# Soundalike Songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 1, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soundalike-songs/172268 "2003-05-01T01:31:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/db5fbb/32.png) [@Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fred)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soundalike-songs/172268/1 "2003-05-01T01:31:19Z")
So in English today we’re listening to the greatest hits of Cats Stevens, and track 9 comes on. Even though I haven’t heard the song before, strictly speaking, I **have heard the song before.** The song was Father and Son and I realized that it also happens to be the first track on the new Flaming Lips album, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (it’s called “Fight Test,” here). Despite the rather obvious, um, borrowing, Stevens wasn’t given any credit by the Lips. This caused me to think about the song that the Stones gave kd Lang a writing credit for because of its resemblance to one of her songs. So, Dopers, can you think of any other obvious thefts/soundalikes? ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soundalike-songs/172268/2 "2003-05-01T01:39:08Z")
Compare Belle and Sebastian’s “Dog on Wheels” (one of my favorites) with Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood’s “Summer Wine.” It’s creepy and wrong. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soundalike-songs/172268/3 "2003-05-01T01:56:18Z")
Some Barry Manilow song – time has mercifully blotted the title from my mind – swiped the saxophone hook from the Stylistics’ “Rock ‘n’ Roll Baby” Ray Parker, Jr., wrote a song that was heavily modeled, if not outright stolen, from the Police’s “Every Breath You Take.” I believe Huey Lewis also accused Parker of plagiarizing “I Want a New Drug” for Parker’s “Ghostbusters.” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soundalike-songs/172268/4 "2003-05-01T02:19:02Z")
The Knack’s “Can’t Put a Price on Love” sounds way too much like the Rolling Stones’ “Beast of Burden” Gerry Rafferty’s “Days Gone Down” sounds like it could have been written by George Harrison. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soundalike-songs/172268/5 "2003-05-01T02:26:10Z")
I know a few… – _Don’t Call Us (We’ll Call You)_ by Sugarloaf vs. _I Feel Fine_ by the Beatles… – _Peggy Sue_ by Buddy Holly/_Sheila_ by Tommy Roe… – _Modern Girl_ by Sheena Easton/_Happy Girl_ by Martina McBride… –_98.6_/_Daylight Savings_ [sic] _Time_, both by Keith. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soundalike-songs/172268/6 "2003-05-01T02:30:14Z")
Oh, and I heard the B side to _One Bad Apple_ by the Osmonds; it sounded like OBA played backwards, down to the fills on the drums. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soundalike-songs/172268/7 "2003-05-01T02:40:29Z")
“She Hates Me” by Puddle of Mudd starts out just like “Summer Nights” from Grease. Always seemed like a blatant ripoff to me, even though the songs are different. ---
**Author:** ![riserius1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@riserius1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/riserius1)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soundalike-songs/172268/8 "2003-05-01T03:08:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Peyote Coyote \* > \*\* > Ray Parker, Jr., wrote a song that was heavily modeled, if not outright stolen, from the Police’s “Every Breath You Take.” \*\* EBYT was itself stolen, if you ask me. Don’t believe me? Track down a copy of the song “More Than I Can Say” by Leo Sayer. Now tell me Mr. Sting does not owe Mr. Sayer and the songwriting team of curtis/allison a hefty royalty check. Chris W ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soundalike-songs/172268/9 "2003-05-01T03:14:04Z")
A few more to chew on from a recent thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=167258](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=167258) ---
**Author:** ![li\_l\_Dickie\_Dirtz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@li\_l\_Dickie\_Dirtz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/li_l_Dickie_Dirtz)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soundalike-songs/172268/10 "2003-05-01T03:15:41Z")
I swear the intro to The Strokes song “Last Night” was ripped off from the intro to Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers “American Girl.” ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soundalike-songs/172268/11 "2003-05-01T03:19:07Z")
Compare the hook riff of Green Day’s Warning to the Kinks’ Picture Book… Also, the opening of Green Day’s Jackass starts out in tribute to the Kinks’ Well Respected Man. cheers! ---
**Author:** ![dogchow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e495f1/32.png) [@dogchow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogchow)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soundalike-songs/172268/12 "2003-05-01T10:57:30Z")
The drumbeat for **Good Chalotte’s** Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous is the same as **the Stooges’s** Lust for Life. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soundalike-songs/172268/13 "2003-05-01T12:13:03Z")
There is a song out now by the band Coldplay which always reminds me of the song “Small Town Boy” by the 80s band Bronski Beat. I don’t know the name of the Coldplay song, though. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soundalike-songs/172268/14 "2003-05-01T12:51:36Z")
Peter Murphy’s “Cuts You Up” (1990) sounds suspiciously like The The [Matt Johnson]'s “Uncertain Smile” (1984)… the melodies are similar, but the rhythm tracks are virtually identical. Strangely enough, All Music Guide called “Cuts You Up” “Bowiesque”. Go figure… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soundalike-songs/172268/15 "2003-05-01T12:59:34Z")
The **Alphabet Song** and **Twinkle Twinkle Little Star**. Kinda errie, huh? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soundalike-songs/172268/16 "2003-05-01T13:05:06Z")
**My Sweet Lord** and **He’s So Fine.** ---
**Author:** ![Faerie\_Nuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/76d3ee/32.png) [@Faerie\_Nuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faerie_Nuff)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soundalike-songs/172268/17 "2003-05-01T13:05:09Z")
This is awful, but I think the Israeli National Anthem sounds just like “I’m a Little Teapot”. ---
**Author:** ![williamweigand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b3f665/32.png) [@williamweigand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williamweigand)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soundalike-songs/172268/18 "2003-05-01T14:43:42Z")
When Joe Jackson’s “Night and Day” LP came out someone pointed out that the song “Breaking Us In Two” sounded like another song. Anyone know what that other song is?IIRC it was a well-known song. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Bee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Larry\_Bee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Bee)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soundalike-songs/172268/19 "2003-05-01T14:46:35Z")
Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” starts of _exactly_ like The Everly Brother’s “Walk Right Back”. IMHO ---
**Author:** ![PVenkman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed8c4c/32.png) [@PVenkman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PVenkman)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soundalike-songs/172268/20 "2003-05-01T16:12:59Z")
What’s the new Fleetwood Mac song that got a little airplay recently? I didn’t much care for it but noticed the chorus sounds a LOT like the chorus from Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome” (to the point I started singing the words to “Kodachrome” over the top of whatever the real words are). “R.O.C.K in the U.S.A.” and “What I Like About You” always sounded a lot alike to me. In fact, if I were in a band I’d play a medley of both and segue right at the harmonica break in the bridge. And of course “Surfin’ USA” and “Sweet Little Sixteen”, although I understand Mr. Berry did get a songwriting credit on “Surfin’ USA”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soundalike-songs/172268.md?page=2)