# Songs you've misattributed. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 23, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381 "2014-09-23T22:42:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381/61 "2014-09-24T14:12:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > On the other hand, “Horse With No Name” came out around the same time as “Heart of Gold”, which wasn’t exactly a lyrical peak for Neil Young. Funny, since that’s one of the few Neil Young songs I actually like. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381/62 "2014-09-24T14:14:12Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > Trust me when I say there is nothing you can tell me about The Hollies that I don’t already know. When I pointed out they were “the same group” except for one member replacing another, I was referring to their _personnel_, not the nature of their music. > > Now, on to your commentary: first of all, Nash didn’t write the first three songs on your list. Second of all, of the last three that he did, “Jennifer Eccles” is cheesier and more pop twee than any of the hits the post-Nash Hollies scored. “He Ain’t Heavy” is far from my favorite Hollies song, but even it has more weight (no pun intended) than JE. > > Next, “the group’s sound” changed hardly at all with Nash’s departure, and it can be argued that Terry Sylvester was a better high harmony singer than Nash was. Tony Hicks was just as fine a guitarist after Nash’s departure as he was before. If you want to argue that the nature of their material changed, then you’ll have to account for the first post-Nash single “Sorry Suzanne,” which is very much of a piece with their previous pop output and a much better song than “Jennifer Eccles.” > > And finally, I know all about the “Graham Nash departed The Hollies so he could get away from pop fluff and do more serious music with CSN(Y)” bit. And so what does Nash do after leaving? Hand us a bunch of mostly pop fluff songs that appeared on their first two albums. It’s not that they’re terrible songs, but “Marrakesh Express,” “Pre-Road Downs,” “Lady of the Island” and “Our House” don’t exactly plumb the depths of the human soul, do they? > > Meanwhile, I’ll put Alan Clarke’s Hollies songs “My Life Is Over With You,” “Goodbye Tomorrow” and “Marigold Gloria Swansong” (just for starters) up against anything Nash wrote in the same period. They have it all over Nash’s slight stuff in terms of both musical and lyrical substance. > > “Long Cool Woman” (co-written by Clarke) was an attempt to do something adventurous and different and break away from the standard Hollies sound. That’s supposed to be a good thing in rock music, remember? And finally, the follow-up single “Long Dark Road” again bests anything Nash did on the first two CSN(Y) albums. > > All IMHO, of course. But if you want to argue to the contrary, be my guest. Dude, you’ve just lost an argument with yourself. No, their sound didn’t change. But it became a lot less poppy and more adventurous. I’ll just quietly step away from your internal debate. ---
**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 24, 2014, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381/63 "2014-09-24T14:15:28Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > The thread’s gone this far without anyone mentioning “On the Dark Side” from Eddie and the Cruisers? Not Bruce Springsteen, but John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. At my school, we called them “Bargain-basement Bruce.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381/64 "2014-09-24T14:30:22Z")
I was _positive_ that Journey’s Feelin’ That Way/Anytime was a collaboration between Journey and Chicago. That other guy singing with Steve Perry was so totally Peter Cetera. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381/65 "2014-09-24T14:33:27Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Funny, since that’s one of the few Neil Young songs I actually like. He’s certainly done more complex lyrics than those on “Heart of Gold.” But that’s neither here nor there, IMHO. There are few rock/pop songs of note that have lyrics that qualify as great poetry. Some successful pop songs are mostly about the words, some are mostly about the music, and most are about a blend of music and lyrics that is much more than either would be by itself. For me, “Heart of Gold” is an emotionally powerful song. And the fact that if I pull out the lyrics and look at them as words on a page, I’d go “is that all there is?” doesn’t change that. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381/66 "2014-09-24T14:36:54Z")
When I first heard [Dear God](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHmTqoLjlXo), by XTC, I thought it was a Split Enz song. ETA: Senses Working Overtime also has a Split Enz feel to it. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381/67 "2014-09-24T14:39:21Z")
Here’s one where I got to be half-wrong in two different directions. I’d thought for years that “Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves” was an Aretha Franklin song. Then awhile back, I followed someone’s link to a live performance where Annie Lennox was doing it solo. And she _owned_ that song. OK, I was mistaken, I thought - that must’ve been Lennox, not Aretha, that recorded this song. Wrong again: they did the original recording together. ---
**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:** [September 24, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381/68 "2014-09-24T14:56:26Z")
When I was 9 or 10, I listened to my parents’ Buffalo Springfield greatest hits LP (_Retrospective_) quite a few times – but I must not have listened (or paid attention) to the whole thing, because decades later I found out that that cool soul song “Kind Woman” – surely by Marvin Gaye or someone like that – was actually Buffalo Springfield (really just Richie Furay, as the band was about to break up). Recently I put that same old LP on my parents’ turntable. I went to take a shower, and heard “Kind Woman” playing in the living room! Who the heck had switched the hi-fi to radio or something? Emerging from the shower, I was surprised to discover that the song had been on the LP the whole time. Such a different sound for them (not that they ever had an identifiable “sound” to begin with – probably why they never made it that big, but rather epitomized the word “seminal,” along with the Yardbirds). ---
**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:** [September 24, 2014, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381/69 "2014-09-24T15:05:13Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > I was amazed when I learned, not too long ago, that “Rescue Me” was by Fontella Bass, not Aretha Franklin as I had thought ever since, oh, forever. > > When “All the Young Dudes” first came out, I had this theory that it was the Beatles recording under assumed identities. (Hey, I was in high school.) I can easily see both of those. In fact, when I hear “All the Young Dudes”, I try to think of what Beatles song it reminds me of. Which is it? Maybe “Carry That Weight” a bit. My misattribution is [Twilight Zone by Golden Earring](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP05iSzpz94), I thought it was by Fleetwood Mac. Now that I know Fleetwood Mac better the vocals aren’t a match, but the tune definitely reminds me of a Fleetwood Mac song. I could easily imagine Stevie Nicks doing backup vocals/harmonies in it. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381/70 "2014-09-24T15:06:34Z")
There is a song getting radio play now called “Superbad” that I thought was Michael Jackson the first dozen times I heard it. Turns out it is a young white kid named Jesse McCartney. ---
**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:** [September 24, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381/71 "2014-09-24T15:19:53Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > There is a song getting radio play now called “Superbad” that I thought was Michael Jackson the first dozen times I heard it. Turns out it is a young white kid named Jesse McCartney. People often assume Foster Sylvers’ [“Misdemeanor”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpgsErJyAlY) is the Jackson 5, with a tween-aged Michael Jackson on lead vocals. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381/72 "2014-09-24T15:24:13Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Dude, you’ve just lost an argument with yourself. No, their sound didn’t change. But it became a lot less poppy and more adventurous. That’s not really true either. Post-Nash Hollies material was a mix of both, actually. Some songs were considerably more poppy that the more adventurous stuff they did with Nash, while other songs explored new ground (as did just about any material from an artist whose career spanned those particular years). > [@](#): > > I’ll just quietly step away from your internal debate. I have no debate with myself at all. I just don’t care for overly simplified statements when it comes to an artist I love, especially from someone who knows less about them than I do. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381/73 "2014-09-24T15:27:37Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > People often assume Foster Sylvers’ [“Misdemeanor”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpgsErJyAlY) is the Jackson 5, with a tween-aged Michael Jackson on lead vocals. And some of The Osmonds’ early stuff was rather obviously patterned on The Jackson 5, and might have been easy to mistake if you didn’t listen carefully for the former’s more white-bread approach! I always liked that Foster Sylvers song! ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381/74 "2014-09-24T15:56:24Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > I have no debate with myself at all. I just don’t care for overly simplified statements when it comes to an artist I love, especially from someone who knows less about them than I do. Dude. ---
**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:** [September 24, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381/75 "2014-09-24T16:28:53Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > I swore up and down that “I’m Not In Love” was by **Paul McCartney** till my sister put me straight. It’s actually from a group called **10cc**. Either way, I still dislike it. Me too (except for the part about your sister). For the longest time I thought that Tom Petty was Bob Dylan. **DChord** : > [@](#): > > When I first heard “Holding Back the Years” by Simply Red, I thought “Wow, Buffy Ste. Marie has finally scored a Top 40 hit!” :D:D Anybody remember [Chris Montez](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGOcS4YpxW4)? I thought it was a woman singing for the longest time, and was shocked when I finally saw an album cover and realized I was swooning over a guy. First time I heard Stevie Ray, I thought somebody had found new Hendrix material. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381/76 "2014-09-24T17:02:59Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > First time I heard Stevie Ray, I thought somebody had found new Hendrix material. I think you can be forgiven for that. I’m pretty sure he’d have considered it a great compliment. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381/77 "2014-09-24T17:17:37Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Dude. RTFirefly, my great respect for WordMan has brought me up short, and I want to retract and apologize for the last statement I made to you, which was both harsh and unnecessary. I’m passionate about the music I love, and that passion sometimes causes me to get carried away. I do believe that my general point stands, however…that the careers of long-lived acts of that era can’t be summed up in a few simplistic statements. A thorough knowledge of those careers reveals a more complex reality. The business of Nash leaving The Hollies to do more “meaningful” work with CSN(Y) is one that has always stuck in my craw, and I say this as a tremendous admirer of what Nash did while a member of The Hollies. (I understand that this was Nash’s stated rationale for the move; I’m just saying that IMHO events didn’t prove out this way.) While I’m at it, I want to clarify the statement I made earlier in the thread about casual music fans vs. music freaks. In no way did I mean to denigrate the casual music fan or assert my superiority because I don’t suffer from the misapprehensions that have been posted in this thread. I apologize again if it came off that way. I was just trying to say that thinking for years that a song was by one artist when it was really by another is something that’s beyond my experience. Being fooled the first time you hear a song? Absolutely. But in my case, anyway, the misapprehension was soon put right. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381/78 "2014-09-24T17:39:06Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > RTFirefly, my great respect for WordMan has brought me up short, and I want to retract and apologize for the last statement I made to you, which was both harsh and unnecessary. Apology accepted. No prob. > [@](#): > > The business of Nash leaving The Hollies to do more “meaningful” work with CSN(Y) is one that has always stuck in my craw, and I say this as a tremendous admirer of what Nash did while a member of The Hollies. I must say you jumped on the parenthetical with both feet. All I had intended was to acknowledge the existence of this one exception to the clustering of Hollies hits while Nash was with the group. ETA: Also, please remember that where I started in this discussion of the Hollies and Graham Nash was with the _continuity_ between Hollies hits like “Bus Stop” and CSN/CSNY hits like “Marrakesh Express” and “Our House.” ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381/79 "2014-09-24T17:45:04Z")
I thought Kenny Loggins’ “I’m All Right” (the song from “Caddyshack”) was a Fleetwood Mac song for a long time. ---
**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:** [September 24, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381/80 "2014-09-24T17:50:48Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > The thread’s gone this far without anyone mentioning “On the Dark Side” from Eddie and the Cruisers? Not Bruce Springsteen, but John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. That reminds me, I thought Dire Strait’s “Walk of Life” was Bruce Springsteen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-youve-misattributed/699381.md?page=5)