# Songs you would swear were done by someone else. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 7, 2006, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726 "2006-04-07T15:20:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [April 8, 2006, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726/61 "2006-04-08T17:16:37Z")
Sidetrack warning: When I was in Warsaw, I got into a huge argument with another American over who sang “Fixin’ To Die”. I stood fast on Country Joe and The Fish, he was practically apoplectic over his belief that it was Arlo Guthrie. Bets me $50, but of course there was no way to prove it, despite his girlfriend siding with him. :rolleyes: I always hoped I’d run into him again… ---
**Author:** ![AFAIKnow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@AFAIKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AFAIKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726/62 "2006-04-08T17:37:21Z")
“It’s Only Make Believe” lost alot of people money on bets when it first came out in my neck of the woods. I’m sure \*\*Conway Twitty \*\* sounded like **Elvis** on purpose to sell records. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726/63 "2006-04-08T18:35:32Z")
> [@betenoir](#): > > “Horse with No Name” > > Which a lot of people (uncluding my mom) think is by Neil Young. I remember seeing America interviewed and asked if it bothered them that people thought Horse With No Name was Neil Young. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726/64 "2006-04-08T18:50:07Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I remember seeing America interviewed and asked if it bothered them that people thought Horse With No Name was Neil Young. I think I would actually be more irritated if I were Neil Young and everyone at every appearance wanted me to play Horse With No Name… ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726/65 "2006-04-08T19:12:06Z")
Speaking of Neil Young reminds me of the version of “Mad World” which was used in “Donnie Darko” and in countless television shows. Every time I hear this version of the song, I think it’s being sung by Neil Young. But it’s not. Who the heck is Gary Jules? ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726/66 "2006-04-08T19:37:52Z")
I think just about _everyone_ (including me) was fooled by the Knickerbockers into thinking the song “Lies” was by the Beatles. “Long Cool Woman” and “Horse With No Name” fooled me too. Am I the only one who thought “Sultans of Swing” was being sung by Bob Dylan? (It had me fooled for a while). ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726/67 "2006-04-08T21:20:07Z")
> [@Mal Adroit](#): > > Like, maybe, too distinctive (?) I’m thinking of "All the Young Dudes, " the chorus. . . hell, even Ian Hunter’s phrasing on the \*verses \* is Bowie-ish. Well, Bowie _did_ write it for them as well as produce it: the story goes that he first offered Suffragette City to Mott the Hoople, but Ian Hunter turned it down because he thought it was crap. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726/68 "2006-04-08T21:35:44Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > Am I the only one who thought “Sultans of Swing” was being sung by Bob Dylan? (It had me fooled for a while). When I was a kid, I assumed it was Eric Clapton – similar guitar style, especially his late '70s style. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726/69 "2006-04-08T22:01:03Z")
When I heard 100 Years in a credit card commercial I assumed it was by Dave Matthews, but later found out that it was by Five For Fighting. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726/70 "2006-04-09T01:53:46Z")
I always thought “Walk of Life” by Dire Straits sounded like Bruce Springstein. I got Carl Perkin’s “Blue Suede Shoes” mixed up with Elvis, although they did both perform it. I insisted to an old girlfriend that “Freak Me” (a 90’s R&B song) was sung by Keith Sweat, but it was a group called Silk. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2006, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726/71 "2006-04-09T01:55:52Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > That one’s a ringer; “Come and Get It” was written for Badfinger by Paul McCartney. **Badfinger** did such a convincing job of sounding like the Beatles that I did a little research on them back in my DJ days. It seems many of Badfinger’s songs were produced either by George Harrison or Todd Rundgren. Oddly, the ones produced by Rundgren sounded _ **more** _ like the Beatles than the ones produced by Harrison. Rundgren could have been the king of soundalikes if he’d pursued it. Back in the mid-70’s he did a cover of _Good Vibrations_ that had my entire radio station believing it was a Beach Boys re-release. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726/72 "2006-04-09T02:13:50Z")
More embarrassment… I always thought that _Brown Eyed Girl_ was done by the Rolling Stones… I’m so ashamed. But dammit, it sounded like Mick Jagger… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726/73 "2006-04-09T02:31:10Z")
For years I thought “_A Whiter Shade of Pale_” and “_Lucky Man_” were by the **Moody Blues**. In fact, they are by **Procol Harum** and **Emerson, Lake and Palmer** respectively. I also had the misconceptions about the **Badfinger** and **Mott the Hoople** songs until a few years back. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726/74 "2006-04-09T02:40:06Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Cher should hope for a voice like that. > > For a long time I thought _I’m Not In Love_ by 10CC was Paul McCartney. I thought the same thing about the song “The Things We Do for Love”. Some of my others: [ul] [li]“No Sugar Tonight” - thought it was done by CCR, but it’s really by the Guess Who.[/li][li]“Dancing in the Moonlight”- For _years_ I thought this was a Van Morrison song and never questioned it otherwise, only to learn a few years ago it was actually done by King Harvest.[/li][li]“Rock and Rol (Hoochie Koo)” by Rick Derringer was always a Led Zeppelin song to me for the longest time.[/li][li]“Hunger Strike” by Temple of the Dog always sounded like Pearl Jam until I learned otherwise.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726/75 "2006-04-09T02:56:11Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Rundgren could have been the king of soundalikes if he’d pursued it. Back in the mid-70’s he did a cover of _Good Vibrations_ that had my entire radio station believing it was a Beach Boys re-release. That cover was off his album _Faithful_, one half of which is faithful covers of others’ songs, along with _Rain_, _If Six Was Nine_,and _Strawberry Fields Forever_, to name a few. One of my favorite Rundgren albums is Utopia’s _Deface the Music_. There are no covers on it, but all of the songs are styled just like The Beatles, from early Beatles to psychedelic Beatles. It’s just like a long lost Beatles album. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726/76 "2006-04-09T03:05:30Z")
> [@dwc1970](#): > > [li]“Hunger Strike” by Temple of the Dog always sounded like Pearl Jam until I learned otherwise.[/li][/list] Well I’m sure you know Temple of the Dog had 2 lead singers, Eddie Vedder (of Pearl Jam) and Chris Cornell (of Soundgarden, and now Audioslave.) ---
**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726/77 "2006-04-09T04:23:57Z")
I also had some the same misconception as others here about _It’s Only Make Believe_ being **Elvis** instead of **Conway Twitty**. And I did indeed wonder if it might be **Dylan** singing _Sultans of Swing_ when I first heard it, although I never thought for sure it was him. After hearing it two or three times I convinced myself it wasn’t him, but someone else who was doing a “homage” to his sound. After just a few days I heard about **Dire Straits**. They remain one of my favorite groups. And now in this thread I find that _Dancing in the Moonlight_ is not **Van Morrison**. :smack: I would have bet money it was. I once got into a disagreement with my brother who was sure that the 1960s hit version of _Somewhere Beyond the Sea_ was **Paul Anka**. I insisted it **Bobby Darin** (which of course it was), but Scott was dead certain it was Anka. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726/78 "2006-04-09T05:05:47Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Surf City, Dead Man’s Curve, and Little Old Lady from Pasadena. > > When I was a kid I always thought these were **Beach Boys** songs. > I didn’t even know who **Jan & Dean** were. Ain’t no surprise, since Jan Berry and Brian Wilson collaborated on those songs. Brian was often uncredited. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726/79 "2006-04-09T05:11:09Z")
Re: Badfinger–they were the first band outside of the Beatles to be signed by Apple records and it’s no great coincidence that the sound was so similar. Songs written by McCartney, produced by the same engineers who were producing the Beatles, heck it would have been more amazing if they DIDN’T sound alike! ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726/80 "2006-04-09T16:11:39Z")
> [@RJKUgly](#): > > And now in this thread I find that _Dancing in the Moonlight_ is not **Van Morrison**. :smack: I would have bet money it was. I get Van Morrison and Steely Dan mixed up. They both suck, and they most certainly do not “rock” despite what my local classic rock station says. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-swear-were-done-by-someone-else/351726.md?page=5)