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You are here: Home / Music / The song remains the same

The song remains the same

by DougJ|  November 22, 20142:07 pm| 72 Comments

This post is in: Music, Open Threads

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The other day I watched “Moneyball” and it struck me that song the girl sings, “The Show”, sounds exactly like that awful You Done Done Me, and they both sound like that start with my toes, then I wrinkle my nose song and like that new version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow that now accompanies many YouTube videos.

So I thought it would be a good time for another songs that sound alike thread! In the past we’ve covered Lady Madonna/What I Got and Keep Me Hanging on/Vertigo and All Day and All Of The Night/You Really Got Me Going.

Here’s a couple others: I Don’t Know Why I Didn’t Come/The Peanuts Christmas song and Tired of Being Alone/I Love The Nightlife.

What are some other good ones?

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Reader Interactions

72Comments

  1. 1.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    November 22, 2014 at 2:14 pm

    No good ones, but you now have a picture with a funny caption in your BJ email account.

  2. 2.

    M31

    November 22, 2014 at 2:17 pm

    You can sing “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” and “When the Saints come marching in” at the same time, in case you were wondering.

  3. 3.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 22, 2014 at 2:23 pm

    The Lightning Seeds’ Pure seems to have a lot of New Order’s Love Vigilantes in it.

  4. 4.

    wasabi gasp

    November 22, 2014 at 2:25 pm

    Rodrigo y Gabriela – Tamacun

    Britney Spears – Oops! I Did It Again

  5. 5.

    Tree With Water

    November 22, 2014 at 2:27 pm

    “All music is re-hash”. So said John Lennon anyway.

  6. 6.

    Randy P

    November 22, 2014 at 2:28 pm

    The opening chords of “Twenty-Five or Six to Four” sound exactly like the opening of some more recent song which I forget. Same chords, same rhythm. Direct steal.

  7. 7.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 22, 2014 at 2:32 pm

    This and this.*

    *Yeah, I know.

  8. 8.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    November 22, 2014 at 2:32 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Yup. I like Love Vigilantes better of course, which I hope does not suggest I’m aspiring to hipsterdom.

    @Omnes Omnibus: You hate me.

  9. 9.

    Randy P

    November 22, 2014 at 2:34 pm

    @Randy P: Here’s a link to a Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLiuMkGCOC4
    Somebody younger than 40 listen to that opening and tell me what recent song opens exactly that same way.

  10. 10.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 22, 2014 at 2:34 pm

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Sorry. I couldn’t help myself.

  11. 11.

    raven

    November 22, 2014 at 2:36 pm

    Savoy Brown “The Boogie”
    ZZ Top LaGrange

  12. 12.

    Buddy H

    November 22, 2014 at 2:39 pm

    Radiohead’s “Creep” reminds me so much of “The Air That I Breathe” by the Hollies. As a matter of fact, there was a lawsuit.

  13. 13.

    Buddy H

    November 22, 2014 at 2:42 pm

    David Bowie’s “Queen Bitch” has the exact same guitar part as Eddie Cochran’s “Three Steps To Heaven.”

    And didn’t Bob Dylan borrow from Neil Young’s “Helpless” when he wrote “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”?

  14. 14.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 22, 2014 at 2:43 pm

    @Buddy H: I believe there was a lawsuit out of the resemblance between this song and this one.

  15. 15.

    srv

    November 22, 2014 at 2:44 pm

    All the hipsters music sounds familiar, they’ve recycled everything, changed the lyrics and added autotune.

    Reminds me of democrats.

  16. 16.

    RSA

    November 22, 2014 at 2:46 pm

    This may just be me, but whenever I hear Motherland, by Natalie Merchant, I always think of the song over the opening credits in the TV show Firefly.

  17. 17.

    raven

    November 22, 2014 at 2:47 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: My brother represented a guy that Zep swiped a song from. Zep setteled.

  18. 18.

    Xenos

    November 22, 2014 at 2:49 pm

    Aside from the infamous identical chord progressions in “Hotel California” and Tull’s “We Used to Know”, we have a very recent song that flat-out steals the melody from the ending of Jimmy Buffet’s “Valcano”.

    I have been humming the Buffet song for no good reason for days, so it must have been my subconscious picking that up somehow.

  19. 19.

    Buddy H

    November 22, 2014 at 2:49 pm

    The Sheryl Crow song “All I wanna do is have some fun” sort of reminds me of “Stuck in the Middle With You”

    And of course, “My Sweet Lord” ended up in front of a judge.

  20. 20.

    superfly

    November 22, 2014 at 2:51 pm

    @Randy P:

    Brain Stew by Greenday

  21. 21.

    NotMax

    November 22, 2014 at 2:55 pm

    No one mentioned My Sweet Lord/He’s So Fine?

  22. 22.

    Tim F.

    November 22, 2014 at 2:56 pm

    Under Pressure and Ice Ice Baby.

    I have no musical literacy.

  23. 23.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 22, 2014 at 3:00 pm

    @Tim F.:

    Ice Ice Baby.

    That always calls for this. Or a swift kick in the groin.

  24. 24.

    Buddy H

    November 22, 2014 at 3:00 pm

    Led Zep’s “Boogie With Stu” directly lifted from Ritchie Valens’ “Ooh My Head” which was lifted from Little Richard’s “Ooh My Soul”

  25. 25.

    gbear

    November 22, 2014 at 3:00 pm

    The Four Tops ‘I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)’ and ‘The Same Old Song’. I’m pretty sure everyone was in on the joke for the second song.

    Also, anything from Jackson Browne’s first three albums and anything by Dawes.

  26. 26.

    Mike E

    November 22, 2014 at 3:01 pm

    @NotMax: Taxman/Batman (TV theme); and, Hey Jude/Save the Last Dance For Me, also. Too.

  27. 27.

    Mike E

    November 22, 2014 at 3:06 pm

    @srv:

    All the hipsters music my posts sounds familiar, theyI’ve recycled everything, changed the lyrics and added autotune.

    Yes, it’s what we’ve come to expect.

  28. 28.

    Brother Dingaling

    November 22, 2014 at 3:10 pm

    She Hates Me by Puddle of Mud and I Saw Your Mommy by Dead Milkmen

    Also You Need Loving by the Small Faces and Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin

  29. 29.

    gbear

    November 22, 2014 at 3:13 pm

    @Mike E: Also ‘Taxman’ and ‘Start’ by The Jam.

  30. 30.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 22, 2014 at 3:13 pm

    @Tree With Water: “Good artists copy, great artists steal” – Picasso

  31. 31.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 22, 2014 at 3:15 pm

    @gbear: Holy shit. I had never noticed that one before.

  32. 32.

    Tree With Water

    November 22, 2014 at 3:15 pm

    @Buddy H: Circa 1974, Dylan appeared at a star studded concert at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco to benefit the city’s sports programs. The concert was broadcast live on radio, and I distinctly recall that the refrain from Helpless was performed as the introduction to Knockin’ On Heavens Door. I remember how impressed I was at how seamless it sounded, as if it had been written that way. It was beautiful.

  33. 33.

    Pogonip

    November 22, 2014 at 3:26 pm

    I just looked at news headlines: Ferguson grand jury will not reconvene until Monday at the earliest.

    Whoever said they wanted to save day-after-Thanksgiving shopping seems to have called it correctly.

    If they do indict the cop, will the local whites riot? Is there any way the status quo can be saved in this situation?

  34. 34.

    wasabi gasp

    November 22, 2014 at 3:29 pm

    @srv: You’ll love Foxygen. The whole album is a copy of the past. It’s like they copy/pasted together parts of classic tunes, then traced over them with their own performance.

  35. 35.

    Buddy H

    November 22, 2014 at 3:30 pm

    @Pogonip:

    excellent tweet from Dave Zirin:

    “Wish same people telling #ferguson protestors to be non-violent, would send that message to the Darren Wilson fans lining up to buy guns.”

  36. 36.

    Mike E

    November 22, 2014 at 3:34 pm

    @Buddy H: Their amendment is twice as big.

  37. 37.

    jayjaybear

    November 22, 2014 at 3:53 pm

    Hold On Tight by ELO is suspiciously close to Look What They Done To My Song (written by “Brand New Key” singer Melanie Safka). They even both include a French verse.

  38. 38.

    Xenos

    November 22, 2014 at 4:05 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: that leads to an interesting question: borrowing implies the original is not much changed, stealing implies, well, that the song was converted for the use of a better artist.

    I am not sure that really works in most cases. Zep stole money by marketing a less original product, and the Eagles/Tull example it it is clear (to my ear) that the cheesier and less tightly performed song became more successful.

  39. 39.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 22, 2014 at 4:09 pm

    @Xenos: I interpret it this way: when you borrow, you don’t intended to make it your own. When you steal, you do intend to make it yours.

  40. 40.

    Randy P

    November 22, 2014 at 4:09 pm

    @superfly: Thank you, that’s the one that I was thinking of. You got it even though my memory was wrong, Greenday isn’t using exactly the same rhythm.

  41. 41.

    sarah b

    November 22, 2014 at 4:20 pm

    Building a mystery and what if god was one of us.

  42. 42.

    Tree With Water

    November 22, 2014 at 4:58 pm

    @Pogonip: “Whoever said they wanted to save day-after-Thanksgiving shopping seems to have called it correctly”.

    That’s so cynical I’m surprised it hadn’t occurred to me.

  43. 43.

    Summer

    November 22, 2014 at 5:17 pm

    Wilco’s “Hoodoo Guru” has the same chord progression as “Wait Til the Midnight Hour.”

  44. 44.

    Roger Moore

    November 22, 2014 at 5:45 pm

    Everything by U2 sounds like everything else by U2. It would make me wonder why anyone bothers buying their new albums, except that Apple couldn’t even give their new one away successfully.

    Also, too, Peter Schickele’s pairing of “You Are My Sunshine” and “The 1812 Overture” was a work of purest genius.

  45. 45.

    Mnemosyne

    November 22, 2014 at 5:46 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    I like “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone).” So sue me.

  46. 46.

    Pogonip

    November 22, 2014 at 6:32 pm

    @Tree With Water: It’s so sensible I’m annoyed it didn’t occur to ME!

    During the Bruce Springsteen poutrage, I went around singing “rock and roll welfare queen” to the tune of “Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo.”

  47. 47.

    Joel

    November 22, 2014 at 6:34 pm

    Take the Skinheads Bowling and Brimful of Asha.

    Same chords. I’m sure there are tons of songs with that chord progression.

  48. 48.

    Joel

    November 22, 2014 at 6:37 pm

    Ah maman! Je vous dirai
    Twinkle twinkle
    Alphabet song

  49. 49.

    Thoroughly Pizzled

    November 22, 2014 at 7:01 pm

    Counting Stars by One Republic and Butterfly by smile.dk (from Dance Dance Revolution) are the exact same song.

  50. 50.

    Jewish Steel

    November 22, 2014 at 7:07 pm

    On Yes! We Have No Bananas:

    The song was the subject of a column by Sigmund Spaeth, who suggested that the melody could have been derived from a combination of parts of other songs including the Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah by Handel, “My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean”, “I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls”, “Aunt Dinah’s Quilting party” and Cole Porter’s “An Old-Fashioned Garden”.

    Substituting the original lyrics from those to the appropriate melodic phrases you get:

    Hallelujah, Bananas! Oh, bring back my Bonnie to me
    I dreamt that I dwelt in marble halls—the kind that you seldom see
    I was seeing Nellie home, to an old-fashioned garden: but,
    Hallelujah, Bananas! Oh, bring back my Bonnie to me!

  51. 51.

    Wag

    November 22, 2014 at 7:19 pm

    Mash-ups are fun. Bruce and Elvis

  52. 52.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 22, 2014 at 7:26 pm

    @Wag: My favorite mashup of all time: Dexy’s Enemy.

  53. 53.

    Wag

    November 22, 2014 at 7:33 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    nice!

  54. 54.

    mtiffany

    November 22, 2014 at 7:39 pm

    Whitney Houston’s Queen of the Night and the Beatles Come Together.

  55. 55.

    Wag

    November 22, 2014 at 7:53 pm

    White Stripes and echo & the bunnymen

  56. 56.

    Wag

    November 22, 2014 at 7:55 pm

    Blondie vs Bruno Mars

  57. 57.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 22, 2014 at 8:01 pm

    @M31:

    That was one of my specialties back when I could whistle and hum duets with myself (it’s been difficult to produce the best sound ever since I had a lot of dental work done back in 2001-02).

  58. 58.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 22, 2014 at 8:04 pm

    @Joel:

    Also too, Baa baa, black sheep

  59. 59.

    Buddy H

    November 22, 2014 at 8:08 pm

    ELO’s “Mr. Kingdom” vs. the Beatles “Across The Universe”

    And here’s a brief mashup of Radiohead (Karma Police) with Beatles (A Day In The Life)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuCGZlr-ipQ

  60. 60.

    Ripley

    November 22, 2014 at 8:13 pm

    Man DougJ, you got dull.

  61. 61.

    mtiffany

    November 22, 2014 at 9:01 pm

    @Wag: ZOMG that is awesome!

  62. 62.

    Wag

    November 22, 2014 at 9:17 pm

    @mtiffany:

    :). Glad you liked it!

  63. 63.

    ranchandsyrup

    November 22, 2014 at 10:10 pm

    summer babe by pavement

    brimful of asha by cornershop

  64. 64.

    ranchandsyrup

    November 22, 2014 at 10:16 pm

    Mashup of jay z and radiohead

  65. 65.

    Xjmueller

    November 22, 2014 at 11:10 pm

    “By the rivers of Babylon” (Melodians) and “How dry I am.”

  66. 66.

    divF

    November 23, 2014 at 12:10 am

    circa 1978: Little Roger and the Goosebumps,
    Lyrics: Theme from “Gilligan’s Island”;
    Melody: “Stairway to Heaven”.
    Zeppelin sued, needless to say, and the recording was pulled from the market. But everything survives on YouTube.

  67. 67.

    JoeC

    November 23, 2014 at 10:17 am

    @raven: Isn’t ‘La Grange’ just Slim Harpo’s ‘Shake Your Hips’ with Billy Gibbons’ Pearly Gates ?

  68. 68.

    Spike

    November 23, 2014 at 10:28 am

    Not sure if this counts, but it amused me when I heard it many years ago:

    Nickelback vs. Nickelback

  69. 69.

    drobnox

    November 23, 2014 at 2:03 pm

    Brian Eno’s “King’s Lead Hat” and “Shake it Up” by The Cars.

  70. 70.

    Ron Thompson

    November 23, 2014 at 2:24 pm

    For their second single, the Beach Boys just took Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen” and sang “Surfin’ U.S.A.” with no song-writing credit to Berry. It was the exact same tune, and even the lyrics were similar, mentioning a succession of cities.

  71. 71.

    Buddy H

    November 23, 2014 at 4:39 pm

    @Ron Thompson: Didn’t Berry successfully sue for songwriting credits?

  72. 72.

    Silver Wolf

    November 24, 2014 at 11:56 am

    Arcade Fire’s Sprawl II and Blondie’s Heart of glass.

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