Songs that have brief musical references to other tunes in there..

Two more for the 80's kids:
- In the middle of La Di Da Di, Slick Rick starts singing a few lines from "Sukiyaki" by A Taste of Honey.
- In the Thompson Twins "Love On Your Side", they make a musical reference to their own song. When he sings "I've played you all my favorite records", the song quotes the melody from "In The Name of Love", which was on their previous album. I've always thought it was lame to shout out their own song (surely this one can't be his actual favorite record)

Sean Ryder to thread. Lazyitis shovels in great big handfuls of 'ticket to ride', 'family affair' and David Essex.

Big Boi’s Shutterbug breaks into Soul II Soul -Back to life

Does This is why I’m hot fit here?

Does This is why I’m hot fit here?

believe in something fun by price rama references "break stuff" by limp bizkit

there's also a reference to within you, without you on another track

jay-z's "i just wanna love u (give it 2 me)" very briefly references carl thomas's "i wish", which was a hit earlier in the same year. (obviously its interpolation of rick james's "give it to me baby" for the hook is more prominent.)

Ariana Grande’s “R.E.M.” evokes the famous ”bum-bum-bum-bum” scatting of “Mr. Sandman” — working the same “dream theme” — without actually repeating the earlier song’s melody.

(Come to think of it — Pharrell’s spoken line in the same song (”I know how to keep it”) arguably echoes Mr. Sandman’s ”Yes?” in the Chordettes classic.)

Omc - "how bizarre" has a trumpet playing "the lion sleeps tonight" at some point

^R.E.M. (the band) pay tribute to the same song in “The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite”

The brass breakdown from The Cure's "Close to Me" is the middle eight of Sufjan Stevens' "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!"

Pavement’s “Trigger Cut” nicks the intro of VU’s “Coney Island Steeplechase”

the microphones - florida beach (beach boys' 'good vibrations')

“Universal Frequencies,” by His Name Is Alive, is sort of an extended study in musical references to “Good Vibrations” (maybe to a point beyond the scope of this thread topic).

Okkervil River have a couple of these. "John Allyn Smith Sails" quotes from "Sloop John B" and "Famous Tracheotomies" quotes from "Waterloo Sunset". In both cases the musical quotation is integral to the lyrics of the song. Will Sheff is one clever dude.

and that's the third post in a row to reference the Beach Boys

I always appreciated how the Handsome Furs "All We Want Baby Is Everything" walks the line between homage, cover version, and complete reimagination of New Order's "Temptation".

And speaking of New Order, they sort of did the same thing on "Run 2" which reimagines "Leaving On A Jet Plane". But in their case I think it was inadvertent or just plain coincidental.

Does "Christina Applegate you gotta put me on" from "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" by PM Dawn count?

No one has ever successfully explained how Run is similar to Leaving on a Jet Plane to me.

if the entire song is a reimagination of another it's not really a 'brief' musical reference

Harry Nilsson's cover of "You Can't Do That" has direct quotes of at least a dozen other Lennon/McCartney songs: https://youtu.be/Ue0Mf7_EHk8

I don't hear "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" in "How Bizarre"

I think it's the trumpet line that's similar but I wouldn't claim it's a direct reference.

like, it does that same octave jump and descending notes...

if the entire song is a reimagination of another it's not really a 'brief' musical reference

― dyl

Fair enough.

But when I try to think of a brief one, all I can come up with is the Dead Milkmen on "Bottomless Pit", quoting the intro to "Ballroom Blitz". And I try my best these to forget that I was ever into the Dead Milkmen.

And come to think of it, the Dead Milkmen quote from "Love Me Two Times" during the spoken intro to "Bitchin Camaro". God, that band is awkward adolescence personified.

just noticed that tom d mentioned that nilsson cover a while back

oops

I feel like these have surely come up elsewhere (ancient posts by electricsound perhaps, given it's Aus indie) but:

Smudge's "Don't Want to Be Grant McLennan" suddenly becomes The Go-Betweens' "Bye Bye Pride" for the bridge to the final chorus.

The Cat's Miaow's "The Phoebe I Know"/"Phoebe" closes with the "together, forever..." section of "Say a Little Prayer"

No Ramones yet?!

Two off the top of my head:

"Judy Is a Punk" quotes Herman's Hermits "I'm Henry the Eight I Am" (Second verse/same as the first)

The bridge melody of "It's Not My Place (in the 9 to 5 World)" is The Who's "Whiskey Man"

I’m pretty sure that White Fang interpolate a bit of Umberto Tozzi’s “Gloria” around 1:00 into “Grateful to Shred”; though I’ve never been positive that’s what they’re actually playing:

https://gnartapes.bandcamp.com/album/grateful-to-shred

Also reasonably certain the Fiery Furnaces reference “Billie Jean” in their song “Oh Sweet Woods” (maybe because the lyrics involve “mistaken identity?); though I suppose the musical similarities could also be coincidental.

(Would be surprised if this is the only example of the FFs pulling such a move, but can’t immediately think of another instance...)

Cornershop's "England's Dreaming" is another containing a direct quote, of Morrissey and (presumably) PE: "I was was happy in the haze of a drunken hour... Fight the power!"

and the title is a sex pistols hat-tip!

Does This is why I’m hot fit here?

― ƒ©˙∆˚¬ (Whitey on the Moon), Wednesday, February 7, 2018 1:54 AM (one year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

came here to post this! and yes it does, there are quotes from Jesus Walks, Shook Ones, Nuthin But a G Thang, Front 2 Back, and Tell Me When To Go

The oooooh's in the beginning of "Womantown" by Gang of Four seem to allude to "Mannequin" by Wire, but I cannot confirm that's intentional.

nelly's "ride wit me" borrows a line from debarge's "i like it": i like the way you comb your hair / i like those stylish clothes you wear (he replaces 'comb' w/ 'brush')

sometimes i think the "you got me singing oh-oh-oh-oh"-etc. line from justin timberlake's "until the end of time" is an intentional reference to the similar bit toward the end of mint condition's "what kind of man would i be" but it could just be a coincidental similarity

well of course there's the "7 Rings" / "My Favourite Things" lift

^a “briefer” example would be the NSYNC melody in “Break Up With Your Girlfriend...” (but I feel like cleared & credited samples or interpolations shouldn’t really “count” for this thread?)

beyoncé's first line in "party" ('i may be young but i'm ready...') seems to be a clear reference to the first line from keith sweat's "right and a wrong way" ('you may be young but you're ready...')

shows how much crediting references and interpolations has changed in just a few years that that particular interpolation, tho brief, wasn't listed in the credits for that album -- the only sample listed for that song is for doug e. fresh's "la di da di" -- yet lemonade gave songwriting credits to animal collective b/c of the phrase 'material things' appearing in "6 inch"

The “Blurred Lines” case happened in the interim.

Also it looks like Beyoncé and her team were insanely liberal (or conservative, in terms of risk avoidance) when it came to doling out credit: https://www.stereogum.com/1873310/beyonce-producer-boots-explains-animal-collective-credit-on-6-inch/news/

I think it's the trumpet line that's similar but I wouldn't claim it's a direct reference.

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Monday, March 18, 2019 4:02 PM (three days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

like, it does that same octave jump and descending notes...

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Monday, March 18, 2019 4:02 PM (three days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

OK I had to listen to The Lion Sleeps Tonight and forgot about that main vocal melody that comes after the titular lyric. Yeah, it is pretty close, though How Bizarre's trumpet has more trills.

(but I feel like cleared & credited samples or interpolations shouldn’t really “count” for this thread?)

― What's that Phish song that goes "Bag it, Tag it"? (morrisp), Tuesday, March 19, 2019 10:52 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

idk i feel like Prince inserting Joni's "Help Me" into the middle of "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker" is the ne plus ultra of this

One of the more improbably affecting examples of this is Jamila Woods - Lonely, which interpolates the Dawson's Creek theme song.

jamila does that sort of thing all the time--she can wring pathos out of miss mary mack, fergodsake.

"Push It" by Garbage repeatedly invokes "Don't Worry Baby" by the Beach Boys.

ariel pink - time to live references video killed the radio star