Appropriation of untouchable song titles: The "wait, this isn't a cover!" thread

Rihanna just released a song called "Dancing in the Dark"

(maybe not quite 'untouchable') Fish And Chips by Denim isn't a cover of the song from Charlie Girl, though it does kind of borrow the tune, I get the feeling that the 1970 Jack Wild version was the inspiration?

bruce springsteen has made a pretty good career of this.

-dancing in the dark (later, as noted above, re-appropriated by rihanna)
-all or nothing at all
-mansion on the hill (later re-appropriated by neil young)
-walk like a man
-wreck on the highway
-downbound train
-reason to believe
-out in the street (he removed the plural "s" from the shangri-las title)
etc.

he also likes to appropriate film titles.

"mansion on the hill" already a hank williams hit :)

oh nvm I just realized that was your point

The "wait, this isn't a cover!" thread

-out in the street (he removed the plural "s" from the shangri-las title)

There's also the Who's "Out In The Street."

David Bowie, "Day-In, Day-Out" - sadly not the Rube Bloom/Johnny Mercer standard

Black Flag, "Black Coffee" - sadly not an homage to Peggy Lee

Elvis Costello's "You Belong to Me" is not a bad song, but it should not be allowed to step on the toes of the Chilton Price "You Belong to Me" ("See the pyramids along the Nile...")

Oh, I got one:

Nick Cave - "Do You Love Me?"

Mention of Elvis Costello reminds me of his "I Want You".

The Cars ("Bye Bye Love","Maybe Baby")

Sadly, Metallica's "One" was not a cover of Three Dog Night/Harry Nilsson

Morrissey / Dagenham Dave / The Stranglers

(xp) sadly, u2s "one" was not a cover of metallica.

Prince - Cinnamon Girl sadly is not the Neil Young song.
Bass-o-matic - Fascinating Rhythm is sadly not the old standard of that name.
And neither Nik Kershaw's or Prefab Sprout's Wild Horses are the Jagger/Richard song ('tho the Sprouts' song ain't bad at all).

As for Neil Young, I believe he wrote a whole album of songs with well-known titles, but it was never released. There's those mentioned above; 'Goin' Back from 'Comes a Time' has to be another.

Dave Clark Five "Everybody Knows" is not the same as "Everybody Knows" by the Dave Clark Five.

Yep, they released two songs as a-sides that had the same title.

^ Leonard Cohen as well.

Crack The Sky's "Surf City" a good example of appropriating a famous song title with the intent of turning it on it's head

JAMC's "Dream Lover" not a cover of Bobby Darin's "Dream Lover."

More sadly, that dog's "Never Say Never" not a Romeo Void cover.

-out in the street (he removed the plural "s" from the shangri-las title)
There's also the Who's "Out In The Street."

― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, March 21, 2015 9:52 PM (6 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

UFO as well

Beyoncé's "Sweet Dreams", not a Eurythmics cover.
Madonna's "Whos's That Girl", not a Eurythmics cover.
Eve's "Who's That Girl", not a Madonna cover.

Saves The Day's Through Being Cool not the Devo song.

Timberlake's "Cry Me A River" not the torch song made famous by Julie London.

Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry" is not the Four Seasons song (both huge hits).

Rihanna "Bitch Better Have My Money" sounds nothing like the AMG song of the same name.

The Cure - "Play for Today"
Belle and Sebastian - "Play for Today"

Neil Young's been mentioned; Yo La Tengo have also done it more than once ("I'll Be Around," "I Should Have Known Better," "We're an American Band").

Oh, "I should have known better" Wire, obv.

Also:

Jess Glynne has topped the UK singles chart for the first time as a solo artist with her track Hold My Hand.

not the Rutles classic, I assume.

wonder girls, be my baby

The Jam, "That's Entertainment." Not a cover of the song from the 1953 MGM musical The Band Wagon.

"Accidents Will Happen" by Elvis Costello

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klsbzC9V0Yg

Always found N Gallagher naming a song 'Stand By Me' particularly audacious.

pixies did a song called "stormy weather"

I Should Have Known Better is really common

I only knew two (now three)

What's sort of unsettling is when you only know the 'other' one like when someone says "We are going to sing "Rock of ages" nd you go yeah! "BET YOU THINK ITS FUNNY WHEN YOU'RE SPENDIN ALL MY MONEY BUT I DON'T! WAA HAA!"

One time on Blockbusters, the question was "What's the third line of "God save the Queen"?" and I said "They made you a moron"

Not the answer on the card..

Chris Isaak - "Wicked Games"
The Weeknd - "Wicked Games"

First one is singular.