# This song sounds almost exactly like THAT song! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 6, 2009, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809 "2009-10-06T12:36:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [October 6, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809/21 "2009-10-06T18:05:04Z")
Chris Brown [“Say Goodbye”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3IZEaypk0M) to me sounds just like Usher’s [“U Got it Bad”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2ziiPfaPyk) ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809/22 "2009-10-06T18:17:28Z")
We’ve done this before. My contribution last time was Arlo Guthrie’s [Alice’s Restaurant](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GguFmYRryz8) vs. Jimmy Buffet’s [Pencil Thin Moustache](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn7l0FJMQD0). The choruses have the same chord progression and can be played interchangeably. I can play both, and sometimes weird people out by switching mid-song. ---
**Author:** ![emcee2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emcee2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emcee2k)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809/23 "2009-10-06T18:49:44Z")
Nickelback song and other Nickelback song. ---
**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:** [October 6, 2009, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809/24 "2009-10-06T18:58:26Z")
> [@emcee2k](#): > > Nickelback song and other Nickelback song. And Boston song and the other Boston songs. Although I have more respect for Boston after “playing” some of their songs on Rock Band. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809/25 "2009-10-06T19:10:43Z")
The chorus to Rod Stewart’s “The Killing Of Georgie” [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/g9E6lNsI22I/hqdefault.jpg "Rod Stewart - The killing of Georgie") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9E6lNsI22I) is a blatant rip-off of “Don’t Let Me Down” [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O7PnvVgQvA) by the Beatles. In fact, John Lennon said in an interview that he came thisclose to suing Stewart but was talked out of it by the lawyers. In fact, there’s a book out there, ‘Sounds Like Teen Spirit,’ that is full of songs that ripped off other songs. (I’d give you the author but my copy is loaned out at the moment.) ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809/26 "2009-10-06T20:07:34Z")
If i could fly by Joe Satriani and Coldplays viva la vida are basically the same song. Here’s an actual [mashup](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNd7S5FWXLs) thats basically both songs played on top of each other. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809/27 "2009-10-06T20:15:50Z")
Last time this subject came around I mentioned [“Eighties” by Killing Joke](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1oyfG6t2ew) and [“Come As You Are” by Nirvana](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOL5cpwTkes). The songs are so close I think Kurt Cobain wrote “Come As You Are” by telling Dave and Kris, “OK, you guys play “Eighties”, and I’m going to sing about guns.” ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809/28 "2009-10-06T20:17:52Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The Doors “Hello I Love You” sounds much too much like the Kink’s “All the Day And All of the Night.” Ray Davies considered suing, but decided against it. And Submission by the Sex Pistols sounds like both those. Bolero and Billy Joel’s Uptown Girl. ---
**Author:** ![Discipline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Discipline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Discipline)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809/29 "2009-10-06T20:21:12Z")
> [@emcee2k](#): > > Nickelback song and other Nickelback song. > **[Nickelback doesn't change musical expressions](https://nickelbackblowsass.ytmnd.com/)** > > i hate nickelback ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809/30 "2009-10-06T20:30:00Z")
“In the Year 2525” by Zager and Evans and “Runaway” by Del Shannon. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809/31 "2009-10-06T20:35:15Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > The Offspring’s [“Why Don’t You Get a Job”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqHkuHy39eA) is the exact same song as The Beatles [“Ob-la-di, Od-la-da.”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJhcGepfG04) Did they have to get permission to use the same tune? The whole song is clearly taken from that source. I’d listen to Why Don’t You Get A Job and think-- what’s that song? I know that song from somewhere. How did I not immediately identify it? It is EXACTLY the same damn thing. Perhaps it’s on purpose, like their Feelings of the same album. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809/32 "2009-10-06T20:36:23Z")
A friend of mine once pointed out that the same five note sequence – BDBGA – not only forms the basis of _Sing, Sweet Nightingale_ from Disney’s _Cinderella_ AND figures prominently in the _Pie Jesu_ from Lloyd Webber’s _Requiem_, but is also the melody for Monty Python’s song about traffic lights. I still haven’t forgiven him for that. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809/33 "2009-10-06T20:37:09Z")
[A Warm Place](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkCxRz9X2aI&feature=PlayList&p=4F2217971BD76E32&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=17)_is_ [Crystal Japan](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm2ciX0_UP8). ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809/34 "2009-10-06T21:02:32Z")
The opening of Sublime’s “What I Got” is the same as The Beatles “Lady Madonna”. Here’s a [mash-up](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpp-vI4pdTU) of the two. ---
**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:** [October 6, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809/35 "2009-10-06T21:41:11Z")
There are two songs on Neil Young’s album _Ragged Glory_ that sound very much the same like other, earlier released songs: _Days that Used to Be_ = _My Back Pages_ by Bob Dylan \*Mother Earth \* = _Van Diemens Land_ by U2 Neil did it before with _Borrowed Tune_ (= _Lady Jane_ by the Rolling Stones) from _Tonight’s the Night_, but at least admitted in the lyrics that he was > [@](#): > > too wasted to write my own Both great albums, though. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809/36 "2009-10-06T22:30:19Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > If i could fly by Joe Satriani and Coldplays viva la vida are basically the same song. Here’s an actual [mashup](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNd7S5FWXLs) thats basically both songs played on top of each other. Oh, wow. This one goes even deeper than that. Here is a comparison between Satriani and Los Enanitos Verdes, a famous spanish rock band: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znrHzefl8cM&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znrHzefl8cM&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809/37 "2009-10-07T01:29:31Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > \*Mother Earth \* = _Van Diemens Land_ by U2 Both are using the tune of an English/Scottish traditional, “The Water’s Wide” (O Waly, Waly). Here’s [Karla Bonoff singing it](http://quietube.com/v.php/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EfHZtCKJGY). ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@Brainiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809/38 "2009-10-07T01:40:25Z")
Christopher Cross’s “Sailing” and “Ride Like The Wind” and almost the same is his Arthur’s Theme (Caught Between The Moon And New York City) He was on Jimmy Fallon so I thought I’d play his songs and realized I couldn’t separate them. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809/39 "2009-10-07T02:19:17Z")
The opening bars of Steve Miller’s **Jet Airliner** are a direct steal from the opening of the Free’s **All Right Now** ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809/40 "2009-10-07T02:25:09Z")
Everclear song and all other Everclear songs. I went to see them with a friend (hey, free tickets) and we sang along to each song- only we sang the lyrics to the previous song, without changing anything. In nearly every case you wouldn’t have been able to tell we were doin’ it rong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-song-sounds-almost-exactly-like-that-song/512809.md?page=3)