References in Other Songs in Songs - thread for Music Nerds

The Beatles' Glass Onion. References to Strawberry Fields Forever, I Am The Walrus, Lady Madonna, Fool On The Hill, and Fixing A Hole.

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a lot of rap diss songs reference songs they were dissed in
here's one of my favorite, everlast v eminem
everlast kills eminem

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Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd


References Neil Young and his song Southern Man:

"I hope Neil Young will remember...a southern man don't need him around anyhow..."
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Phosphorescent- "Song for Zula"

"Some say love is a burning thing
That it makes a fiery ring
Oh but I know love as a fading thing
Just as fickle as a feather in a stream"

reference should be obvious, and the song is a beautiful masterpiece fwiw

Spoiler

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Fantasy by Earth Wind and Fire

And we will live together
Until the twelfth of never

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The Twelth of Never by Johnny Mathis

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I Always thought it was interesting that there are also A lot of old New Wave songs with references to Soul/funk singers & rappers, but not specific songs.

Tom Tom Clubs "Genius of Love" references Kurtis Blow, Sly Stone, Bootsy Collins & Smoky Robinson.

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ABC has a song called "When Smoky Sings" about Smoky Robinson
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Blondie's "Rapture" references Fab Five Freddy
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"The eagle picks my eye, the worm he licks my bones
Feel so suicidal, just like Dylan's Mr. Jones"

 

Grandpa pissed his pants again
He don't give a damn
Brother Billy has both guns drawn
He ain't been right since Vietnam


"Sweet home Alabama"
Play that dead band's song
Turn those speakers up full blast
Play it all night long


Daddy's doing Sister Sally
Grandma's dying of cancer now
The cattle all have brucellosis
We'll get through somehow


"Sweet home Alabama"
Play that dead band's song
Turn those speakers up full blast
Play it all night long


I'm going down to the Dew Drop Inn
See if I can drink enough
There ain't much to country living
Sweat, piss, j*zz and blood


"Sweet home Alabama"
Play that dead band's song
Turn those speakers up full blast
Play it all night long

 

I've been to Alabama, people ain't a whole lot to see;
Skynyrd says it's a real sweet home but it ain't nothing to me.
Charlie Daniels will tell you the good Lord lives in Tennessee, ha!
But I'm going back to gator country where the wine and the women are free.

There's a gator in the bushes, he's calling my name,
And a saying come on boy, you better make it back home again.
There's many roads I've traveled but they all kind of look the same.
There's a gator in the bushes, Lord, he calling my name.

Old Richard Betts will tell ya Lord he was born a Ramblin' Man.
Well he can ramble back to Georgia but I won't give a damn.
Elvin Bishop out struttin' his stuff with little Miss Slick Titty Boom.
But I'm going back to gator country to get me some elbow room.

There's a gator in the bushes he's calling my name.
and saying come on boy, you better make it back home again.
There's many roads I've traveled but they all kinda look the same.
There's a gator in the bushes, Lord, he calling my name. Yep.

There's Marshall Tucker riding a rainbow searching for a pot of gold.
Well they can take the highway, baby, and they can take all they can hold.
The Outlaws down in Tampa town it's a mighty fine place to be.
They got green grass and they got high tides and sure looks good to me.

There's a gator in the bushes, he's calling my name.
Saying come on boy, you better make it back home again.
There's so many roads I've traveled but they all kinda look the same.
There's a gator in the bushes, Lord, he's calling my name.

Oh gator country,
a little bit of that chomp chomp

Molly Hatchet, "Gator Country"

 

All references to Springsteen songs, except Monkey Man (Rolling Stones)

Tweeter and the Monkey Man were hardup for cash
They stayed up all night selling cocaine and hash
To an undercover cop who had a sister named Jan
For reasons unexplained she loved the Monkey Man

Tweeter was a boy scout course he went to Vietnam
And found out the hard way, nobody gives a damn
They knew that they found freedom just across the Jersey line
So they hopped into a stolen car, took Highway 99

And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they're standing
Never saw them when they fell

The undercover cop never liked the Monkey Man
Even back in childhood he wanted to see him in the can
Jan got married at fourteen to a racketeer named Bill
She made secret calls to the Monkey Man from a mansion on the hill

It was out on Thunder Road, Tweeter at the wheel
They crashed into paradise, they could hear them tires squeal
The undercover cop pulled up and said "Everyone of you is a liar
If you don't surrender now, it's gonna go down to the wire"

And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they're standing
Never saw them when they fell

An ambulance rolled up, a State-Trooper close behind
Tweeter took his gun away and messed up his mind
The undercover cop was left tied up to a tree
Near the souvenir stand, by the old abandoned factory

Next day the undercover cop was hot in pursuit
He was taking the whole thing personal, he didn't care about the loot
Jan had told him many times, "It was you to me who taught
In Jersey anything's legal, as long as you don't get caught"

And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they're standing
Never saw them when they fell

Some place by Rahwey Prison they ran out of gas
The undercover cop had cornered them, said
"Boy, you didn't think this could last?"
Jan jumped out of bed, said, "There's someplace I gotta go"
She took the gun out of the drawer, said, "It's best that you don't know"

The undercover cop was found face down in a field
The Monkey Man was on the river bridge using Tweeter as a shield
Jan said to the Monkey Man, "I'm not fooled by Tweeter's curl
I knew him long before he ever became a Jersey Girl"

And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they're standing
Never saw them when they fell

Now the town of Jersey City is quieting down again
I'm sitting in a gambling club called the Lion's Den
The TV set was blown up, every bit of it was gone
Ever since the nightly news showed that the Monkey Man was on

I guess I'll go to Florida to get myself some sun
There ain't no more opportunity here, everything's been done
Sometimes I think of Tweeter, sometimes I think of Jan
Sometimes I don't think about nothing but the Monkey Man

And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they're standing
Never saw them when they fell

Read more: Traveling Wilburys - Tweeter And The Monkey Man Lyrics | MetroLyrics

 

Cheap Trick has many:

From "Auf Wiedersehen": "There are many here among us, who feel that life is a joke.. and to you we sing this final song.." - reference to Bob Dylan/Jimi Hendrix "All Along the Watchtower:

From "Never Had a Lot to Lose": "I ain't got no money, honey, fortune or fame, but I've got all the riches baby one man can claim, so take off your coat..." - reference to The Temptations' My Girl

From "Everything Works If You Let It" - in the middle, "Good Times, Bad Times...." as a reference to Led Zeppelin

From "Loves comes a tumblin' Down":

Tell you a story not a little white lie
Wasn't long tall sally it was no surprise
That's right - tell me that's right
A tough act to follow not too good in your shoes
A whole lotta shakin' was terrible news
That night - tell me that's right
The band was singin' and playin' a tune
Love comes a-tumblin' down, oh yeah yeah

All shook up and bent out of shape
Wasn't johnny B. Goode but it sounded great
That night - tell me that's right
From the cabaret to the highway of hell
Had a monkey on his back it was easy to tell
That night - tell me that's right
The band was singin' and playin' a tune
Love comes a-tumblin' down oh yeah yeah

The band was singin' and playin' a tune
Love comes a-tumblin' down oh yeah!

(v. O.) I'm wishing to live longer aided by the supreme healing force of music
It most definitely overcomes all weakening aspects of the body
I've felt quite lost and distraught without those wonderful vinyl productions
I'm convinced it's an addiction, too. I feel just great again
[band, get ready]

When you see the train come
Then you'll know what to do
A tough act to follow not too good in your shoes
That's right - tell me that's right
[love came] a-stumblin' and a-tumblin' down
Not a pretty picture when the body was found
That night - tell me that's right

The band was singin' and playin' a tune
(love comes a-tumblin')
Tough act to follow not too good in your shoes
(love comes a-tumblin')
You see the train come you know what to do
(love comes a-tumblin')
Johnny B. Goode it sounded just great
(love comes a-tumblin')
Long tall sally it was no surprise
(love comes a-tumblin')
A whole lotta shakin' was terrible news
(love comes a-tumblin')
Not a pretty picture when the body was found
(love comes a tumblin')
Mama mama mama mama

 

Kid Rock's "All Summer Long" is basically one big reference to "Sweet Home Alabama" played to a sample from "Werewolves of London".

 

Pretty sure I win.
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You were wrong when you said
Everything's gonna be alright
Yeah, you were wrong when you said
Everything's gonna be alright

You were right when you said all that glitters isn't gold
You were right when you said all we are is dust in the wind
You were right when you said we're all just bricks in the wall
And when you said manic depression's a frustrated mess

You were wrong when you said
Everything's gonna be alright
Yeah, you were wrong when you said
Everything's gonna be alright

You were right when you said you can't always get what you want
You were right when you said it's a hard rain's gonna fall
You were right when you said we're still running against the wind
Life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone

You were right when you said this is the end

Do you ever think about it?
Do you ever think about it?
Do you ever think about it?
Do you ever think about it?

• Everything's gonna be alright", from the Bob Marley & The Wailers song "No Woman, No Cry" off of the 1974 album Natty Dread
  
• "All that glitters isn't gold", from the Neil Young song "Don't Be Denied" off of the 1973 album Time Fades Away
  
• "All we are is dust in the wind", from the Kansas song "Dust in the Wind" off of the 1977 album Point of Know Return
  
• "We're all just bricks in the wall", from the Pink Floyd song "Another Brick in the Wall" off of the 1979 album The Wall
  
• "Manic depression's a frustrating mess", from the The Jimi Hendrix Experience song "Manic Depression" off of the 1967 album Are You Experienced
  
• "You can't always get what you want", from The Rolling Stones song "You Can't Always Get What You Want" off of the 1969 album Let It Bleed
  
• "It's a hard rain's gonna fall", from the Bob Dylan song "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" off of the 1963 album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
  
• "We're still running against the wind", from the Bob Seger song "Against the Wind" off of the 1979 album Against the Wind
  
• "Life goes on after the thrill of living is gone", from the John Mellencamp song "Jack and Diane" off of the 1982 album American Fool
  
• "This is the end", from The Doors song "The End" off of the 1967 album The Doors

 

Megadeth - "Victory"

 

One of the first songs I thought of was "How Are You?":

 

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Here is one that isn't exactly a song about another song, but close.

From Sun Kil Moon's latest album Benji- Ben's My Friend

Here Mark Kozelek sings about attending a Postal Service concert to visit his friend the lead singer Ben Gibbard. Ben Gibbard is of Death Cab for Cutie fame.

"The other night I went and saw The Postal Service
Ben's my friend but getting there was the worst
Trying to park and getting up the hill
And find a spot amongst the drunk kids staring at their cells
Standing at the back with the crowd of eight thousand
I thought of Ben when I met him in 2000
At a festival in Spain
He was on the small stage then and I didn't know his name
Now he's singing at the Greek and he's busting moves
And my legs were hurting and my feet were too
I called him after, said I'll skip the backstage hi/bye
But thanks for the nice music and all the exercise"

 

"Life is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)" - Reunion

B.B. Bumble and the Stingers, Mott the Hoople, Ray Charles Singers
Lonnie Mack and twangin' Eddy, here's my ring we're goin' steady
Take it easy, take me higher, liar liar, house on fire
Locomotion, Poco, Passion, Deeper Purple, Satisfaction
Baby baby gotta gotta gimme gimme gettin' hotter
Sammy's cookin', Lesley Gore and Ritchie Valens, end of story
Mahavishnu, fujiyama, kama-sutra, rama-lama
Richard Perry, Spector, Barry, Archies, Righteous, Nilsson, Harry
Shimmy shimmy ko-ko bop and Fats is back and Finger Poppin'

Life is a rock but the radio rolled me
Gotta turn it up louder, so my DJ told me (whoa whoa whoa whoa)
Life is a rock but the radio rolled me
At the end of my rainbow lies a golden oldie

FM, AM, hits are clickin' while the clock is tock-a-tickin'
Friends and Romans, salutations, Brenda and the Tabulations
Carly Simon, I behold her, Rolling Stones and centerfoldin'
Johnny Cash and Johnny Rivers, can't stop now, I got the shivers
Mungo Jerry, Peter Peter Paul and Paul and Mary Mary
Dr. John the nightly tripper, Doris Day and Jack the Ripper
Gotta go Sir, gotta swelter, Leon Russell, Gimme Shelter
Miracles in smokey places, slide guitars and Fender basses
Mushroom omelet, Bonnie Bramlett, Wilson Pickett, stop and kick it

Life is a rock but the radio rolled me
Gotta turn it up louder, so my DJ told me (whoa whoa whoa whoa)
Life is a rock but the radio rolled me
At the end of my rainbow lies a golden oldie

Arthur Janov's primal screamin', Hawkins, Jay and
Dale and Ronnie, Kukla, Fran and Norma Okla
Denver, John and Osmond, Donny
JJ Cale and ZZ Top and LL Bean and De De Dinah
David Bowie, Steely Dan and sing me prouder, CC Rider
Edgar Winter, Joanie Sommers, Osmond Brothers, Johnny Thunders
Eric Clapton, pedal wah-wah, Stephen Foster, do-dah do-dah
Good Vibrations, Help Me Rhonda, Surfer Girl and Little Honda
Tighter, tighter, honey, honey, sugar, sugar, yummy, yummy
CBS and Warner Brothers, RCA and all the others

Life is a rock but the radio rolled me
Gotta turn it up louder, so my DJ told me (whoa whoa whoa whoa)
Life is a rock but the radio rolled me
At the end of my rainbow lies a golden oldie

Listen--remember, they're playing our song!
Rock it, sock it, Alan Freed me, Murray Kaufman, try to leave me
Fish, and Swim, and Boston Monkey,
Make it bad and play it funky.
(Wanna take you higher!)

Freddie King and Albert King
And B.B. King and frolicking...

 

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