# Songs you totally thought were by somebody else **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [July 22, 2024, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612 "2024-07-22T15:19:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612/81 "2024-09-05T17:25:14Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Bad Hund, what you gonna do when they come for you? A la la la la long A la la la la long long li long long long… ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612/82 "2024-09-05T17:26:15Z")
I can’t find the old thread, but I’m pretty sure there was a poster on this very board who thought that “Horse With No Name” was by Neil Young. When told it was by America, they assumed that Young had been the lead singer. They were astonished to finally realize that Neil Young had nothing at all to do with that song. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612/83 "2024-09-05T17:28:01Z")
I am really glad the electric sitar has faded from view. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612/84 "2024-09-05T17:28:01Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > When told it was by America, they assumed that Young had been the lead singer. They were astonished to finally realize that Neil Young had nothing at all to do with that song. It sounds very much like Neil Young, voice, music and style, but here’s a hint: Neil always had a much better command of the English language. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612/85 "2024-09-05T17:30:01Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > “Horse With No Name” was by Neil Young Seriously? I could imagine thinking it was CSN without Young or maybe Seals and Crofts, but Neil Young’s voice is nothing like that. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612/86 "2024-09-05T17:33:05Z")
Apparently it’s a pretty common mis-attribution. Wikipedia quotes Dewey Bunnell, the songwriter and actual lead singer: “I know that virtually everyone, on first hearing, assumed it was Neil.” ---
**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:** [September 5, 2024, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612/87 "2024-09-05T17:35:06Z")
That’s an easy one for me, Harvey Danger, but I never really thought it sounded like Green Day except for the fact the word “paranoia” is used in both of those band’s popular songs. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612/88 "2024-09-05T17:36:17Z")
I guess it’s similar to how I thought about _Stuck in the Middle With You_ – “Man, that is easily the best singing Dylan has ever done.” ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612/89 "2024-09-05T17:45:46Z")
My artist mistake from that era was thinking that _Amie_ was by the Eagles instead of Pure Prairie League. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612/90 "2024-09-05T17:47:53Z")
I thought it was by the Itty Bitty Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612/91 "2024-09-05T19:00:05Z")
I thought “Somebody That I Used to Know” (Gotye) was Peter Gabriel, especially the chorus. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612/92 "2024-09-05T20:38:14Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > Apparently it’s a pretty common mis-attribution. Wikipedia quotes Dewey Bunnell, the songwriter and actual lead singer: “I know that virtually everyone, on first hearing, assumed it was Neil.” I’d have bet the farm on that it was some kind of cooperation between America and Neil … **color me utterly gobsmacked!!!** ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612/93 "2024-09-05T21:32:21Z")
Two rather common ones I had were that I thought Terry Stafford’s recording of _Suspicion_ was by Elvis Presley, and that Badfinger’s _Come and Get It_ was by the Beatles. And when I was seven, I thought _(Hey There) Little Red Riding Hood_ by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs was by The Rolling Stones . ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612/94 "2024-09-06T02:34:45Z")
Back when I was in FM radio, we’d gather around the turntable and play the 33 1/3 RPM version of the Atlanta Rhythm Section’s “Imaginary Lover” at 45, and remark how much it sounded like Stevie Nicks. Turns out we weren’t alone. [And thanks to YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzqjELZP6G8), 171,000 people have discovered it. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612/95 "2024-09-06T02:52:23Z")
I remember when I was a tween in the mid 1970s, and our music teacher sped up one of Alice Cooper’s ballads by about 10 or 20 percent, and I told my mother, “Alice Cooper sounded like a woman!” My mother replied, “Isn’t she supposed to?” ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612/96 "2024-09-06T03:41:47Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > > > I’ve won a lot of beers in bars in asking, “Who sings this song?” when _Flagpole Sitta_ comes on. Give ya a hint, it’s not Green Day. > > I’ve actually got their CD, but I still drew a blank when trying to think of the band’s name, and had to use Google to jog my memory. > > But I knew it wasn’t Green Day. Harvey danger… remembered out of nowhere lol I always thought stick in the middle .. was steve miller ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612/97 "2024-09-06T04:16:06Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > and that Badfinger’s _Come and Get It_ was by the Beatles. No surprise. Written and produced by Paul McCartney. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612/98 "2024-09-06T04:31:24Z")
At first I thought “An Old Fashioned Love Song” by Three Dog Night was done by The Partridge Family. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612/99 "2024-09-06T05:38:05Z")
My mother believed for several years that “American Idiot”, by Green Day, was actually a Ramones song called “Aryan Nation”. I remember laughing my ass off when I discovered this, when we were watching TV once and the Green Day song came on and she told me “They’re covering that Ramones song I was telling you about!” ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612/100 "2024-09-06T06:49:30Z")
For a long time, I genuinely thought that “What Is Life” by George Harrison was actually by the Bay City Rollers. And I don’t have the slightest clue why I would think that the song was particularly characteristic of the Bay City Rollers, because I can barely think of any Bay City Rollers songs to begin with. “Saturday Night” is kind of it, and even then, I’m more likely to think about the Ned’s Atomic Dustbin cover. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-totally-thought-were-by-somebody-else/1004612.md?page=6)