songs that sound like other songs

Is it my imagination, or could the bassline from Abba's "One Of Us" fit quite neatly on top of the Beatles' "Yesterday"?

Rod Stewart - "Do you think I'm Sexy" steals Gilberto Gil/Jorge Ben's "Taj Mahal"

that Spirit song (?) -> "Stairway to Heaven" -> that Metallica song (?)

That Offspring song rips of Simon & Garfunk's Cecilia.

― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 01:58 Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Dug this up to post Taj Mahal!

Jorge Ben actually sued Stewart over the lifted melody:

Ben Jor may be an urban poet, but he's certainly no soft touch. In his celebrated spat with Rod Stewart, Ben Jor successfully sued the Scottish crooner after he 'borrowed' the melody of the Ben Jor song Taj Mahal for the chorus of his hit Da Ya Think I'm Sexy.

Nowadays Ben Jor seems remarkably sanguine about the affair. He explained how the dispute with Stewart had been settled amicably, with the Scottish singer agreeing to donate the profits from his song to UNICEF.

Gotta give props for him for donating what's probably a considerable amount of royalty money to UNICEF.

"having an average weekend", the theme to the kids in the hall, cops it's main riff from betty wright's "bad bad bad"......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMQiqj5uaeA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYSV0qoDCkw

I never noticed that Beastie Boys "Sabotage" is built around the opening of Killing Joke's "The Wait".

Rod Stewart - "Do you think I'm Sexy" steals Gilberto Gil/Jorge Ben's "Taj Mahal"

Just found out the strings melody from Bobby Womack "If You Want My Love" was nicked for the synth lead as well. (Do Ya Think adds a note though, I think.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5EgWwDBG3s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgBAOP2ud38

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWyzyLF87QA

Radiohead's "Lucky" vs. "Journey of the Sorceror" from the old Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, which I somehow never knew is actually an Eagles tune until today?!

Lucky always reminded me of it anyway, as does one Blur song (but can't think of which one at the moment)

I'm sure I've cited it before, but "This Corrosion" by the Sisters of Mercy sounds disquietingly similar to "Are We Ourselves?" by The Fixx.

I haven't read through this thread, but in case no one else has mentioned, the chord structure of fleetwood mac "Go Your Own Way" and the outfield "Your Love" are pretty close..

Though it's not quite James Brown's "Hot" (= Bowie's "Fame") this is a pretty blatant rip of an entire arrangement:

The original

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPQmHwALAck

The rip-off

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtIwNL5s648

To be fair, the writers of the latter song did add a changeup in the verse and a part "B" for a chorus, where the original is the same groove for 8 minutes (it's a good groove, though). Incidentally, I've always heard "Shake Your Body" as the first in a sequence that continues with "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and ends with "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'". MJ had a real knack for those synth-bass dance hooks.

"I'm goin' take my clothes off" (Hot in Here - Nelly) is a nod to "I'm goin' take my shoes off" (Agony of Defeet - Parliament). Just a nod though, not a lift.

@Kim, I thought that Fastball guitar riff came from here:

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Pray for Me came out three years before Fire Escape, Miles Zuniga from Fastball is a documented fan of the Jayhawks, etc etc. But the Grapes of Wrath song sounds more similar, actually. What's really blowing my mind right now is that Chris and Tom Hooper from Grapes of Wrath (an actual brother band!) are rocking the exact same look as Gary Louris from the Jayhawks (a psuedo brother band).

Whoops, don't need HTML to embed Youtube links.

Once more with feeling:

@Kim, I thought that Fastball guitar riff came from here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN5F576Rn1o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jMyjjeSWak

Pray for Me came out three years before Fire Escape, Miles Zuniga from Fastball is a documented fan of the Jayhawks, etc etc. But the Grapes of Wrath song sounds more similar, actually. What's really blowing my mind right now is that Chris and Tom Hooper from Grapes of Wrath (an actual brother band!) are rocking the exact same look as Gary Louris from the Jayhawks (a psuedo brother band).

"pray for me" is such a great song

toto's "hold the line" and manfred mann's cover of the boss's "for you" start out exactly alike and stay pretty similar throughout

This sounds A LOT like Shine On You Crazy Diamond, including some of the guitar licks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqI81Xa2mFk

And I guess it predates the Floyd tune by a lot, so

I can't believe nobody mentioned that Wuthering Heights has nearly the same chorus as Mandy. Also the Strokes song mentioned in the OP sounds to me more like a ripoff of Lust for Life.

Paul Revere & The Raiders' Kicks = Monkees' Not Your Stepping Stone

Paul Revere & The Raiders recorded Stepping Stone before the Monkees!

Also, Steal Away and What a Fool believes have a similar groove and arrangement, but the songs are totally different.

U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday" = the chorus of Led Zep's "The Rover"

two of my favourites from this year:
1. Radiohead - Bloom (that intro loop) vs Washed Out - Clap Intro

2 Britney Spears - Criminal vs Destroyer - Suicide Demo For Kara Walker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h46u-2aBi-A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWFb5z3kUSQ

Wow, I just discovered that not only does Jamie Woon's "Night Air" sound very similar to "Just An Illusion" by Imagination, but also that it could easily be segued into "Big Love" by Fleetwood Mac.

*Goes to make a mix*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL9v5eWYIyo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6g-4zzw1vg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0JvF9vpqx8&ob=av3e

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbGUEelmzxo

The Seinfeld theme sounds like My Perogative.

Part of Radiohead's "Creep" sounds like The Hollies's "The Air That I Breathe"

Beginning of "Funky Nassau" sounds like "Picadillo"

Faith No More's Evidence sounds like Ghetto Heaven. And maybe something else.

[searches thread]

another one: the guitar solo in faith no more's 'evidence' incorporates the intro lick from sam'n'dave's 'soul man'.
― m the g, Friday, 13 April 2007 17:54 (5 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

interestin'...

The first several bars of Paul McCartney's "If You Wanna" (on Flaming Pie) sound like a slightly faster version of the first several bars of PJ Harvey's "Good Fortune."

Ba-ba-ba-baaa-ba/You know this/Love is/TRUE!/Ain't nothing but a heartache/(Tell me why)

ledge - yes!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEwah8Tvw0k

http://soundcloud.com/search?q%5Bfulltext%5D=bap+what+the+hell

I didn't get any help on the prince thread for this...listen to the "rap" in the middle section and then play INXS's "Mediate" (will post it next). Too close to be a coincidence, right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDwqvmOMfxM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFUEgFdP5zE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DRggfF-Nlo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkxeu7mCXz0

I just keep waiting for the Style Council song to burst into "turkey hungry, chicken free!" but thankfully it doesn't.

"God Save the Queen" sounds just like "America."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht0zsE9GPrs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP4HygPI9lA

the intros to the neil diamond and billy joel songs above. billy basically flips the two lines of neil's intro, so he's playing B-A-B-A to neil's A-B-A-B.

The main piano riff in the Vijay Iyer Trio's "Village of the Virgins" reminds me a lot of Stereolab's "Captain Easychord":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPXc_4qxNSw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ9z0Puurgk

Oh wait, hold the phone, "Virgins" is a Duke Ellington piece that Stereolab must've ripped off.

I'm sure many before me have enjoyed the way The Residents cheekily stuck the baseline of "Billie Jean" into their cover of Hank Williams' "Kaw-liga".

The Who's "Don't Let Go The Coat" and Indigo Girls' "Tried To Be True" start out pretty much identically. They diverge pretty quickly, but still.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3QcZ_1g-HI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaCf_d8M3VY

The Who's "Don't Let Go The Coat" and Indigo Girls' "Tried To Be True" start out pretty much identically.

Likewise, the Who's "I Can't Explain" and Nazz' "Open My Eyes" (which i recall Todd Rundgren says was intentional)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhuL79iEWDo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erC9qkaOHnk

Didn't see this one upthread. So incredibly blatant I need not mention the track its in debt to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMw6lN9Fe3U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rEDIEEE7io

+
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VscTvSzoqNk

tempo and yelpings

hm looks like this one wasn't mentioned yet...

We're Not Making Love No More = Never Had A Dream Come True
they're like fucking the exact same song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKyNGSPX_8g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7idn3PcKBM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGPC-ZKrrtY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ichQOqbewA