# Two songs that sound better together **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 21, 2011, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-songs-that-sound-better-together/568419 "2011-01-21T05:04:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-songs-that-sound-better-together/568419/1 "2011-01-21T05:04:07Z")
Sometimes I’ll be listening to a CD and hear two consecutive songs that sound better together as if they were one song then separately. The three that come to mind are: Pink Floyd: Brain Damage/Eclipse [Dark Side of the Moon] Smashing Pumpkins: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness/Tonight Tonight [Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness] Beastie Boys: 5 Piece Chicken Dinner/Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun [Paul’s Boutique] What are some other pairs that should be combined into one song? The only requirement is that they must be consecutive songs on the album. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-songs-that-sound-better-together/568419/2 "2011-01-21T05:23:04Z")
Zeppelin - Heartbreaker and Living Loving Maid, definitely. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-songs-that-sound-better-together/568419/3 "2011-01-21T05:29:17Z")
This is part of the point of albums, you realize. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-songs-that-sound-better-together/568419/4 "2011-01-21T16:15:06Z")
Van Halen: Jump and Panama. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-songs-that-sound-better-together/568419/5 "2011-01-21T16:42:02Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > This is part of the point of albums, you realize. True, but every so often there are 2 songs that sound like they should be one song. In fact, the three I mentioned in the OP I’ve combined into one song as an MP3. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-songs-that-sound-better-together/568419/6 "2011-01-21T17:10:47Z")
Whenever a radio station plays the single version of Def Leppard’s “Bringing on the Heartbreaks,” it feels utterly incomplete without the instrumental “Switch 625.” ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-songs-that-sound-better-together/568419/7 "2011-01-21T17:15:08Z")
You Never Give Me Your Money/Sun King/Mean Mr. Mustard/Polythene Pam/She Came in Through the Bathroom Window/Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-songs-that-sound-better-together/568419/8 "2011-01-21T17:18:41Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > This is part of the point of albums, you realize. Yes, but suppose I have 3,000 songs on my iPod and then hit “Shuffle.” I can hear any Beatles song from, say “Revolver,” and it won’t feel at all odd to me to hear a song by a completely different artist afterward. And it’s fine if I hear “Things We Said Today” followed by a dissimilar song by a wholly dissimilar band. But if I hear “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” well, it feels all wrong if “With a Little Help from My Friends” doesn’t come on right afterward. It feels WEIRD when, say, “Polythene Pam” is played by itself without the rest of that “Abbey Road” medley. It’s fine if Zeppelin’s “How Mnay More Times” is followed by Enya. But if “Heartbreaker” isn’t followed by “Living Loving Maid,” the song feels unfinished. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-songs-that-sound-better-together/568419/9 "2011-01-21T17:53:09Z")
I guess We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions is an obvious candidate then, right? ---
**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:** [January 21, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-songs-that-sound-better-together/568419/10 "2011-01-21T17:55:00Z")
Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding by Elton John (BTW, the album does not do justice to the medley when performed live). ---
**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:** [January 21, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-songs-that-sound-better-together/568419/11 "2011-01-21T18:10:08Z")
Green Day - Brain Stew/Jaded ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-songs-that-sound-better-together/568419/12 "2011-01-21T20:33:19Z")
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Once I’m named Supreme Highlord, one of my first acts will make it a felony (punishable by not less than 10 years in my slave mines) for any DJ to play the _Live At Budokan_ version of _I Want You To Want Me_ without letting it play through to _Surrender_. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-songs-that-sound-better-together/568419/13 "2011-01-21T22:45:14Z")
“Today” / “Comin’ Back to Me”: the last two cuts on Side 1 of Jefferson Airplane’s _Surrealistic Pillow_, which formed a perfect little mini-suite. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-songs-that-sound-better-together/568419/14 "2011-01-21T22:50:39Z")
“Brothers” and “Our World” ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-songs-that-sound-better-together/568419/15 "2011-01-21T23:09:50Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > It feels WEIRD when, say, “Polythene Pam” is played by itself without the rest of that “Abbey Road” medley. Sure, I’d never shuffle those bits separately. Cool as “Pam” sounds, it’s just a fragment. There’s not enough there to call it a song in its own right. I regret the decision to separate out the passages of “B-Boy Bouillabaisse” on similar grounds. > [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#): > > “Today” / “Comin’ Back to Me”: the last two cuts on Side 1 of Jefferson Airplane’s _Surrealistic Pillow_, which formed a perfect little mini-suite. I agree, though those _are_ strong enough to fly 😉 on their own. The Airplane certainly played them independently of each other. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-songs-that-sound-better-together/568419/16 "2011-01-21T23:22:40Z")
Then there are cases where an extended passage contains a sort of flagship song, which could and would be played independently, but which existed on album as part of an extended suite, like “Lady with a Fan” as the flagship of the Jerry side of _Terrapin Station_. A lot of Deadheads didn’t like the progginess of the rest, the orchestra and so on, but I do. ---
**Author:** ![BuzzSaw101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a3d4f5/32.png) [@BuzzSaw101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuzzSaw101)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-songs-that-sound-better-together/568419/17 "2011-01-22T02:16:04Z")
“The Happiest Days of Our Lives” and “Another Brick in the Wall Part II” on Pink Floyd’s The Wall