New York Times article is cited in which it makes it look like Ringo said that Paul sent him some cards and messages telling him that he is the best drummer in the world. But Ringo intimates that came a year after the quarrel they had that caused Ringo to quit the band. "… Mr. Starr explains in the book, was sent after the “White Album.” The band had hit yet another bad patch, and Mr. Starr had abruptly quit, in part after learning that Mr. McCartney had recorded drum parts of his own. “After I walked out,” he writes in the book, “I kept getting these postcards - telegrams, actually - from John and George: …” Mr. McCartney’s card was a year late. “He was just making up for lost time,” Mr. Starr writes. ## The thing was, Mr. Starr explained, his bandmates loved the drums. Drove him mad. “Every time I went for a cup of tea, Paul was on the drums. I had three - three - frustrated drummers.” ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/67 "2015-11-06T23:07:01Z")
Hey Dad Dog, I didn’t see your post before I made my previous post. But it sounds like you are saying the same thing that was quoted in that New York Times article (assuming that was real). ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/68 "2015-11-06T23:09:59Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > Gosh! I sure do wish I remember exactly where I saw that or read that. It may have been in George’s film, “Living in the Material World” (2011). I’ve seen it, and I’m sure I would remember if there had been any suggestion that a session drummer had been used anywhere on _Abbey Road_. That album has some of Ringo’s most brilliant and distinctive drumming on tracks like “Come Together,” “Something,” and of course the famous mini-solo on “The End.” All 100% Richard Starkey. You’re possibly getting mixed up with the claims by Bernard Purdie that he replaced Ringo’s parts on the \*early \*Beatle records, but few take him seriously. I certainly don’t. As for the White Album, there’s no doubt that Paul played drums on a couple of tracks, including “Back in the USSR,” recorded after Ringo had walked out on the sessions in exasperation. That’s no secret, least of all to Ringo. There’s a very sweet story that when Ringo agreed to return, he walked into the studio to find that John, Paul, and George had had his drum kit covered with flowers. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/69 "2015-11-06T23:11:39Z")
Back off Boogaloo was about Paul. That was his nickname. Turns out he was right about Klein though. Listen to Not Guilty by George: He’s talking about John and maybe Paul. (John didn’t play on Georges songs) Listen to Pauls Too many people, wild life, dear friend, and in my opinion the title of the song Junk, all as referring to john. Paul was much subtler and wittier in song, than John, oddly enough, when angry. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/70 "2015-11-06T23:36:25Z")
There’s McCartney’s album “Ram”, which had a photo inside of two beetles mating, apparently a dig at the other three Beatles. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/71 "2015-11-06T23:51:06Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > There’s McCartney’s album “Ram”, which had a photo inside of two beetles mating, apparently a dig at the other three Beatles. And of course John responded to \*Ram \*by including in the \*Imagine \*LP a postcard of himself mimicking Paul’s cover pose, with a pig replacing the ram. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/72 "2015-11-06T23:54:52Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > You’re So Vain by Carly Simon has allegedly been about Mick Jagger, Warren Beatty, David Bowie, David Cassidy and/or Cat Stevens. There is still lots of speculation over who it’s about. > [@buddha\_david](#): > > Have any of them have ever said they thought this song was about them? FWIW, Mick Jagger sings backup on _You’re So Vain_. A lot of people don’t seem to realize this. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/73 "2015-11-07T00:05:59Z")
And the subtle digs at Easy-E and Luther Campbell on Dr Dres The Chronic. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/74 "2015-11-07T00:10:38Z")
Moving away from Pop/Rock for a moment… P.D.Q. Bach (Peter Schickele) composed and recorded a hilarious “homage” to his former classmate Philip Glass. As someone who’s never been able to take Mr. Glass seriously, I was floored when Glass’s _Koyaanisqatsi_ was mimicked by PDQB’s equally pretentious _Koyahatsitatsi_. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/75 "2015-11-07T00:20:37Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > And the subtle digs at Easy-E and Luther Campbell on Dr Dres The Chronic. Speaking of digs at Easy-E, I give you[Ice Cube’s “No Vaseline”,](https://play.google.com/music/preview/T6i5qegz7nxbbb3xe6r457p6boi?lyrics=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaignid=kp-lyrics) which rips hard into every other member of NWA, but most especially Easy. > [@](#): > > With your manager, fella > Fuckin’ MC Ren, Dr Dre and Yella > But if they were smart as me > Eazy E would be hangin’ from a tree > > With no Vaseline > Just a match and a little bit of gasoline > Light 'em up, burn 'em up, flame on > Till that Jheri curl is gone It goes on from there, and doesn’t get any more complimentary. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/76 "2015-11-07T00:20:42Z")
The Pink Floyd songs “Poles Apart” and “Lost for Words” contain digs at Roger Waters. Gilmour also said that “You Know I’m Right” from his solo album _About Face_ is partly about Waters. “Had It With You,” on the Stones album _Dirty Work,_ is a pretty obvious swipe at Mick Jagger, courtesy of Keith Richards. The Dandy Warhols song “Welcome to the Monkey House” contains the line “When Michael Jackson dies/We’re covering ‘Blackbird.’” Sounds like a dig to me. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/77 "2015-11-07T00:55:10Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > The song Aenema by Tool pretty much takes a swipe at everything in SoCal, but there’s one line in particular that says: " Fuck all these gun-toting / Hip gangster wannabes." you know, for [all of these bands releasing songs about how “meh” California is,](http://www.cracked.com/article_15965_6-music-industry-tricks-that-must-die.html) I don’t see any of them leaving. just attention-getting bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/78 "2015-11-07T01:17:08Z")
Insane Clown Posse’s song Ain’t Nuttin’ But a Bitch Thang is entirely about how shitty Eminem is. I’m not a jugglo, I think jugglos are dumb, but I hate Eminem, so I find the song very amusing. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/79 "2015-11-07T01:30:58Z")
> [@No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](#): > > _Instant Club Hit_ by the Dead Milkmen takes a swipe at the Communards, Book of Love, The Smiths, Depeche Mode, Public Image Limited, Naked Truth, and any bunch of stupid Europeans who come over here with their big hairdos intent on taking our money instead of giving your cash where it belongs, to a decent American artist like myself. Some people’ll dance to anything. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/80 "2015-11-07T01:35:51Z")
“Where’s the Dress” by Mo Bandy and Joe Stampley was a feature-length poke at Boy George, at the time the new hot thing on the block. It was my impression that so was one verse of Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810.md?page=5)